history unit 2- The axis advance Flashcards
Reasons for the development of blitzkreig
After WW1 military theorists discussed the best way to avoid trench warfare as they lost ww1 due to noot having enough resources to mantain a long steady defence
addressing this challenge German general heinz guderian
The phases of blitzkrieg
phase 1: identifying weak points-Luftwaffe
phase2:Breakthrough-attack weakpoints with tanks and break through defence
phase3:Disrupt-The infantry and planes deal with resistance and destroys the enemy trap enemies, cauldron kessel strikes to surround and destroyed
The preparation for the battle of France-allies
The French had also spent 3 billion francs in the
interwar years on the formidable Maginot Line which
they hoped would be enough to stop any German
advance against their borders.
thought it would be like a trench war had not evolved their techniques since ww1
* Allied Strength:
* 4000 tanks
* 2900 aircraft
* 3.3 million troops
The preparation for the battle of France-Germans
German developed a plan called ‘Case Yellow’. This
plan aimed to entice the main Allied forces into
northern France and Belgium where they would be
surrounded by a huge ‘pincer’ movement.
* The plan included a diversionary attack against the
French ‘Maginot Line’ which was designed to draw
Allied troops away from the main thrust of the
offensive.
* The main thrust of this offensive was to be launched
through the Ardennes forest. This was the place
where the Allies least expected a German offensive. developed blitzkreig 2445 tanks
* 5638 aircraft
* 3.35 million troops
How the German army was able to defeat the allied army in France
10th May:
German forces send paratroopers and land forces into Belgium and
Netherlands.
11th May:
British and French forces maintain a strong presence at the
Maginot Line but also send multiple divisions north to counter the
German offensive in Belgium.
This weakens the centre of the Allied defence.
13th May:
The German Army launches the main focus of their offensive
through the Ardennes Forest.
The Allies had believed that there was no chance an offensive
would be launched in this area.
15th – 21st May:
German ‘Blitzkrieg’ tactics break through any major Allied
defensive lines and they begin to push the Allied troops towards
the English Channel.
24th May:
Approx. 400,000 Allied troops are forced back to Dunkirk. They are
trapped.
Inexplicably to the German Army, Hitler orders his Panzer and
infantry units to halt their offensive just outside of Dunkirk.
Herman Goering, head of the Luftwaffe, had assured Hitler that his
aircraft could finish the job.
Germans were prepared for a whole dfferent war than the british with much moe advanced strategies
- How the Royal Navy was able to evacuate British and French forces from Dunkirk?
- Codenamed Operation Dynamo, the Royal Navy used over
800 ships between the 26th May and the 3rd June. - Many of these ships were not military vessels but were ‘little ships’,
such as fishing vessels and lifeboats. - Many non-military personnel volunteered to support the effort. for example paddleboaters tourist ships
- The RAF would send all available planes to cover the evacuation
and the French forces surrounding Dunkirk would hold a defensive
line to protect the evacuating British soldiers. - The expectation was that somewhere between 20,000 and
30,000 men could be saved BUT in all 338,000 troops (onethird were French) were rescued from Dunkirk.
- The consequences of the Dunkirk and the Battle of France?
Over 73,000 Allied soldiers were killed in the battle, alongside 1.75 million men captured.
Thousands of tons of military equipment was also lost including artillery pieces, tanks and aircraft.
* The British Army had survived, as had a small amount of the French military.
* However, Britain now stood alone against the Nazi’s who had now successfully invaded Poland,
Luxemburg, Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
* Hitler would turn his attention towards knocking Britain out of the war. However, this would not be
easy.
after 6 weeks the french were forced into surrender
Operation sealion (what was it / what challenges did it face?)
A German invasion across the English channel
1.britain is an island with the most powerful navy in the world therefore they needed control over the skies to protect their ships carrying men and infantry(tanks)
- Battle of Britain (different phases of the battle)
- Phase 1: 10th July – 12th August 1940
- Luftwaffe began to attack shipping convoys in the English channel and British ports as well as coastal radar stations.
