Practices_1939-1941

=Willkommen.=

This page concerns itself largely with the period of success for Nazi Germany early in the war. flat



So sit back relax and get your self some Lebensraum and enjoy the early Second World War 1939 - 1941.

flat =Timeline of 1939-1941 = **1939**


 * Hitler invades Poland on 1 September. Britain and France declare war on Germany two days later.

**1940**


 * Rationing starts in the UK.
 * German 'Blitzkrieg' overwhelms Belgium, Holland and France.
 * Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
 * British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk.
 * British victory in Battle of Britain forces Hitler to postpone invasion plans.

**1941**


 * Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of the USSR.
 * The Blitz continues against Britain's major cities.
 * Allies take Tobruk in North Africa, and resist German attacks.
 * Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.

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=Key Events=

=**"Blitzkrieg": The Hottest Military Strategy Since the S**chlieffen Plan=

"Blitzkrieg" or lighting war was a German military strategy that revolutionised the nature of warfare in the early part of World War Two. Hitler and the other German military leaders, determined to avoid the strategic mistakes of the First World War, saw the need to develop a new method of fighting. The new strategy was modelled of both the early success in the first part of WWI as well as the initial success of the stormtroopers developed by Ludendorff in the spring offensives of 1918. As implied by the name "lighting war" the effectiveness of blitzkrieg lay in its ability to quickly overcome and overwhelm an enemy with quick and large offensives, heavily utilising the element of surprise. Being a new strategy the Allies were unprepared for it and so it was even more effective, leading to the quick defeat of France, Belgium, Poland and Holland.

How to Blitzkrieg:
 * 1) Bombers Attack enemy airfields and communication centres slowing down enemy organisation and stoping potential air defences
 * 2) Paratroopers land behind the battle front and capture areas of strategic importance and further disrupt enemy communications
 * 3) Bombers move forwards of the battle front and attack enemy strong holds
 * 4) Tank devisions known as Panzers break through weak points in the enemy lines and move fast allowing the encirclement the enemy
 * 5) Infantry followed behind finishing the battle off and removing or capturing any remaining resistance

Image: //Essential MODERN WORLD HISTORY, Steven Waugh, Nelson// //Thornes//

//Explanation of Blitzkrieg //

[|Blitzkrieg in action; the invasion of Poland]

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Some of the greatest successes of Blitzkrieg came largely out of its agility and sheer military strength. The agility of blitzkrieg was key to its foundation, in the fast moving tank divisions that would find strategic weaknesses, allowing Hitler's forces to penetrate deep into enemy lines. The military might of Germany meant that its forces were able to overpower and dominate opposing armies, this was particularly evident in the invasion of poland in which Germany gained a quick victory. The combination of these two is what allowed Germany's forces to successfully breach the Maginot line and overtake France.

=The Battle of Britain July-October 1940=

"Never in the field of conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" is one of the famous Winston Churchill quotes on the pilots that flew in the Battle of Britain that arguably prevented the invasion of Britain in 'Operation Sealion'. Hitler wanted to knock Britain out of the war and he hoped that Britain, after the evacuation of Dunkirk would offer peace. Surprisingly the one area of arms that the Germans were inferior in was in the navy. Since 1933 Britain had been outspending Germany in ship-building and naval infrastructure, which widened the already large gap in naval capabilities. So for an invasion to be successful Hitler needed to ensure there was no aerial threat.

However, the fact that Hitler continuously changed his targets from shipyards, to airfields, to cities allowed time for the British to rebuild the previously targeted locations. With-out the Blitz fighter command may have been wiped off the map as they were losing the Battle of Britain up to the point Hitler and Goering decided to change tactics. This indecisiveness of Hitler to stop bombing British airfields gave the RAF a reprieve as bombing cities had minimal strategic benefits and what was designed to demolish British morale and shove the people into submission actually strengthened belief and British will to fight back the Germans. The reason Hitler decided to begin bombing cities was sparked when the allies bombed Berlin after the Luftwaffe accidently missed their actual targets, docking yards, and the bombs landed in the center of London. The British retaliation triggered Hitler to act out revenge on this once off revenge attack which triggered the beginning of the Blitz.

