The Complete History of the Second World War | World War II Documentary | Part 1

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At 7:50 a.m.. On the morning of August the 9th 1945
air-raid sirens began to ring out in the Japanese city of Nagasaki
However a short while later the sirens rang out again
Indicating that there was no danger and people began to climb out of their shelters to carry on about their daily business
Japanese spotters had only cited two us AAF b-29 bombers
Not enough for an air raid on a major city and presumed, they were merely on a reconnaissance mission.
At 1101 hours a single bomb was dropped into the city's industrial area
the bomb detonated with the equivalent force of 22,000 sticks of TNT
Which resulted in a blast so bright that was seen by observers over a hundred miles away.
the fireball generated temperatures in excess of three thousand nine hundred degrees centigrade and
Generated winds of up to six hundred miles per hour that added to the destruction
exact figures are unclear, but at least
129 thousand people were either killed on the day, or would die in the weeks and even years that followed
six days after this attack
Japan surrendered to the Allies
Bringing to a close the most destructive conflict ever recorded
that ended with the first two and so far only nuclear attacks in history
It was the Second World War
It's impossible to disect the causes of the second world war
without discussing the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and its leader, Adolf Hitler
Hitler was himself of Austrian birth, but he fought in the German army during the first world war
When the war ended with Germany's humiliation Hitler felt especially bitter about it
unlike many in Europe he feared communism spreading beyond the borders of
post-revolutionary Russia
In 1919 a year after the end of the war he joined a new and little-known political group
called the German Workers Party and used his great ability as a speaker to stir up crowds and gain support a
Year later the party was renamed the National Socialist, German Workers Party
more commonly known by its English abbreviation Nazi
In 1921 Hitler rose to become leader of the party and again using his magnetic personality he continued to garner more and more support
Until 1923 the Nazis were confident enough to attempt a coup in Munich and seize power
Known as the Beer Hall Putsch the effort failed and Hitler was arrested before being put on trial, but this only furthered the Nazi cause
Hitler used the trial to gain even more supporters and despite him spending a year in prison in which he wrote his autobiography Mein Kampf
The Nazis continued to establish themselves in German politics
Mein Kampf not only outlined his own story, but it also set about establishing his vision for the future of the German people and
how he believed subversive groups were holding them back from achieving their destiny through measures such as the Treaty of Versailles
Which outlined Germany's surrender terms
He specifically identified Jews and communists as being leaders of this great international
Conspiracy to keep the German people down after the war
Highlighting the harsh conditions imposed on the country by the victorious Allies
Such as the dissolution of Germany's Empire and armed forces
The loss of territory to newly created countries in the East and France in the West and having to pray crippling war reparations
the book effectively became the Nazi Bible
by
1933 the Nazi Party had secured enough political support, but Hitler legally became Chancellor of Germany
He quickly began passing legislation that would transform Germany into Nazi Germany and the swastika would symbolize this
reinvigorated country
the prosecution of Jews Gypsies and political opponents soon became government policy as
Hitler began preparing Nazi Germany to attain what he saw as his destiny cantered around the concept of the Aryan race
With himself as the undisputed leader the Fuehrer
History records that the Second World War began in 1939
However some historians now argue that it began in 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in China
The Japanese deliberately detonated a bomb by Chinese railway line used by Japanese
citizens in order to blame it on Chinese dissidents
This was then used as a pretext to invade the country and Japan would occupy the land there until liberated by the Allies in 1945
Japanese occupation of Chinese territory was extraordinarily harsh
Rape and murder were widespread and often encouraged by the Japanese leadership
While at Pingfang in northeast China a military research unit was set up with a special mission
designated unit 731
thousands of Chinese civilians were used in nightmarish medical experiments to develop biological and chemical weapons
As well as carry out experimental surgeries often without anesthesia for fear of corrupting the data
In 1922 Benito Mussolini and his national fascist party rose to power in Italy
Very soon he began reshaping the Democratic political landscape of the country, into a dictatorship counted around himself
Mussolini like Hitler in Germany
Believed his country had a destiny and wanted to build a new Roman Empire