- Hitler demanded ‘the British Air Force must be eliminated to such an extent that it will be incapable of putting up any sustained opposition to
the invading troops.’ - Phase 2: 13th – 18th August 1940
- Luftwaffe begins to target the RAF’s Fighter Command, either by attacks on British airfields or in dogfights in the skies over Britain.
- Phase 3: 19th August – 6
th September 1940 - Luftwaffe forces continue to bomb towns, cities and airfields across the south coast, Midlands and north east of England.
- Churchill acknowledged the efforts of the RAF: ‘Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.’
- On the 31st August, the RAF suffers it highest losses with 39 aircraft destroyed and 14 pilots killed.
- Phase 4: 7th September – 31st October 1940
- Hitler shifts his tactics to launching mass bombing raids against London.
- On the 15th September, the Luftwaffe launched its heaviest bombing raids on London of the entire battle. However, RAF Fighter Command was
able to successfully fight off the Luftwaffe destroying 61 German aircraft. - On the 17th September, Hitler officially postpones Operation Sealion and the Germans shift their strategy to focus on bombing British cities at
night in an attempt to reduce causalities. - By the 31st October, the Luftwaffe are officially denied air superiority by the RAF and the Battle of Britain is over.
- Nazi Germany had been stopped for the first time!
- Battle of Britain (significance of the victory)
the first time nazi germany was halted and prevented from acquiring area
Germany had 3-4x the no. of planes and more experienced pilots
it was a single fronted battle french had been occupied
- By 1940, dozens of radar stations had been constructed
along the British coastline. This was called the ‘Chain
Home’ system and it was the first early warning radar
network ever built.
Why was Hitler determined to invade the Soviet Union?
With France defeated and only Britain left standing against Germany in Western
Europe, Hitler turned toward his next goal—Germany’s eastern borders and the
‘lebensraum’=living space that could be taken in this area.Hitler realised that the only way to gain this ‘lebensraum’ was by taking it and this
meant that he needed to defeat the Soviet Union and colonise it with ‘Aryan’
Germans.
* This belief was closely linked to Hitler’s racial views that saw the Slavic population of Eastern
Europe as racially inferior to ‘Aryan’ Germans.
* This meant that any war in the East was to be a ‘war of annihilation’.
Why were Russia unprepared for Operation Barbarossa?
Stalin refused to believe that a
German offensive was coming
and therefore his defensive plans
to counter an offensive were
almost non-existent. with their base military of 5.5 mil soldiers and only 6000 operational tanks and 8000 aircraft
What were the aims of the 3 different German Army Groups?
Army Group North:
Aim: Take control of the Baltic states of
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia before
then taking Leningrad.
Leningrad was Russia’s second largest
city, and it would give Germany control
of the entire Baltic coast and an
important industrial region.
Army Group Centre:
Aim: Take control of the key industrial
cities of Minsk and Smolensk before
moving onto Russia’s capital, Moscow.
Army Group South:
Aim: Take control of Ukraine and Kiev,
as well as the important Donets Basin
industrial region.
After taking control of these region,
Army Group South would then advance
towards Stalingrad and the oils fields of
the Caucasus Mountains
How did Hitler’s decisions contribute to the failure of Operation Barbarossa?
- Despite having no experience of military command,
Hitler fancied himself as an elite strategist and tactician. Not only that hee had morre power than his more experienced generals
so despite the best efforts of the central army group breaking through russian defences and nearly invading russia hitler called it off to get them to help out army group east this meant that russia was not eliminated and thus was able to standstill them bide their time and launch a series of offences
How did the Russian weather contribute to the failure of Operation Barbarossa?
the German
Army never adequately planned to deal with the
Russian winter as they assumed they could deal with Russians in a quick decisive victory Russian winter=autumn rains turn the
roads to mud making it incredibly difficult for any
type of rapid movements.= blitzkreig no work * The winter was even more brutal. The average
temperature in December 1941 was -12.8⁰c.