The Battle of Britain ended on the 31st of October 1940 when Hitler postponed invasion plans and decided to focus on preparations for the Russian invasion. Germany had lost nearly 2000 aircraft ad Britain lost just over 1000. The fact that German aircraft had low range meant its fighters especially couldn't protect the bombers for extended periods of time and that the Battle of Britain was fought over England meant survivors of plane crashes couldn't be put back into service if capable. Another defining difference was the superiority of the Supermarine Spitfire that could outmaneuver the Messerschmidt bf 109. In addition to this the supreme radar defense around the British coast is most often regarded as the most important asset to winning the Battle of Britain and protecting Britain for the whole war.

=Hitler Breaks his Promise: The Non Aggression Pact & Invasion of Russia 1939 & 1941=

Signed on the 23rd of August 1939 (Pg. 172 War and Peace), after failing to find support in France and Britain Stalin needed protection from a German invasion, and he found that protection in the very nation he feared would invade. Russia had gone through mass industrialisation in the 30's with the five year plans and collectivisation but the success of increasing output came at a toll of millions of deaths from starvation and Stalin's ruthlessness highlighted in the Great Purges. 20 million people were taken to labour camps during Stalin's great purges of which 12 million never returned and then when Stalin felt like there had been enough he purged the NKVD (secret police) so those who had committed the purges couldn't retell their stories. The point of highlighting the purges is the fact that Stalin removed and killed many generals and officers in the purges; this fundamentally weakened the army leading up to the war. When WW2 broke out the purges had only stopped a year earlier and there were no fit replacements for those who had been either expelled or killed.

The Non-aggression pact was a short term solution for both parties: Hitler wanted to avoid a two front war so he could focus on the west before swinging east and Stalin needed time to rebuild the army as it was not ready to fight a total war. Hitler had openly discussed his idea of Lebensraum and this was to come in the east. It is likely Stalin knew an invasion was inevitable and the pact gave him two more years to prepare with an example that the Soviet Union moved the majority of its factories East of Moscow.

On the 22nd June 1941 the Wehrmacht walked into Russia breaking the Non-aggression pact. This was initially taken as a surprise to Stalin although Churchill had even written a personal letter to Stalin forewarning of a German invasion. The Russians would end up losing 7 000 000 men in a ruthless war when retreaters were at times shot by their own officers.

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=So what were Benito and Hirohito up to during all of this?=

The full involvement of Japan in World War Two (Pg. 186 War and Peace) did not come until much later in the war. Despite the fact Japan had invaded Manchuria in 1931 by the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 the war in manchuria had largely reached a stalemate. Japan's expansionist aims in asia were recognised by the United States and as a result it was subject to a trade embargo from 1940. The success of the Germany in the war encouraged Japan to join the war on the side of the Axis powers which it ultimately did in 1941 with the bombing of Pearl Harbour.

Italy also was late to join the war, with Mussolini only siding with Hitler in 1940 after the successful invasion of France believing that the war had already been won. However soon after joining the war and attacking Greece, Italy was in a stale mate, Greece appealed for assistance from Britain. Hitler wanting to avoid giving the British a foothold in the Balkans aided Italy in fighting off the British. Mussolini was ousted in 1943 with the allied invasion of Italy.

= The Blitz =


 * Started on September 7th of 1940 - concluded may 1941
 * Focused primarily on civilian and business centers
 * The idea of the blitz was to reduce the British moral, and wear them down till they surrendered.
 * 40% of housing as destroyed
 * Forced England into total war (which they had been trying so hard to avoid)
 * They attacked at night
 * By the end of October 1914 250,000 Londoners were homeless.
 * In 1940 German bombing expanded out of London
 * February 1941 the Germans started bombing ports in an attempt to starve Britain
 * It was ended so Germany could move there forces to invade Russia



= Fall of France =


 * Start 10 may Germany air raids on Holand/Belgium
 * Allies formed meager alliance structure
 * Over in six weeks- the Germany blitzkrieg over ran French and Holland’s archaic defenses
 * The Dutch surrendered in four days
 * The Allies’ full force couldn’t stop the flow of the Nazis
 * British withdrew from the mainland Between 26 May and 4, during that time
 * Germany attacked Paris on June 6 and took over on the 14th
 * On the 22 of June Paris surrendered, in the same railway carriage used when Germany surrendered from ww1
 * It is worth noting that their invasion of France was very similar in style to the schlieffen pla

=Key Questions and Essay Topics=


 * 1) What was the role of blitzkrieg during the early second world war?
 * 2) How was Germany successful and unsuccessful in the early second world war?
 * 3) To what extent was the Non-aggression Pact an offensive treaty?