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Book No. – 52 (History)
Book Name – Modern World History (Norman Lowe)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. SUMMARY OF EVENTS
2. OPENING MOVES: SEPTEMBER 1939 TO DECEMBER 1940
2.1. Poland defeated
2.2. The ‘phoney war
2.3. Denmark and Norway invaded. April 1940
2.4. Hitler attacks Holland, Belgium and France
2.5. Why was France defeated so quickly?
2.6. The Battle of Britain (12 August to 30 September 1940)
2.7. Mussolini invades Egypt. September 1940
3. THE AXIS OFFENSIVE WIDENS. 1941 TO THE SUMMER OF 1942
3.1. North Africa and Greece
3.2. The German invasion of Russia (Operation Barbarossa) began on 22 June 1941
3.3. The USA enters the war. December 1941
3.4. Brutal behaviour by Germans and Japanese
4. THE OFFENSIVES HELD IN CHECK SUMMER 1942 TO SUMMER 1943
4.1. Midway Island, June 1942
4.2. El Alamein. October 1942
4.3. Stalingrad
5. WHAT PART WAS PLAYED BY ALLIED NAVAL FORCES?
6. WHAT CONTRIBUTION DID AIR POWER MAKE TO THE DEFEAT OF THE AXIS?
6.1. Achievements of Allied air power
6.2. Allied bombing of German and Japanese cities
7. THE AXIS POWERS DEFEATED: JULY 1943 TO AUGUST 1945
8. WHY DID THE AXIS POWERS LOSE THE WAR?
9. THE HOLOCAUST
9.1. The intentionalists
9.2. The functionalists
9.3. The ‘Final Solution’ takes shape
9.4. Genocide
10. WHAT WERE THE EFFECTS OF WAR?
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The Second World War (1939-45)
Chapter – 6
SUMMARY OF EVENTS
Second World War was a war of rapid movement and much more complex than World War I, with campaigns in the Pacific, Far East, North Africa, Russia, central and western Europe, and the Atlantic.
The war falls into four defined phases.
Opening moves: September 1939 to December 1940
- By the end of September, Germans and Russians occupied Poland.
- After a five-month pause (the ‘phoney war’), Germany occupied Denmark and Norway in April 1940.
- May 1940: Attacks on Holland, Belgium, and France; France fell, leaving Britain to face the dictators.
- Mussolini declared war in June, just before France’s fall.
- Battle of Britain (July to September 1940): Germany’s attempt to bomb Britain into submission was thwarted.
- Mussolini’s armies invaded Egypt and Greece.
The Axis offensive widens: 1941 to summer 1942
- The war developed into a worldwide conflict.
- June 1941: Hitler invaded Russia, breaking the non-aggression pact.
- December 1941: Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the USA into the war.
- Japanese occupied territories like the Philippines, Malaya, Singapore, and Burma.
- At this stage, it seemed there was no stopping the Germans and Japanese, but Italians were less successful.
The offensives held in check: Summer 1942 to Summer 1943
- Three key battles in which Axis forces were defeated:
- June 1942: Americans drove off Japanese from Midway Island, inflicting heavy losses.
- October 1942: Germans under Rommel were halted at El Alamein and driven out of North Africa.
- September 1942: Germans advanced to Stalingrad; by February 1943, German army was surrounded and forced to surrender.
- The war in the air continued, with both sides bombing enemy cities.
- At sea, Britain and the USA gradually overcame the German submarine menace.
- Three key battles in which Axis forces were defeated:
The Axis powers defeated: July 1943 to August 1945
- The USA and USSR‘s power and resources, combined with Britain’s effort, wore down the Axis powers.
- Italy was eliminated first.
- Anglo-American invasion of Normandy (June 1944) liberated France, Belgium, and Holland.
- Allied troops crossed the Rhine and captured Cologne.
- In the east, Russians drove Germans out and advanced on Berlin via Poland.
- Germany surrendered in May 1945, and Japan surrendered in August 1945, after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
OPENING MOVES: SEPTEMBER 1939 TO DECEMBER 1940
Poland defeated
- Poles were swiftly defeated by the German Blitzkrieg (lightning war).
- The Poles were ill-equipped to handle this attack.
- Blitzkrieg included rapid thrusts by motorized divisions and tanks (Panzers).
