History Unit 3- Turning points Flashcards
Japanese objectives at the Battle of the Coral Sea
: Operation MO: Japanese decided to invade Port Moresby + Solomon Islands in order to strengthen defensive
position in the Pacific
* If successful, it would deny Allies access to bases for counterattacks
* Cut supply routes between Australia and USA
* Consolidate Japan’s shipping routes of resources from Dutch East Indies + Malaysia back to Japan
Outcomes of the Battle of the Coral Sea
Japanese = one aircraft carrier sunk + two damaged and unavailable + couldn’t be used for Midway
* US = one aircraft carrier sunk and one other damaged
* Japanese sunk more American ships than they lost
* However, overall battle → US = strategic victory
* First time Japanese advance checked + stopped invasion of New Guinea.
* Two Japanese aircraft carriers = unavailable in the next battle (Midway)
* Victory against the Japanese → increase in US morale Port Moresby = part of Australian colony of Papua New Guinea → Japanese attempted to take Port Moresby by
land which was the Battle of Kokoda
Japanese objectives at the Battle of Midway
Aims at Midway (small/isolated island):
1. Deliver another (and final) crushing blow to America
2. Eliminate threat of American aircraft carriers – control skies & sea
3. Capture vital American outpost close to Pearl Harbour
Outcomes of the Battle of Midway
Midway = considered turning point of the Pacific theatre
* Japanese military suffered its first defeat
* With 4 aircraft carriers destroyed, US had air supremacy in the Pacific
* They had lost their most skilled and experienced aircrew
* Could attack Japanese supply lines + bomb cities/outposts
Japan would be on the defensive for rest of war
* Japan didn’t launch another major offensive for the rest of the war
* Allies started to push back Japanese across the Pacific
* Japan was unable to replace casualties, planes and ships at the same
rate the USA was., America = 4x faster to build aircraft carriers The importance of Aircraft Carriers in ensuring supremacy in the Pacific
theatre
- Reasons why Axis launched North Africa campaign
Nth Africa= important for shipping (Suez Canal),
access to oil in Middle East + for British access to India, if they took north Africa then they easily would’ve been easy to take india
Challenges of desert warfare
Logistics were a key factor: Throughout the campaign both
sides found that the further they advanced, the harder it
was to keep their forces supplied/ There was no ability for
armies to live off the land or use resources from conquered
territories.
* Both sides suffered shortages of fuel → rapid advances
were often followed by equally rapid retreats.
* Rough terrain and constant sand abrasion on engines made
vehicles break down.
* In the desert natural water supplies were almost nonexistent. Water had to be transported in vehicles.
* Half of each man’s daily ration of 4.5 litres went for cooking and
topping up vehicle radiators. The rest was for drinking, washing
and shaving.
* Climate: Visibility in the desert was hampered by heat
haze, dust and sandstorms/ soldiers dealt with extreme
heat during the day and cold temperature in the evenings
→ spread of disease with millions of flies bastardious motherfuckers entering ur body nd pestering u 24/7 + poor hygiene
Evidence Rommel was a skilled General
1941 Feb: Field Marshall Ewin Rommel + Afrika Corp arrived in Libya
* Rommel was a daring and imaginative tank commander + for several months his
tactics proved superior to those of the British.
* 24 March 1941: Rommel attacked, cutting off the British 3rd Armoured Brigade. Bri forces
had already been weakened by the transfer of troops to Greece and East Africa.
* By 13 April the British had been forced back to the Egyptian border, leaving the 9th
Australian Division besieged in Tobruk.
* The ‘Rats of Tobruk’ would hold out till November due to extensive fortifications +
conducting night raids
* After two attempts to relieve Tobruk failed General Wavell was replaced as
Commander-in-Chief Middle East by General Sir Claude Auchinleck.
* Reasons for Rommel’s early success:
* British lacked co-ordination between their tanks and infantry, which resulted in them
fighting almost separate battles= infantry did not receive the support it might have
done
* Despite Rommel being outnumber 4 to 1 in terms of tanks, his use of anti-tank guns
was more effective
he only failed becaause he progressed so rapidly that he outran his supply line which is why he needed a large port
1941 Feb: Field Marshall Ewin Rommel + Afrika Corp arrived in Libya
* Rommel was a daring and imaginative tank commander + for several months his
tactics proved superior to those of the British.
* 24 March 1941: Rommel attacked, cutting off the British 3rd Armoured Brigade. Bri forces
had already been weakened by the transfer of troops to Greece and East Africa.
* By 13 April the British had been forced back to the Egyptian border, leaving the 9th
Australian Division besieged in Tobruk.
* The ‘Rats of Tobruk’ would hold out till November due to extensive fortifications +
conducting night raids
* After two attempts to relieve Tobruk failed General Wavell was replaced as
Commander-in-Chief Middle East by General Sir Claude Auchinleck.
