WORLD WAR II

THE EASTERN FRONTTHE WAR ENDS IN EUROPE

War on the Eastern Front• Three German Army groups invade the Soviet Union– They get close to Moscow, but will never take it– Winter comes and the German advance stops as

soldiers freeze and equipment stops workings– The Siberian Army arrives and the Russians retake

lots of land– Barbarossa is a failure

• Siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg)– Germans fail to capture the city, so Hitler orders a

siege, or military blockade• Designed to force the city to surrender

– Winter of 1941-1942 people starved to death at a rate of 3,000-4,000 a day• As many as one million will eventually die in the

siege– The Soviets end the siege in early 1944 after 900 days

• Spring of 1942 German forces renewed their attacks on the Soviet Union– Fought well at first and by August looked ready to

capture the city of Stalingrad• One of the largest in the nation and its factories

produced military equipment vital for the Soviet war effort

• Battle of Stalingrad – Aug. 1942– One of the most brutal battles of the war– The Luftwaffe and artillery bomb the city into rubble• German troops then go in to wipe out the

remaining Soviet defenders• Vicious house-to-house fighting ensues• Tens of thousands die on each side

– Soviets manage to hold off the German attack by the fall of 1942 and organize a counterattack• A Soviet force breaks through and surrounds the

Germans, around 250,000 men• The Germans could escape the trap by retreating,

but Hitler won’t allow it

– By Jan. 1943 the Germans are out of ammunition, food, and medicine, but Hitler tells them that surrender is forbidden• 90,000 Germans that are left surrender shortly

after, making Hitler mad• Most of them will die in Soviet camps

– This was the first major defeat of Hitler’s armies

• Operation Bagration – June 1944– Soviet offensive against the Germans• Pushes the Germans out of Russia and into central

Europe• Leads to another 800,000 German casualties

– July the Soviets capture Poland

– Captures Romania and Bulgaria in Sept. 1944– Captures Hungary at the end of 1944– Vienna captured in April 1945

• By January 1945 the Germans were within 40 miles of Berlin

Warm Up

1. What was the word for the German airforce:2. Explain the Tehran Conference: 3. Explain the Yalta Conference: 4. What did the US do on June 6th, 19445. What is V-E day?6. Where was the place in the US where we tested

the atomic bomb?7. What president approves the atomic bomb

dropping?8. Give 3 reasons why we drop atomic bombs:

Yalta Conference• Meeting of the Allied Powers– Purpose was to discuss the final strategy for defeating

Germany and Japan • Division of Germany and Berlin into occupation

zones– The Soviet Union gets to keep territory in Poland• Stalin promises to respect democratic ideals in

Eastern European countries that the Soviet armies now occupied

– In return Stalin promises to declare war on Japan– UN Security council featuring Britain, U.S., Soviet

Union, France, and China• Would have more power than other member

nations

Victory in Europe• The race to Berlin is on between the Soviets and the

other Allies (Americans, British, and French)– The Soviets win• Take 200,000 casualties to gain the last 39

– Half a million Soviets surround Berlin in late August 1945• Hitler commits suicide on May 2 and Berlin

surrenders the same day

• On May 7th Germany surrenders– May 8th is proclaimed V-E Day = Victory in Europe Day

World War II ConferencesT = Tehran ConferenceY = Yalta Conference

___1. Stalin promises to declare war on Japan___2. Creates the United Nations___3. Final strategy for defeating Germany and Japan___4. Security Council that includes France and China___5. Plan the cross-channel invasion___6. Division of Germany into four zones