- Luftwaffe (German air force) destroyed the Polish railway system and air force.
- Polish resistance was heroic but hopeless.
- Poland had no motorized divisions and attempted massed cavalry charges.
- Britain and France did little to help Poland directly.
- French mobilization was slow and outdated.
- Transporting sufficient troops to Poland was difficult.
- When the Russians invaded eastern Poland, resistance collapsed.
- On 29 September 1939, Poland was divided between Germany and the USSR.
- This division was agreed upon in the pact of August 1939.
The ‘phoney war’
- Very little happened in the west for the next five months.
- In the east, Russians took over Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
- In November 1939, Russians invaded Finland, forcing Finland to hand over frontier territories to help defend against attacks from the west.
- Meanwhile, the French and Germans manned their respective defenses: the Maginot Line and the Siegfried Line.
- Hitler seemed to hope that the pause would weaken the resolve of Britain and France, encouraging them to negotiate peace.
- This lack of action pleased Hitler’s generals, who were not convinced that the German army was strong enough to attack in the west.
- The American press referred to this period as the ‘phoney war’.
Denmark and Norway invaded, April 1940
- Hitler’s troops occupied Denmark and landed at main Norwegian ports in April 1940, ending the ‘phoney war’.
- Control of Norway was crucial for the Germans because Narvik was the main outlet for Swedish iron-ore, vital for the German armaments industry.
- British interference with trade by laying mines in Norwegian waters worried the Germans, fearing British attempts to seize Norwegian ports.
- Admiral Raeder, German navy chief, recognized Norwegian fjords as excellent bases to attack Britain’s transatlantic supply lines.
- British destroyer chased the German vessel Altmark into a Norwegian fjord, rescuing 300 British prisoners, prompting Hitler to act.
- On 9 April 1940, German troops landed at Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, and Trondheim.
- British and French troops arrived later but couldn’t dislodge the Germans, who were already well established.
- After a temporary success at Narvik, all Allied troops were withdrawn by early June due to the growing threat to France.
- Germans succeeded because Norwegians were unprepared, and their troops were not mobilized; local Nazis, led by Vidkun Quisling, helped the invaders.
- British lacked air support, while the German air force constantly harassed the Allies.
- The Norwegian campaign secured German bases and iron-ore supplies but cost Germany three cruisers and ten destroyers, weakening the German navy at Dunkirk.
- The French were psychologically unprepared for war and divided, contributing to their swift defeat.
- Chamberlain’s government was criticized for incompetence, leading to his resignation and Winston Churchillbecoming British prime minister.
- Despite Churchill’s mistakes, he brought drive, a sense of urgency, and the ability to make his coalition cabinet work effectively.
Hitler attacks Holland, Belgium and France
- Attacks on Holland, Belgium, and France were launched simultaneously on 10 May using Blitzkrieg methods, leading to swift German victories.
- The Dutch surrendered after only four days, shaken by the bombing of Rotterdam, which killed almost a thousand people.
- Belgium held out longer, but surrendered by the end of May, leaving British and French troops in Belgium exposed as German motorized divisions swept through northern France.
- Dunkirk remained the only Allied holdout.
- The British navy evacuated over 338,000 troops (two-thirds British) from Dunkirk between 27 May and 4 June, despite constant Luftwaffe attacks on the beaches.
- The evacuation was helped by Hitler’s order to halt the German advance towards Dunkirk on 24 May, likely due to unsuitable terrain for tanks.
- Dunkirk was a morale boost for Britain, with Churchill using the event to promote the ‘Dunkirk spirit’.
- However, the event was a serious blow for the Allies, as the troops lost all their arms and equipment, making it impossible for Britain to help France.
- The Germans advanced south, capturing Paris on 14 June.
- France surrendered on 22 June.
- The armistice (ceasefire) was signed at Compiegne in the same railway coach used for the 1918 armistice.
- Germany occupied northern France and the Atlantic coast, gaining valuable submarine bases.
- The French army was demobilized, and Unoccupied France was allowed a government under Marshal Petain, but it collaborated with the Germans and had no real independence.
- Britain’s position became very precarious.
- Lord Halifax, the Foreign Secretary, allowed secret enquiries about German peace terms through Washington.
- Even Churchill considered the possibility of a negotiated peace.