* Reasons for Rommel’s early success:
* British lacked co-ordination between their tanks and infantry, which resulted in them
fighting almost separate battles= infantry did not receive the support it might have
done
* Despite Rommel being outnumber 4 to 1 in terms of tanks, his use of anti-tank guns
was more effective
Reasons why the Allies won
The Germans were quickly running out of resources, The american involvement as well as the other allies causing a 2 fronted war for germans
After their initial resistance, the Vichy French agreed to a ceasefire.
* This allowed the Allies to advance into Tunisia
* Feb 1943: The Battle for Tunisia
* The Germans had reinforced Tunisia with more troops + Rommel’s retreating forces
* Germans succeeded in blocking the route to Tunis at Kasserine where the Allies suffered
10,000 casualties vs. 1500 Axis troops .
* 20 March 1943: The Eighth Army travelling west had linked up with those who
invaded from Algeria
* 7 May the Allies entered the capital Tunis + Five days later 250,000 German and
Italian troops surrendered.
* The battle for North Africa was over
Why Hitler focused on Stalingrad
Stalingrad was a key point of interest for the Germans in Russia because:
Stalingrad = industrial centre for Russia – produced weapons for Soviet troops in WW2 (artillery,
rifles, tanks)
* Volga River runs through Stalingrad = important shipping route for Soviet supplies as it is used
to send oil from the Caspian sea to the rest of the USSR → cutting this off would seriousl y
* By 1942 Germany was running low on oil
* The Caucasus region, south of Stalingrad was rich in raw materials (oil, gas, metals) + crops
(wheat, corn, sunflower seeds))
* Propaganda – city bore Stalin’s name t/f capture = hurt Stalin’s pride/ego propaganda
Nature of fighting during Battle of Stalingrad
Urban warfare, they fought in the streets house by house building by building, close combat, used any weapons they could find shovels kitchen knifes, bombings destroyed and leveled most of the city mostly a battle of defense it got to the point that Germany took 90% of Russia but the citizens were dedicated to defend it as it was life and death as if the Germans won they would’ve killed all the men and deported all of the women, civilians were not allowed to leave they were just expected to carry on with life as normal trying to work in factories if they left they were executed, as Stalin ordered all citizens to remain in Stalingrad
Operation Uranus
Nov 1942 = Operation Uranus → Soviet troops encircling 300,000 Germans
* Hitler refuses to surrender ordering all soldiers to continue fight instead ordered an airlift to resupply 6th
army
* Soviets – waited for harsher winter & then attack trapped Germans whose airlift was failing
* Feb 2nd 1943: 6th Army surrenders which is the first major defeat in WW2
Consequences of the USSR victory
It was the largest battle every fought with over 2mill men + up to 1.9mill
casualties + at least 40,000 civs killed
* Defeat of Nazi Germany’s strongest army = severely weakened German army
* 800,000 casualties + 91,000 taken prisoner, only 5000 of these men would return home as most died
Nazi Ger = X win another battle in WW2 → USSR begin to push Germany back
culminating in invasion of Berlin in 1945
* During battle Hitler fired top Generals as they X agree with his stance against
surrender → German army poorly led as a result of Hitler having too much
influence over decisions
* Despite suffering 1.1mill casualties the victory ↑ Soviet confidence + morale as
it showed German army was not invincible
Why did Hitler want to attack at Kursk?
Kursk was a small town with no real significance.
* The reason the Germans selected it as the location of their
attack was because it was a vulnerable salient in the Soviet
frontline.
* This meant they could attack the area from multiple sides.
* If the attack was successful, the Germans could potentially trap
and destroy 5 Russian armies positioned in the salient.
* Although this wouldn’t help to win the war, it was hoped that a
German victory would prevent another major Soviet offensive
Why were the Russians better prepared for the battle than the Germans
- Approx. 500,000 men
- 10,000 artillery pieces and mortars
- 2700 tanks and assault guns
- 2500 aircraft
- Russian strength:
- Approx. 1.3 million men
- 20,000 artillery pieces and mortars
- 3600 tanks and assault guns
- 2650 aircraft
- Additional 500,000 men and 1500 tanks in reserve.
- As well as a material advantage, the Russians had several other
advantages before going into the battle: - Hitler had delayed the offensive by 2 months to wait for better weather and
the delivery of his new state-of-the-art Panther and Tiger tanks. - This gave the Russians the chance to create a vast network of defensive
positions including over 2500 miles of trenches, tank traps and the laying of
nearly a million mines. - The Germans planned to launch a Blitzkrieg style assault from the north and
south of the salient. For this to be successful, the Germans needed to have
the element of surprise. However, the British had recently cracked the
German Enigma code and were therefore able to give the Russians all the
details of the German plan, and could easily plan for a counter
What were some key events of the battle?
