Rsearch Log End WW2 Europe

Research Log: World War II in Europe
The Battle of Britain/ The Blitz 1940-1941

After Germany conquered France, it set up airbases in
France and began bombing the major cities in England every night.
This began the Battle of Britain which was also known as The
Blitz. Germans targeted the factories making England's tanks,
airplanes and supplies, but civilians were under constant threat,
too. At this time, the USA was officially neutral, but shipped
millions of tons of food and equipment to help England.
Germany's U-boats (submarines) did their best to stop this by
sinking any foreign ships they could.
Hitler and Stalin
Hitler and Stalin had signed a non-aggression pact, and became allies in 1939. The leaders did not
agree politically, but agreed that the results of World War I were not favorable for their countries. They
also did not want to worry about fighting each other while being at war with so many other countries.
In 1941 Hitler violated pact and attacked the USSR by surprise. This created a new front in the
war known as the Eastern Front. This was a terrible decision for Hitler as Germany suffered 80% of its
military casualties on the Eastern Front. Stalin joined the Allied Powers.
The Soviets used their climate and geography to defeat the Nazis like they had to defeat Napoleon
100 years earlier. The battles in Russia were long and incredibly bloody; 4 million German soldiers and
10 million Russian soldiers were killed (In all of WWI only 9.5 million soldiers were killed in total). The
War on the Eastern front was devastating for anyone near it, too. It is estimated that 20 million Russian
civilians were killed at the Eastern front, and another 25 million were homeless because of destruction to
cities and villages.
Hitler believed he was a military genius and insisted on continuing the war with the Soviet Union,
even when it was obvious Germany could not win. When his generals disagreed with him, Hitler would
fire them and replace them with yes-men and fanatic Nazis who would do anything Hitler said. This cost
Germany millions of soldiers, as well as a large amount of valuable supplies.
The end of American Neutrality
Like during World War I, America remained neutral during the beginning of the war. Americans
secretly supplied Britain with food and equipment during the Battle of Britain, but did not send troops.
This changed, however, when Japan attacked the United States naval fleet. The entire Pacific fleet of the
US Navy had been stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. During the early morning of December 7 th, 1941
Japanese bombers attacked the US fleet by surprise. US sailors were unprepared at first and suffered
heavy losses. During the same attack, the Japanese also seized all British holdings in the Pacific. The
United States responded by declaring war on Japan and her allies Germany and Italy. America joined the
Allied Powers.
Once America was officially in the war, the country

turned its focus to the war effort. Like World War I, WWII was
a total war. Americans had food and materials rationed, young
men were drafted into service, and industries converted to
producing weapons, ammunition, tanks, planes, boats, and
submarines.
Allies in Italy
While Germany had expanded its Reich into France, Poland and Czechoslovakia, Mussolini and
Italy had tried to rebuild the glory of the Roman Empire and expanded into North Africa and the Middle
East in 1940. Allied forces invaded Italian-occupied Africa in 1943 and quickly pushed the Axis armies
back up to Italy. Eventually, the Allies pushed the Axis out of Africa entirely and were able to make it to
Sicily, an island off the coast of Italy.
When major Italian cities like Rome were bombed, the Italians lost patience and faith in Mussolini
and imprisoned him. He was freed by Hitler and put back in charge of Italy, but never regained any real
power the Italian armies were commanded by German generals. The Italian people had also learned to
not believe in Mussolinis propaganda and stopped supporting him.
Mussolini tried to escape from Italy with the retreating German army before being captured by the
Allies. He was instead captured by an angry mob of Italians who executed him and displayed his body in
a gas station. The Italian army surrendered a few days later on 5/2/1945.
D-Day and V-E Day
On June 6th, 1944 the US staged a massive invasion of France to
begin to liberate France from Germany, known as D-Day. In a bold
move, Allied forces landed at German-occupied beaches in Northern
France and took them over in fierce combat. The Allies were able to take
the beaches and set up a base to control European operations. Slowly, the
Allies began working through Northern France toward Germany.
At the same time, the USSR moved in from the East. Hitlers
military was weakened from several military blunders and were being
driven back to Germany both from the USSR and from Italy. Germany
was obviously losing.
Rather than give up, Hitler insisted the Germans fight to the last man, and destroy every bridge,
railroad, and road left in Germany rather than let the Allies use them. At this time, many of Hitlers
generals knew the war was lost and refused this order.
As the Allies and Soviets surrounded Berlin, Hitler committed suicide on 4/30/1945.
Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7th, 1945. With Both Italy and Germany defeated, this
became known as V-E day, short for Victory in Europe.
Name
April 20th, 2015 Period
World War II and the Cold War RESEARCH LOG

Unit 10
Essential Question #5: How did the Allied Powers defeat the Axis Powers in World War II?
Sub-Questions: Review Question (1) What was appeasement? Review Question (2) What event
caused WW2 to start? (1) What was the Battle of Britain? How did Germany prepare for it? (2)
Why did the United States enter WW2 with Japan? (3) Why did the US declare war on Italy and
Germany? How is this similar to WWI? (4) What was Italys goal in WW2? (5) How did Italy
lose the war? (6) Why was Hitlers attack on the USSR a surprise? (7) Germany had superior
equipment, how did the Soviets defeat them? How is this similar to another figure from history?
(8) How did the Allies approach Germany? (From what Three directions?) (9) What was D-Day?
What was the goal? (10) What did Hitler order the Germans to do as the war ended? Why do you
think this order was ignored?
Define Terms
Allied Powers
Axis Powers Non-aggression pact
Answer the Essential Question: #5 How did the Allied Powers defeat the Axis Powers in
World War II?
Essential Question #5 Extra notes
Choose ONE of the following tasks. Answer in at least 5 complete sentences. (Extra
Credit if you complete both)
Imagine you are Adolph Hitler on April 30th, 1945. The war is nearly over and Germany is
losing. Your grand vision of a Nazi-ruled world is a disaster. You choose to commit suicide
rather than be captured. Write a one paragraph letter detailing why you have made this
decision.
Imagine you are Joseph Stalin. You are politically opposed to Hitlers National Socialism and the
Capitalist Democracy of the Allied Powers. Youve made an agreement with Hitler to not fight
each other. Write a journal entry for the day Hitler attacks your forces. Explain what you
think happened and why you will join the Allied Powers.

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Research Log: World War II in Europe

The Battle of Britain/ The Blitz 1940-1941

Once America was officially in the war, the country

April 20th, 2015 Period

World War II and the Cold War RESEARCH LOG

Essential Question #5 Extra notes

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