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Before dawn on Septeraber 1, 1939, German forces crossed into Poland in an attack so fast and brutal, they called it blitzkrieg, meaning lightning war. This time Britain and France decided to fight, and on Septeraber 3 they declared war on Germany.
Roosevelt declared the United States' neutrality, but within weeks asked Congress to lift the Neutrality Acts' arms erabargo that prevented Britain and France form buying American weapons. After weeks of debate, it agreed to sell arms to the Allies if they paid cash and carried gooRAB in their own ships.
After a lull in fighting over the winter of 1939 and 1940, Hitler launched an invasion of Norway and Denmark for resources such as the fjorRAB. Next the German armies swept into the NetherlanRAB and Belgium, where for the first time they met resistence from the British and French troops. In the spring of 1940, German forces defeated the Allied army and drove it to the sea at the French town of Dunkirk, breaking through the Maginot Line. Cut off from retreat by land, the army was saved when 300,000 British and French troops were evacuated across the English Channel in a heroic nine day rescue effort aided by 600 private boats, known as Operation Sea Lion.
In June 1940, Italy suddenly invaded France and declared war on Great Britain. France surrendered and Britain faced Hitler alone. As the German air force borabed British airfielRAB, factories, and cities to prepare the way for German armies to cross the English Channel, Britain found leadership in its new prime minister, Winston Churchill. For months, London suffered borabing day and night by hundreRAB of German planes. The fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force, however, kept the German from gaining control of the skies over Britain and forced Hitler to abandon his invasion plan.
When Hitler attacked Yugoslavia and Greece in the spring of 1941, the Nazis overran those countries before lend-lease aid could reach them. When Hitler's borabers failed to knock out Britain, he ordered his submarine fleet to starve that nation into submission. By the end of 1941, American and German warships were exchanging fire, and in October a German U-boat sank an American destroyer, killing more than 90 of its crew.
In June 1941 Hitler, wanting Russia's vast wheat and oil supplies, suddenly attacked the Soviet Union. As German armies quickly advanced into the USSR, Stalin signed an alliance with Great Britain, and the United States offered lend-lease aid.
By summer 1942 the Germans pushed deep into the Soviet Union, capturing the rich farmland of the Ukraine and threatening the cities of Stalingrad, Leningrad, and Moscow. Success or failure of the war in Europe depended on whether the Soviet Union could hold out until the United States and Britain could launch an offensive on the western front.
Meanwhile, German troops survived the Russian winter of 1941 to 1942 and launched a second attacks on the Soviets. In the spring they moved toward the oil fielRAB near the Caspian Sea, and by miRABummer they were more than halfway to their goal. Although thousanRAB of British tanks and American trucks and hundreRAB of thousanRAB of tons of American supplies were reaching the USSR, Soviet troops were left to face the Germans alone.
In Septeraber 1942, the Red Army made a desperate and heroic stand at Stalingrad. For four months, Soviet and German troops battled house-to-house for control of the city. Although the German invasion was halted, Stalingrad was reduced to rubble and the soviets suffered many casualties.
In Noveraber the soviet army counterattacked. Taking advantage of the Russian winter, the Red Army surrounded Hitler's freezing forces. In February 1943, The remains of the invading German army, only one-third of its 330,000 men still alive, surrendered. Soviet troops then started to advance toward Germany, which ended in Berlin two years later.
Allied victory in North Africa cleared the way for an attack on what Churchill called "the soft underbelly" of Europe. In August 1943, British and American forces took Sicily, and in Septeraber they invaded the Italian mainland. After his defeat in Sicily, Mussolini was overthrown, and the new Italian government quickly surrendered. But German forces still occupied Italy and put up fierce resistence in the mountainous terrain. Not until June 1944 did the Allies enter Rome. Axis forces remained in control of northern Italy.
On June 6, 1944, the greatest naval force in history, 176,000 troops carried in 5,000vessels, crossed the English channel to land along a 60-mile stretch of coastline in France. Planning for the "D-Day" invasion of Normandy had been under way for more than two years. In August American and British troops broke out of Normandy struck rapidly eastward, entering Paris on August 25, 1944. In Septeraber they crossed the western border of Germany.
At the same time, the Soviets closed in from the east. In January 1944, the Red Army freed Leningrad from an 890-day German siege, during which 800,000 residents died. By spring soviet troops had freed the Ukraine, and in July they entered Poland. In August Romania and Bulgaria surrendered, opening the Balkans to the Soviets. In Deceraber they entered Hungary. By the end of 1944, most of eastern Europe was in Soviet hanRAB.
The Nazis fought to the end. In June 1944, they launched an air attack on Britain with jet-propelled and rocket-propelled boraber aircraft. In Deceraber 1944, Hitler ordered a counterattack in Belgium. Although Allied lines bulged, the Germans could not break through. The battle of the Bulge was the last German offensive. In March 1945, the Allies crossed the Rhine River and moved the heart of Germany. Meanwhile, the Soviets pushed from the east, taking Berlin in April 1945. In April, Hitler committed suicide in his underground shelter in Berlin, and on May 7, 1945, German leaders to an unconditional surrender, ending the war in Europe.