* It was so cold that pretty much all of the German
equipment stopped working from their tanks to the
aircraft.
* This brought the German advance to a crippling halt.
* What made things even worse for the German soldiers
was that many German soldiers had no winter clothing.
* The German Army suffered 100,000 soldiers to
frostbite (14,000 required amputations) between
November and December 1941.
- Why did Japan want to expand into South-East Asia
In early 1939, Japan’s leaders were becoming increasingly frustrated with their
lack of progress in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the number of resources
the conflict was using.
they decided the best option was to expand south towards the European colonies of Southeast Asia was the better option. These colonies were rich in natural resources such as
oil, tin and rubber
why did japan sign the Tripartite Pact
the 3 nations guaranteed to protect one another in the event
that one of the nations was attacked by a country not already involved in
the war. Although it didn’t state it in the Pact, the nation they were
referring to was America.
* The hope was that this would deter America from entering World War Two.
What was the impact of Japan moving their troops into French Indo-China?
In response to the occupation, the USA sanctioned the Japanese by placing
an embargo on some iron and steel exports to Japan.
+ basically said that if they didn’t leave=war=pissed off the Americans
What the Japanese hoped to achieve by attacking Pearl Harbour.
it was the
home of the US Pacific Naval Fleet= destroy their only threat in south east Asia Japanese also hoped that after the attack America would sue for peace
rather than retaliate by declaring war on the Japanese
A breakdown of the events of the attack on Pearl Harbour.
Wave 1-6:10am
The first wave of Japanese planes takes off from their aircraft
carriers.
6:53am
American Navy sink a Japanese submarine off the coast of
Oahu. This is viewed as an isolated incident and no further
action is taken.
7:02am
A US Army radar operator on Oahu spots a large formation of
unidentified aircraft heading towards the island.
No action is taken as it is believed that these are a group of US
bombers scheduled to arrive on the island later that morning.
7:40am
The first wave of Japanese planes (183 aircraft) arrives and
begins their attack.
7:58am
The US Air Force issue the order to military personnel around
Pearl Harbour: “Air Raid Pearl Harbor, this is no drill!”
8:45am
The first wave returns to their aircraft carriers. They have sunk
6 battleships and damaged 3 more
wave 2-8:50am
The second wave of Japanese
aircraft (163) arrive over Pearl
Harbour.
They have been given the order to
target any battleships that are still
afloat and pulverise those that
have already been hit.
9:30am
The destroyer USS Shaw takes a
direct hit from a Japanese divebomber and explodes.
9:45am
Captain Fuchida, happy with the
damage caused by the offensive
and concerned by American antiaircraft fire orders the second fleet
to return to their aircraft carrier.
The attack is over.
The attack on Pearl Harbour – The Second Wave (7th December 1941)
PEARL
HARBOUR
SECOND WAVE OF
JAPANESE AIRCRAFT
Impact and significance of the attack on Pearl Harbour
Impacts of the attack of Pearl Harbour on USA.
US losses:
* 2404 military personnel and civilians killed.
* 188 aircraft were destroyed and 159 were damaged (approx. 80% of planes on Oahu).
* 21 ships were destroyed or damaged. However
The Japanese had not destroyed or damaged any US aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers were the most
important ship during WWII and this would come back to haunt the Japanese.
* Furthermore, rather than America suing for peace they declared war on Japan on December
8
th 1941.
* Germany and Italy declare war on the USA on 10th and 11th December.
* The United States of America has now entered World War Two.
- Impacts of the attack of Pearl Harbour on Japan.
- Japanese losses:
- 64 military personnel killed.
- 29 planes destroyed.
The Japanese pilots returned to their ships as heroes. They believed that they had completed
destroyed the US Pacific Fleet. However, this wasn’t the case. as it led to America joining the war leading to a failure
Why did Japan target Singapore?
