WW2 European Theatre Flashcards
How does WW2 start in Europe?
Hitler invades Poland
Great Britain and France declare war on Germany
(Hitler is surprised by this)
Blitzkrieg definition
Lighting Warfare
Blitzkrieg Phases
Phase 1: Air assault
Phase 2: land attack
What is revolutionary about Hitler’s army tactics?
He places the tanks in front of the infantry
Uses radio to communicate
First to use paratroopers?
Wehrmacht
German army
Why did France fall so quickly to Germany?
Their tanks came behind their infantry
German tanks would just blow up all their men
Which General uses blitzkreig for the US?
Patton
Phony war
8 month period where nothing happened between Germany, Britain, and France
Britain is preparing on the homefront
1940
How did the Phony War end?
Hitler launched a full scale Blizkreig attack on Denmark, Norway, Holland, Beligium, and Luzembourg
What is Hitler doing during the Phony War?
Enforces Lebensraum and moves Jews to Ghettos
What happens right after the Phony War and Hitler’s first invasions?
Italy declares war on Great Britain and France
Italy invades Southern France
What did Mussolini warn Hitler about?
Said he wasn’t ready for a land attack yet, but Hitler was insistent
Magniot Line
Defensive line in France
Underground network with above ground bunkers
Magniot Line’s weakness
Able to go around it in the North
The North was also flat and ideal for attacking
How does Germany take advantage of Magniot line?
They sweep through Belgium into North France and headed towards the English Channel
Battle of Dunkirk
Entire British army of 338,000 trapped between the Germans and English Channel
British evacuations saved 300,000 men
Significant outcomes of Dunkirk
Blitzkreig is born
British lose a lot of supplies
How does the media spin Dunkirk?
Some believe that the British media intentionally made the story seem very brave and courageous in order to boast British morale
British morale was greatly boasted after Dunkirk
When do the Germans overtake Paris?
June, 1940
What government pops up in France?
Vichy
French Nazis
Able to have some autonomy
Gave French Indochina to Japanese
Leader of Vichy Government
Henri Petain
Charles de Gaulle
French
Head of the underground resistance
becomes President of France after the war
What did Churchill see Italy as?
The soft underbelly of europe
Why are the French not allies but treated as victors?
They were key in their own survival
The underground resistance
Helped us greatly in D-Day
What is the United Nations at first?
Just a group of nations against the axis powers
What do a lot of the signatories on the United Nations provide?
Resources
Naval Bases
(A lot of south american countries)
What was the Allied strategy for the war?
Germany was the main target
Germany was the most eminent threat
Military theatre
Geographic areas where military operations are performed
Campaign
Various military operations performed in order to achieve an overall goal
Battle
A fight between two militaries
Operation Barbosa and goals
Eastern Europe
Germany wants to capture Moscow and defeat communism
Challenges of Operation Barbosa
Germans were not prepared for the harsh Russian weather
What was Stalin’s tactics during Operation Barbosa?
Scorched Earth tactics
All citizens must defend all of the Soviet union
How did the invasion into the Soviet Union contribute to the Holocaust>
Operation allowed the Einsatzgruppen to follow closely behind the German army and murder the Jews
German goal of Stalingrad
To occupy Southern Russia oilfields
Protect German left flank
Type of fighting at Stalingrad
Street fighting
Made it difficult for the Germans to use Blitzkreig
Outcomes of Stalingrad
USSR won
Began the German retreat
Boasted Soviet confidence
Characteristics of Stalingrad
Bloody fight because officers have a lot of pressure put on them by Stalin
Civilians are trapped in the city
Significance of North Africa to Axis
Access to Suez Canal
Oil fields in Middle East
Significance of North Africa to Allies
Back door into Europe
Why at the beginning of the war does Britain stand alone?
USSR in non-aggression pact
USA does not want to get involved
Operation Sealion
Amphibious invasion of England
Defining characteristic of Battle of Britain
Primarily an Air battle
German goal of Battle of Britain
To bomb Britain so badly that he can perform a naval attack
Needs to gain air superiority over the English channel
Luftwaffe
German airforce
Royal Air Force’s defenses in Battle of Britain
Radar
Attacked Luftwaffe before they reached mainland
Blitz
Concentrated bombing of London through summer and fall of 1940
Why did the Blitz take place?
