InNo+RyanC2013+02.20.2011

=Awesomeness (Home Batch)=

media type="custom" key="8556910"

=Awesomeness (Bought)= = =





= = =From Lightening War to Phoney= toc

Blitzkrieg

 * Blitzkrieg - destroying enemy defenseswith a sudden attack by air and land.
 * Poland was attacked by bomber aircraft which destroyed their air force, factories, and roads.
 * While this happened German forces also crossed the border to fight the Polish Army.
 * By Sept. 17, German forces had captured most of western Poland.
 * The Soviet Union, on agreement, began the invasion of eastern Poland.
 * On 28 Sept. the people of Warsaw, Poland's capital surrendered.

Suffering of Poles

 * The Blitzkrieg strategy involved both the army and civilians.
 * 66,000 Poles had been killed, and at least 200,000 were wounded.

"Phoney War "

 * On September 3rd France and Britain declared war on Germany.
 * It was very difficult for them to defend Poland.
 * Poland was far away.
 * Britain had a small army and air force.
 * France had a large army, but unprepared.
 * A British Expeditionary Force was sent to France.
 * The French army was placed along the frontier with Germany and Belgium.
 * Civilians in both countries prepared to defend themselves against bombings.
 * In Britain 1 and 1/2 million women and children were evacuated from cities to the countryside.
 * Air raid shelters were built and sandbags put around doorways.
 * Night time blackouts were enforced.
 * People carried gas-masks.
 * For the next 9 months, fighting did not take place.
 * The French called it the "Odd War" while the British called it the " Phoney War ".

=Fall of Western Europe=

Germany attacks Norway

 * April 1940, the "Phoney War" ends when Germans invade Norway.
 * This invasion was carried out by Hitler when the British laid mines along the Norwegian coast.
 * Britain was trying to blockade iron supplies to Germany from northern Sweden to Germany.
 * Germany needed these supplies to produce weapons.
 * German forces took areas along the atlantic coast and occupied Denmark to supply bases in an invasion of Norway.
 * British troops attempted to stop the Germans, however they were unsuccessful as their troops were poorly trained and equipped. (Forced to Retreat)
 * House of Commons blamed the Prime Minister of Britain, Neville Chamberlain, forcing him to resign.
 * Winston Churchill took up his place, forming the National Government (a coalition including members of the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Parties).
 * Their policy was a victory through a hard and all out war.

Germany attacks the West

 * Hitler attacked western Europe after his invasion of Poland.
 * Operation Yellow (May 10, 1940).
 * Operation Yellow was a blitzkrieg that allowed Germans to defeat Holland and Belgium, and invade France through Ardennes Mountain s, a place they least expected an attack from.
 * Operation Yellow forced British and French troops to retreat to Dunkirk on the Channel Coast.
 * French and British organised a mass seaborne retreat for 1/2 a million soldiers/
 * Half of these soldiers were able to board ships.
 * The rest needed to wait on the beaches, while any type of ship/boat brought them to larger craft offshore.
 * The evacuation was a great defeat, nearly 70,000 men were killed or taken prisoner, 150,000 mean were abandoned to become prisoners.
 * Thousands of weapons and vehicles were left behind.

The Fall of France

 * With British troops out of France, the Germans launched a new attack on France.
 * Italy, Hitler's ally, declared war on France and invaded souther France.
 * The French government fled from Paris, leaving Marshal Petain as prime minister (retired army general).
 * A armistice was signed and the Germans occupied all northern and eastern France.
 * Marsh Petain governed the south, in a town called Vichy.

Britain Alone

 * Germans conquered 6 European nations in less than a year, leaving Britain alone.
 * Hitler offered a peace on moderate terms, however Winston Churchill rejected them.
 * Hitler ordered an invasion of Britain by combined air, sea, and land forces.
 * More than a million men joined the Home Guard, a volunteer force to defend Britain.
 * Road signs were painted out as were names of railways.
 * Iron railing and aluminum pans were used to get scrap metal for tanks.
 * King George VI practiced revolver shooting, saying that he intended to die there fighting.

=Battle over Britain=

Operation Sealion

 * Operation Sealion - the invasion plan of England.
 * 2 German Armies totaling up to 100,000 men were gathered at the coast, ready to transport by steamers collected from ports in Germany.
 * The Luftwaffe's task was to take control of the air, making sure that B ritish Royal Air Force did not sink the transport boats.
 * 10 July, 1940 Bomber planes attacked British ships in the channel and several channel ports.
 * It seemed like the Luftwaffe would win, on paper, however the Luftwaffe had the same amount of fighters as the British, with more bombers.
 * Most of these planes could only operate over southern England, for half an hour at a time.
 * British also had a chain of radar stations around the coasts, allowing them to predict German aircraft movement.
 * 15 August the Luftwaffe began an all out attack, trying to smash the RAF. > (Battle of Britain)

Battle of Britain

 * The Luftwaffe damaged RAF airfields and hundred of fighters.
 * The RAF was close to defeat.
 * Despite it being supplied with new planes, the RAF did not have enough fliers or airfields.
 * 7 Sept. Hitler orders attack on London.
 * This gave the RAF a chance to rebuild and reorganize.
 * The RAF was able to destroy many German aircrafts when they came to raid London.
 * The Luftwaffe therefore changed to night-time bombings.
 * This meant that the RAF had kept control of British air, and that Hitler could not continue Operation Sealion.