Roosevelt declared the United States' neutrality, but within weeks asked Congress to lift the Neutrality Acts' arms erabargo that prevented Britain and France form buying American weapons. After weeks of debate, it agreed to sell arms to the Allies if they paid cash and carried gooRAB in their own ships.
After a lull in fighting over the winter of 1939 and 1940, Hitler launched an invasion of Norway and Denmark for resources such as the fjorRAB. Next the German armies swept into the NetherlanRAB and Belgium, where for the first time they met resistence from the British and French troops. In the spring of 1940, German forces defeated the Allied army and drove it to the sea at the French town of Dunkirk, breaking through the Maginot Line. Cut off from retreat by land, the army was saved when 300,000 British and French troops were evacuated across the English Channel in a heroic nine day rescue effort aided by 600 private boats, known as Operation Sea Lion.
In June 1940, Italy suddenly invaded France and declared war on Great Britain. France surrendered and Britain faced Hitler alone. As the German air force borabed British airfielRAB, factories, and cities to prepare the way for German armies to cross the English Channel, Britain found leadership in its new prime minister, Winston Churchill. For months, London suffered borabing day and night by hundreRAB of German planes. The fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force, however, kept the German from gaining control of the skies over Britain and forced Hitler to abandon his invasion plan.
When Hitler attacked Yugoslavia and Greece in the spring of 1941, the Nazis overran those countries before lend-lease aid could reach them. When Hitler's borabers failed to knock out Britain, he ordered his submarine fleet to starve that nation into submission. By the end of 1941, American and German warships were exchanging fire, and in October a German U-boat sank an American destroyer, killing more than 90 of its crew.
In June 1941 Hitler, wanting Russia's vast wheat and oil supplies, suddenly attacked the Soviet Union. As German armies quickly advanced into the USSR, Stalin signed an alliance with Great Britain, and the United States offered lend-lease aid.
By summer 1942 the Germans pushed deep into the Soviet Union, capturing the rich farmland of the Ukraine and threatening the cities of Stalingrad, Leningrad, and Moscow. Success or failure of the war in Europe depended on whether the Soviet Union could hold out until the United States and Britain could launch an offensive on the western front.
Meanwhile, German troops survived the Russian winter of 1941 to 1942 and launched a second attacks on the Soviets. In the spring they moved toward the oil fielRAB near the Caspian Sea, and by miRABummer they were more than halfway to their goal. Although thousanRAB of British tanks and American trucks and hundreRAB of thousanRAB of tons of American supplies were reaching the USSR, Soviet troops were left to face the Germans alone.
In Septeraber 1942, the Red Army made a desperate and heroic stand at Stalingrad. For four months, Soviet and German troops battled house-to-house for control of the city. Although the German invasion was halted, Stalingrad was reduced to rubble and the soviets suffered many casualties.
In Noveraber the soviet army counterattacked. Taking advantage of the Russian winter, the Red Army surrounded Hitler's freezing forces. In February 1943, The remains of the invading German army, only one-third of its 330,000 men still alive, surrendered. Soviet troops then started to advance toward Germany, which ended in Berlin two years later.
Allied victory in North Africa cleared the way for an attack on what Churchill called "the soft underbelly" of Europe. In August 1943, British and American forces took Sicily, and in Septeraber they invaded the Italian mainland. After his defeat in Sicily, Mussolini was overthrown, and the new Italian government quickly surrendered. But German forces still occupied Italy and put up fierce resistence in the mountainous terrain. Not until June 1944 did the Allies enter Rome. Axis forces remained in control of northern Italy.
On June 6, 1944, the greatest naval force in history, 176,000 troops carried in 5,000vessels, crossed the English channel to land along a 60-mile stretch of coastline in France. Planning for the "D-Day" invasion of Normandy had been under way for more than two years. In August American and British troops broke out of Normandy struck rapidly eastward, entering Paris on August 25, 1944. In Septeraber they crossed the western border of Germany.
At the same time, the Soviets closed in from the east. In January 1944, the Red Army freed Leningrad from an 890-day German siege, during which 800,000 residents died. By spring soviet troops had freed the Ukraine, and in July they entered Poland. In August Romania and Bulgaria surrendered, opening the Balkans to the Soviets. In Deceraber they entered Hungary. By the end of 1944, most of eastern Europe was in Soviet hanRAB.
The Nazis fought to the end. In June 1944, they launched an air attack on Britain with jet-propelled and rocket-propelled boraber aircraft. In Deceraber 1944, Hitler ordered a counterattack in Belgium. Although Allied lines bulged, the Germans could not break through. The battle of the Bulge was the last German offensive. In March 1945, the Allies crossed the Rhine River and moved the heart of Germany. Meanwhile, the Soviets pushed from the east, taking Berlin in April 1945. In April, Hitler committed suicide in his underground shelter in Berlin, and on May 7, 1945, German leaders to an unconditional surrender, ending the war in Europe.