Revenge for British bombing Berlin
Hitler’s biggest mistake at Battle of Britian
Thought he could bomb England into submission
Doesn’t focus on bombing airbases
Significant outcomes of Battle of Britain
Unified the British
Hitler changes his focus to Russia (Operation Sealion becomes Operation Barbosa)
Hitler leaves buzz bombs (ballistic missiles) for English
What is the US doing during the Battle of Britain?
Isolation
Selective Training and Service Act
Required every man between 21 and 35 to register for the draft
Pushed by FDR
Land Lease Act
Budgeted for ships, planes, tanks, and supplies to be sent to Britain and the Allies
Why did the Land Lease Act come about?
After Dunkirk British needed more supplies
Cash and Carry Policy
If a country is at war they need to pay cash and their ships have to carry the goods
Saves the US from getting pulled into WW2 like they did WW1 buy selling equipment to countries at war
Why does the US get into the war?
We only declare war on Japan
Strategic
Military force translated into political and/or military objectives
Conferences, goals
Theatre
Operational
Coordinate the overarching goals of strategy with the specific details of tactics
Operation sealion
Tactical
Implement operational goals using short term decisions
Flanks, battle
How do the Allies prepare for Operation Overlord?
gain control of the Atlantic by the use of radar and sonar
Constant stream of American troops and military supplies to England
Gained air superiority
Breadth
Variety
Hitler had too much breadth and not enough depth
Mistake of Hitler at D-Day
Micromanaged
What does Operation Overlord End With
The liberation of France
Battle of the Bulge
Germans launched their last major counter attack to split the Allies in half and drive them back to the English Channel
How did the Germans gain an upperhand at Battle of the Bulge
Allie were halted by a lack of supplies
Troops divided and not concentrated
101st Airborne
Protected Bastogne during Battle of the Bulge
Patton’s 3rd Army came and “saved” them
Outcome of Battle of the Bulge
German failure allowed Allies to successfully push into Germany from the West
Germany done. Only boys and old men can protect Berlin
Siegfried Line
Allies smashed through this German line at the end of the war
Crossed the Rhine River and were in Germany
What drives Churchill and Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference
Churchill wants to keep Britain an empire, he was also concerned about Poland (free elections)
Roosevelt is concerned with Pacific war and Iwo Jima
Who replaces Roosevelt?
Truman
Hitler’s death
Committed suicide in the Fuhrerbunker
Russians had the city surrounded
V-E Day
Victory Day in Europe
Germany officially surrenders to the Allies
May 8, 1945
Atlantic Conference
Sign the Atlantic Charter (foundation for the UN)
Reaction to mistakes of Treaty of Versaille
No territorial expansion
Self-determination for all people
Disarming of all aggressors
Who met at Atlantic conference
Roosevelt and Churchill
Who met at Casablanca Conference
Roosevelt and Churchill
Casablanca Conference
Accept nothing less than unconditional surrender of the Axis powers
Who met at Tehran conference
The Big Three
Tehran Conference
Leads to planning of Operation Overlord
Soviets will enter the war with Japan
Who meets at Yalta Conference
Big Three
Yalta Conference
Germany divided into 4 military zones
Creation of UN
Soviets given territory (free elections)
War crime trials to be held
Who met at Potsdam
Truman
Clemet Attlee
Stalin
Potsdam Conference
Unconditional surrender for Japan
Stalin announces there will be no free election in Eastern Europe
Trust between USA and USSR falling
Turning point of North Africa
El Alamein
What happens in North Africa
Italy invades to retake Mediterreanan
Hitler sends Rommel in for reinforcements
Rommel defeated by Montgomery
130,000 Axis troops taken prisoners
What happens to Mussolini after Italy Invasion
He is forced to resign
Why did the Allies begin invading Italy
Thought it would remove Italy from the war
soft underbelly
Importance of Italian Campaign
Upset the balance in France
Took Germans away from France
Patton in Operation Fortitude
In charge of a Phony army to trick the Germans into thinking that an attack was coming at the wrong place
Challenge during Battle of The Bulge
Foul weather and lack of supplies
Rommel
Afrika Corps
Desert Fox
Blitzkreig
Montgomery
British
El Alamein is his big win
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Supreme Allied Commander
Spearheaded invasion of Nazi europe
Omar Bradley
Concerned with the welfare of his men
Well-liked
GI General
Patton
Battle of the Bulge
North Africa
Old Blood and Guts
Slapped a soldier leading to be in charge of a fake army