The Blitz

 * From 7 September, the Luftwaffe resulted to bombing communications, factories, and houses.
 * These attacks went up to May 1941, they were known as the Blitz.
 * In Britain Air Raid Precautions issued gas masks to citizens, constructed air-rad shelter, installed air-raid sirens, floated barrage balloons, and enforced "blackouts".
 * These precautions decreased the effect of the Blitz and morale was kept up.
 * Factories still produced and railroads were repaired.
 * 3.5 million homes were destroyed, a quarter of a million people were made homeless, and 60,595 were killed.

=The Mediterranean War=

Importance of the Mediterranean

 * Germany had occupied much of Europe by summer of 1940.
 * The British had no way to fight the Germans, as they had no forces there, they could only fight around the Mediterranean.
 * Mussolini wanted to rebuild the Roman Empire and make the Mediterranean his "Italian Lake".
 * Mussolini already controlled Libya of North Africa, Abyssinia of the African kingdom, and the Balkan states of Albania.
 * The Mediterranean for the British was a vital trade route to her colonies.
 * Naval bases at Gibraltar and Malta protected the Mediterranean trade route, and an a British army in Egypt protected the Suez Canal.
 * Hitler didn't care so much for the Mediterranean, all he wanted was to drive the British out of it.
 * Taking Egypt and the Middle East would help them gain control over Britain's oil supply in Iraq and Persia.
 * The three countries struggled over the Mediterranean
 * Centered around the areas of the Balkan states of south-east Europe and the desert lands of north-east Africa.

War in the Balkans

 * Hitler shadowed Mussolini, who resented this fact.
 * Without consulting Hitler, Mussolini order his army to invade Greece (Oct. 1940).
 * The Italians were poorly led and equipped for mountain warfare, and the Greeks drove them back into Albania.
 * In Nov. 1940, British Aircraft attacked Italian navy in Taranto.
 * Mussolini withdrew his fleet to Naples, leaving the British Royal Navy in command of the Mediterranean.
 * Hitler stepped in and moved troops into Romania, fearing that the British would bomb them from Greece.
 * German troops moved into Romania in Dec. 1940, Hitler pressured the Balkan states to join.
 * Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria agreed to join, but when Yugoslavia refused, Hitler immediately invaded them causing them to surrender.
 * Germany also invaded Greece at the same time, British sent support however they were forced to retreat.
 * The Germans had occupied all of the Balkan states.
 * They planned to capture the island of Crete in May 1940 to strengthen their hold.

War in North Africa

 * In Sept. 1940 300,000 Italian troops invaded Egypt where 36,000 British, Australian, Indian, and New Zealand troops were based.
 * Heavily outnumbered, British General O'Connor attacked the Italian base at Sidi Barrani.
 * This attack tok the Italians by surprise and they were defeated.
 * General O'Connor continued to capture Italian bases at Barida, Toburk, Benghazi, and El Algheila.
 * By Feb. 1941, the British had an overwhelming victory over the Italians.
 * In Feb 1941, Churchill sent O'Conner's soldiers to defend Greece from the Germans (happens above section).
 * Hitler at the same time sends General Rommel and the German Afrika korps to North Africa to help retreating Italians.
 * Rommel was able to counter-attack with British troops in Greece, pushing the British all the way back to the Egyptian border.
 * Only Australian troops at Tobruk held still.
 * Britain would remain defensive in North Africa for the rest of the year.
 * By mid-1941, the Mediterranean for the British was poor, however on June 22 Germany tries to invade the Soviet Union.

=Summary=

Operation Yellow carried out by the Germans succeeded, this caused British troops to retreat back to Britain and France to surrender. Using the Luftwaffe Hitler tried to take control of British air, so that land troops could invade Britain, this failed. With British troops out of Europe Britain could only attack areas around the Mediterranean. Despite many victories on the British side, the war over the Mediterranean was still weak from a British perspective. The whole war turned around as Hitler tries to invade Russia.

=Questions=


 * 1) Why was France defeated so easily even though it had a large army?
 * 2) Describe the precautions of air raids during the blitz and other bombings.
 * 3) What happened during Operation Sealion that allowed Britain to come back?
 * 4) Why was the Mediterranean so appealing to the 3 powers?
 * 5) What happened that ended the "Phoney War"?

Irrelevant Question:


 * 1) In the movie the King's Speech, if King George VI could give a flawless speech while listening to music, then why doesn't he just listen to music while broadcasting?