How Did Hitler Invade Russia

Events of WWII (Grade 10 History – Melessanakis 2012)
Individually make sure you take more notes (as needed)!!!
Hitler invades Russia
Who – Germany and Russia
When – June 22, 1941
What – During the Battle of Britain, Hitler decided to attack Russia. Russia countered the Germans using the “Scorched Earth” policy and destroyed everything that could be useful to the Germans.
Where – Western Russia, along a 1609 km front, 39 km from the capital city of Moscow
Why – Hitler wanted the large amounts of natural resources (minerals, oil and gas) and more living space (Lebenstraum)
Relevance – Fatal Error for Hitler, repeated what Napolean did. Russia proved their land power superiority.
Pearl Harbour
Who – Japan (Hirohito) and USA (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
When – December 7, 1941
Where – Pearl Harbour (naval base), Hawaii, USA
What – Japanese launched an air raid using their aircraft carriers against the US naval headquarters.
Why – Japanese wanted more land and resources to build its economy. They think that the US stood in the way of obtaining their needs, so they thought of ways to destroy the American navy in the Pacific Ocean.
Relevance – The attack changed the American’s policy of “isolationism”. The US declared war on Japan, and in return, Germany and Italy declared war on the US. This event brought the most powerful country on the side of the Allies in WWII.
Japan attacks Hong Kong
When – Dec 8 – 26, 1941.
Who – Britain, Canada and Japan. 300 Canadian soldiers died, 493 wounded. Eventually, 257 more soldiers died in camps.
Why – Hong Kong was a strategic point and Churchill wanted the troops to fight until the end.
Where – Hong Kong
What – Japan invaded Hong Kong. British and Canadian soldiers tried to defend the allies against the Japanese (many Cdn POWs)
Relevance – The battle showed the courage and bravery of the Canadian Soldiers. Many endured serious hardships as Japanese POW’s.
Dieppe
Raid

When – August 19, 1942
Where – Port of Dieppe, France
What – Joseph Stalin demanded that Britain and the US invade Western Europe to create a second front, when the Nazi’s marched into Russia
Churchill and Roosevelt were not ready for a full-scale attack and therefore decided to conduct a hit-and-run to test Nazi defences and to gain experience for a future invasion.
On the morning of August 19, 1942 – a convoy of 237 ships reached Dieppe and the German ships opened fire and woke the German soldiers.
When the troops reached land the Germans were ready with a crossfire of bullets and artillery shells.
901 Canadians were killed, 2000 were captured, and only 2211 soldiers made it back to England.
Who – German troops, Allied Troops (US, Britain, Canada and Russia)
Why – British commanders who planned the raid had little or no experience. The sea battle took away the surprise attack, and the German troops were ready and waiting by the time the allied troops reached land.
Relevance – Learning experience for the Allied commanders, Allies learned that the Nazi’s were well –prepped for future attacks on the French occupied coast and that any future attacks would have to be massive and well-organized. The failure of Dieppe will help the planning of successful D-day.
D-Day
When – June 6, 1944
Where – Normandy France (Operation Overlord)
Who – Germans, Americans, British and Canadians and American General Dwight D. Eisenhower
What – Fought German troops, landing place had been kept secret and the Germans did not expect the attack. Invading troops had the massive support and protection. Landing was successful and within one month, more than one million allied Troops were steadily pushing German armies out of France. Germans faced two major fronts and the Allied demanded Germany’s unconditional surrender. In the end, Hitler shot himself and Mussolini and his wife ended up getting caught by the Italians underground resistance fighters and were later killed. Hitler committed suicide by shooting himself and finally the European’s celebrated. This lead to V-E day (Victory in Europe Day)
Relevance – Highly successful and well-planning battle, Germans were bombed and had to surrender – Ultimately this began the end for the European front of the War, leading to V-E day.
Japan continues the Fight (A-bomb)
Where – Pacific (Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan)
What – Americans continued to fight the Japanese (who had never surrender policy, Kamikaze fighter pilots). Eventually, the Americans detonated the American bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima
When – August 6, 1945 in Hiroshima and soon after in Nagasaki. Japan officially surrendered on August 14, 1945.
Who – President Truman (USA), The US Military, Japan and Japanese Civilians (90 000 people died from the a-bomb in Hiroshima)
Why – Americans wanted to shorten the war as it was still going on despite the German defeat. By dropping the A-bombs, Americans the first to use nuclear weapons in a war.
Relevance – Use of A-bombs helped the Americans defeat the Asian but at a high civilian cost. Ended WWII. Revolutionized modern warfare and it was the foundation of ICBMs (fear of nuclear weapons in General).