The Japanese wanted to take Singapore as it would remove a
potentially significant British naval threat and it would
provide them with a good position to launch their offensive
to take the Dutch East Indies.
Why were the Japanese able to take control of Malaya?
The Japanese had managed to take control of the seas and skies of Malaya.
* Japanese troops were significantly more experienced and better trained than the
Commonwealth forces defending the country(many fought in nanking)
* The Japanese showed ingenuity throughout the battle. Japanese soldiers took
bicycles from locals to enhance the speed of their advance. The Japanese also used
naval craft to flank and surround stubborn defenders.* By contrast, the Commonwealth forces were poorly led by stubborn Generals who
refused to change their strategy.no matter what state it led them to.The Japanese equipment was also much more modern in comparison to the
Commonwealth forces who were still relying on aircraft from the 1920s and early
1930s
How did Japanese actions contribute to their capture of Singapore?
Used control over skies to do aerial reconnaissance so they were able to see where the main army was so they could attack at their weakpoints with main army and place a small diversionary force where they were expecting itWith complete control over the skies of Singapore and their
artillery and tanks advancing further inland the Japanese
relentlessly shelled the British and Commonwealth defences.
With losses mounting and the British and Commonwealth
defences crumbling under the Japanese offensives, Percival
ordered all troops to withdraw to the city of Singapore.
The withdrawal of troops gave the Japanese control of the high
ground that overlooked the city, the only fresh water supply
station on the island and the British supply depot.
By the 12th February, the entire city was in range of the Japanese
artillery and the Japanese were relentless with their
bombardment able to steal and push the british army to the point that they had basically no resources
How did British actions contribute to their loss of Singapore?
the Japanese attacked the north east section as he predicted but his troops also predicted they would also attack the north west section the one not defended well and tried defending it however Percival the dumb fuckin general that he is decided to stop them from defending that area and furthermore take their supplies to defend a different area causing it to be taken by the Japanese’s main invasion in that territory With losses mounting and the British and Commonwealth
defenses crumbling under the Japanese offensives, Percival
ordered all troops to withdraw to the city of Singapore.
The withdrawal of troops gave the Japanese control of the high
ground that overlooked the city, the only fresh water supply
station on the island and the British supply depot.(He gave the Japanese their water which they shuts off immediately, the high ground and British supplies) he threw the game no only that he didn’t capitalize he fact his troops outnumbered the Japanese 2 to 1and in that last day if they held out even 1 last day, the Japanese probably would’ve drawn back
What impact did the fall of Singapore have on Britain?
he defeat also resulted in a breakdown of the relationship between the British
and Australian governments.
* The Australian government felt that the British placed unfair blame on Australian soldiers (after the British’s defeat an investigation was launched into this battle and why they lost and they pinned 100% on the Australians and did not take responsibility
for the fall of Singapore.)
* They also felt that the British were now incapable of protecting Australia This breakdown had started before the fall of Singapore but the defeat in February
1942 proved to be the final straw for the Australians.
* This proved somewhat correct as only 4 days later Darwin was bombed by the Japanese as Australia was now targeted and as a result America became Australia’s main ally
Reasons for the Siege of Leningrad.
It was the base of Russia’s Baltic Fleet and had more than 600 factories.
* Leningrad’s defences had been strengthened prior to the German Army reaching the
city and fighting outside the city descended into attritional trench warfare.
* Hitler changed strategy at this point and decided that rather than taking control of the
city, the plan was to destroy it and wipe out its population.
* “The Fuhrer(Hitler) has decided to erase the city of Petersburg from the face of the earth. It is intended to
encircle the city and level it to the ground by means of artillery bombardment using every calibre
of shell, and continual bombing from the air.” (Memorandum to Army Group North= to basically annihilate starve show them true despiar make them wish for surrender then annihilate them
they also didnt want to feed 2.5 million people
Experiences of civilians at Leningrad.
tried to act normal as if their wasnt siege however they were unprepared for what was in store By November, civilian rations had dropped to 250g of bread a day for
workers and 125g a day for children, the elderly and the unemployed.
