World War II 1939-45 Flashcards
What did Blitzkrieg involve
1 German planes destroy enemy targets on ground
2 Large numbers of tanks smash through defences
3 Enemy troops surrounded, forced to surrender
Definition of Blitzkrieg
German military tactics involving heavy bombing from air + rapid tank movements on ground
How was France defeated?
No fighting in West ‘Phoney war’
Maginot Line - protected border w/ Germany
Germans avoided - attacked through hilly area (Ardennes)
Italy enters war
German forces entered Paris
June - France surrendered
Germans occupied north
Allowed French gov to be formed in South (Vichy France)
Led by Marshal Pétain
Dunkirk
26th May - 4th June 1940
Operation Dynamo
Thousands of Allied forces rescued off beaches - defending against German invasion
300,000 Allied soldiers rescued
Hitler’s mistake in war
Used fishing boats + trawlers - rescue
Restored hope to Allies
Battle of Britain
- Beginning
- R.A.F
- The Blitz
- Turn of Tides
- Fall out
- Beginning
Nazis - defeated France, pushed Brit. out of Dunkirk
Britain alone - Russia + America havent entered yet
Operation Sea Lion - invasion of Brit. by sea
Operation Eagle - aerial bombardment (Luftwaffe)
- R.A.F
First - destroy RAF (Britain’s Royal Air Force)
Aug 1940 - Luftwaffe bombed airfields + aircraft factories
RAF Spitfires + Hurricanes defend
- The Blitz
Luftwaffe - bombarded Brit. cities (The Blitz)
RAF - defend Brit cities
- Tactics in first 2 wks poor - flew in line formation (Row of Idiots)
Widespread destruction of Brit cities - London, Liverpool, Manchester
- Turn of tides
Sep 15 1940 - largest attack on Brit.
RAF sustained attacks + defeat Lwaffle on sev. occassions
- Turning point - moral boost
Germany - attention to Russia
- Fallout
German U-Boats (subs) attacked Brit. ships w/ supplies
Shortages - food, fuel, clothes rationed
May 1941 - Gave up Operation Sealion - Invade Sov. U instead
1944 - V-1 + V-2 rockets - bomb Brit.
- Lots of dmg, little diff to course of war
Blitzkrieg
Case White - German plan to invade Poland
Blitzkrieg - Lightning war
Warsaw heavily bombed
Attacked from East by Societs
Three weeks - Poland defeated