At 4:30am on the 5th July 1943, the Germans launch a huge
bombardment from the north and south of the salient that
signals that the battle has begun.
A combination of tanks, infantry and assault guns smashed into
the Russian frontlines.
The clear weather meant that the Germans were able to
effectively utilise the Luftwaffe to bombard Russian units and the
offensive initially pushed back the Russian defences.
However, the battle quickly turns attritional as the German
forces fell upon the strong Russian defeces and Russian reserves
are moved in to reinforce the frontlines.
Although the Russians have hundreds of tanks primed to strike,
Stalin orders that the battle remains an attritional one. He is
biding his time to strike.
By the 12th July, the German offensive has stalled and Citadel is
called off. Not only have they failed to trap the Russian forces in
the salient, but they are also exposed to a Russian counterattack.
With the German advance grinding to a halt and
their armoured units severely weakened, the
Russians launched their counterattack on the
12th July.
The Russians had been planning for these
counterattacks for some time and committed
1000s of tanks and over 1 million men.
Despite stiff resistance from the Germans, the
Russians were able to overwhelm the German
forces and forced them back to the key strategic
cities of Kharkov and Smolensk.
Why is the battle significant?
Russians – approx. 800,000 men / over 8000 tanks and assaults guns destroyed or damaged.
* Germans – approx. 200,000 men / over 4000 tanks and assault guns destroyed or damaged.
* However, unlike the Russians, the Germans were unable to replace these losses in both men and
material.
* This became an even bigger problem when the Allies launched their invasion of Italy in September → diversion of
German troops to that front.
* For the first time in the war, the Germans had been stopped from making a major breakthrough with
one of their offensives.
* The Germans were never able to launch another major offensive on the Eastern Front.The Russians were now able to take the time to prepare for their major offensives of 1944 and 1945
without worrying about any major German attacks. The offensives would help to win the war.
reasons for the invasion of italy
1.Since 1942 Stalin had been begging the allies to help them to help relieve pressure on Russians troops
2.great point of invasion in which to take France and Germany
3.Troops in North Africa were doing well with their defense + they defeated the axial powers so it made logistical sense to move troops from there
4. It would knock Italy Germanys main ally out of the war
The role of operation mincemeat in the invasion of sicily
Operation mincemeat was an plan by the allies to trick the Germans into guarding Sardinia and Corsica while attacking Sicily this was done by dressing a homeless corpse as a British naval captain with fake documents about their plan to attack Sardinia and Corsica then moving him and dropping him on the coast of Spain which Germany was defending they found him and believed it this led to a successful allied invasion of Sicily
The nature of fighting in Italy
The invasion of italy would immediately become a brutal attritional conflict ,Germans built a very strongv defence at which the allies would constantly ttempt to break through, they essentially leveled the town of Monty Cassino which backfired as it made the german more able to defend it
The outcomes of the invasion of Italy
with a couple of weeks on the 4th June 1944 Rome fell to the allies while this didn’t mean that Italy was out off the war it lead to a shift in strategy as it now meant that the rest of the battle was attritional not letting German troops retreat back to France as the allies launched their invasion of France only 2 days later, overall 300000 British and American troops were either killed captured or wounded however they were easy for the USA to replace ass they had freshly entered the war unlike the Germans who had casualties of 434000 men to which Germany was running out of men
A week b4 Italy was taken Mussolini had been captured by allied Italian partisans who executed him and hung him in the town of Milan where the bodies were horrifically disgraced ,unrecognizable, this influenced Hitlers decision to commit suicide at end of ww2 rather than be captured
Aims + limitations of strategic bombing
aims: to strategically destroy key areas(e.g: weapons production factories, political areas) that may help enemy nations ability to wage war terrorize
limitations: most bombings down at night to evade enemy defenses but this meant that they were largely inaccurate as they couldn’t see their targets e.g: if a bomb was dropped within 8km of target= successsful
why was the bombing of dresden so devastating?
the allies had air superiority=more accuracy
unusually dry weather in January(winter) = fire spread drastically higher and faster, they had key German factories 110 as well as communication tower meaning allies were extra aggressive not to mention it was their 7th largest city
why did the USA firebomb japan?
they had 3 options to knock japan out of WW2:
A. use a naval blockade to starve japan into submission but Japanese spirit meant this would take too long
B.startegically bomb japan fire bomb, but this would cause many civilian casualties and collateral damage
C.Send in an army to invaade mainland japan but okinawa taught US that japan would fight to the last man = a shit ton of allied casualties = undesirable,so they had to decide on strategic bombing as all others were too costly for allies
why were the impacts of firebombing so devastating?
In a single night 100000 died, 25% of the city was destroyed and 1 million were left homeless and wiped out Tokyo’s war production this was more devastating than the atomic bombs with the day of their launch not only that but long term at least 8mil ppl were left homeless 300000-330000 civilian casualties and the destruction of 60% of tokyo