* During the winter of 1941-42, 100,000 people were dying per month
from starvation.
* People ate whatever they could get a hold of including wallpaper glue,
petroleum jelly, pigeons and their pets.
* Theft and murder were a constant threat and the authorities arrested over
2000 people for cannibalism.
* After barely surviving the winter of 1941-42, the Soviets managed to
create a land bridge across the frozen Lake Ladoga that could be used
to supply the city.
* The city managed to survive until a Soviet offensive broke through the German
lines.
* By the end of the siege, which lasted almost 900 days, an estimated
800,000 civilians had died.
* This figure was nearly as many as all WWII deaths for the UK and USA
combined, they were eventually given 3x under the amount of food of starving level and forced to work 8hr shifts with no firewood no windows meaning everything froze
the streets were litered with corpses
people kidnapped and ate children because they were”more tender” horrifying cold hell
Reasons for Japanese cruelty towards POWs.
Japanese culture held the strong belief that surrender, or defeat, (bushido code)brought shame upon your
family and your nation.
* This led to the belief those who surrender were weak.
* The view was that it was best to die fighting to bring honour to your family and nation.
This view contributed heavily to the brutal nature in which the Japanese behaved
throughout WWII and it lead to brutal treatment of POWs
Experiences of POWs in Changi
It was the main Japanese POW camp which was made up British military barracks + the civilian prison
* The condition were overcrowded e.g. prison was built to accommodate 1500 but it housed 11,700 by end of the war
* After Fall of Singapore POWs order to march to Changi ~29km
* Men took whatever they could carry with them including food, clothing, bedding
* Main diet= hard biscuit w/ beef spread or hard biscuit w/ veg spread + rice
* From Changi men could be sent to all parts of empire to do forced labour camps= Taiwan, Manchuria,
Burma, Japan
* → dangerous journey as US submarines sunk any Japanese cargo ships and there are 3 instances of ships sunk by subs →
1700 POWs killed
* In Singapore the men did heavy labour eg. Loading docks, building roads + repairing docks
* 1943: conditions ↓
* Rations cut= about half the recommended daily intake/ no work= no food
* Medical supplies ↓
* Increase in disease
* Most Aus sent to other labour camps
- Experiences of POWs
The allies treated the axis Pows well following the 1929 Geneva convention which ensured far traetment for POWS as well as the germans and italians and japanese, however the japnese NEVER honured this and frequently commited atrocities such as After Pearl Harbour, Japanese brutality increased as they occupied more countries in Pacific.
* Hong Kong Dec 1941:
* St. Stephen’s College Hospital – over 100 wounded solders and nurses were
murdered by Japanese soldiers.
* Singapore Feb 1942:
* Alexandra Hospital – As many as 300 patients, nurses and doctors were brutally
slain by the Japanese soldiers.
* Between February and March 1942, as many as 100,000 Chinese minorities were
killed in the city.
* These attacks all took place against troops or civilians who had surrendered to the Japanese
forces. to POWS and civilians as well as Throughout the war the Japanese captured over 180,000 POWs.
* Death rate as a Japanese POW was 27%. In comparison deaths of
Allied POWs under the other Axis powers was 3.6%.
* American POWs were treated particularly brutally by the
Japanese. About 40% of American POWs would die in Japanese
captivity.
* The Japanese predominantly used their prisoners as forced labour.
* POWs are allowed to be used as labour but they need to be
treated fairly and their health needs to be maintained.
* Unsurprisingly, forced labour under Japanese occupation did not
respect these rules. Prisoners were treated brutally by their
guards and were given inadequate food and medical provisions because they saw surrender as dishonorable and better to die rather than be captured for your country