beginning with a massive buildup of his armed forces
he was not afraid to use them and prove this when he sent his forces into Abyssinia modern-day Ethiopia in
1935 to start the construction of his new empire in Africa
If Manchuria can be considered the first battle friend of World War two then Abyssinia was the second
As the 1930s grew on Hitler's Nazi Party became firmly embedded
Not just in German politics but into German society on a whole
The German people had much to thank the Nazi Party for since they had pulled the country after the disparate feat and reinvigorated it
Promising that Germany would soon be attaining its destiny of becoming a great power again
Hitler's appeal and influence was not lost on foreign observers
Many of whom admired him and even began to sympathize with the Treaty of Germany after the war
Proof of this was given when Hitler became Time Magazine's Man of the Year
This played perfectly into Hitler's hands as he began making notions of regaining lost territory in the east and west of the country
The first test of how the Allied powers of Britain and France would respond to his new Germany came in 1935
When Hitler introduced military conscription which saw the German armed forces swell many times beyond the number permitted by the Treaty of Versailles
But the Allies did nothing
Encouraged by this he then ordered his troops into the Rhineland in 1936
the Rhineland had been demilitarized in
1925
In order to create a safety zone for France
Who along with Belgium had occupied it for a time due to Germany's inability to pay war reparations
Hitler had given secret orders to his men that should they encounter French military resistance
They were to retreat because Germany was still in no condition to fight a war
Despite protests by France had the Legion of Nations the precursor to modern-day UN again. They did nothing
In 1937 British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin stood down and was succeeded by Neville Chamberlain
Meanwhile Germany continued to rearm and now set their sights on reclaiming the German state land
Which had been absorbed into Czechoslovakia after the war at
The same time Hitler looked to his own birth country of Austria to become a part of his new Germany
Although this was again forbidden by the Versailles Treaty
Austria and Germany had long had an almost symbiotic relationship and both countries people view the other as cousins
Austria even had its own Nazi Party and in January 1938
they attempted their own purge much like Hitler had tried in 1923 the
purge failed and many leading Austrian Nazis were imprisoned
Hitler's propaganda machine went to work creating a false impression that Austrians were rising up in support of their imprisoned Nazis and
so on March the 12th
1938
German troops entered Austrian territory on the pretense of restoring order
Within weeks the Austrian government was gone, and the country was absorbed into Germany as the province of Ostmark
a vote on joining Germany claims that 99% of the population
Supported the move which was known as Anschluss
Having secured his home nation under greater Germany
Hitler declared himself as the advocate of all ethnic Germans in Europe and
primarily of those in sedate inland
making clear his intention to absorb the region into Germany a
Diplomatic crisis was sparked when just like in Austria a sedate inland Nazi Party rose armed and began demanding autonomy from
Czechoslovakia
the Czech government tried to negotiate with the sedating Germans while a series of meetings were held between Germany Britain and France to
reach an agreement on the crisis
Culminating in the Munich Agreement, which effectively gave a free hand to Germany's ambitions
No Czech, representative was present
First Hitler took the Sudetenland and then in January 1939
He invaded and captured the rest of Czechoslovakia in his first act of truly open aggression towards a neighbor
The conquest of Czechoslovakia raised concerns with the mighty Soviet Union which was in the grip of the paranoid Joseph Stalin
Hitler had written in Mein Kampf that having to fight a war on two fronts was one of the reasons the Kaiser's Germany was defeated
And so having already antagonized London and Paris
He was far more careful with Moscow and began a diplomatic effort with the Soviet Union to keep them out of events in the West
in
August 1939
German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop met with his German counterpart
Vyacheslav Molotov in Moscow
Where the two of them effectively divided up Eastern Europe into two on
The promise that neither would interfere with the other in those areas
The Soviet Union had its own interests in Poland and Finland and so was happy to abide by this agreement
even though Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were ideological enemies
Despite this period of cooperation many fouled that it wouldn't last
But with Russia at bay Hitler ordered his troops into Poland on September the 1st
1939
The invasion of Poland was the final straw for Britain and France
there was no justification for the invasion other than to simply capture territory from a foreign land and
so Britain and France delivered an ultimatum to Hitler
Withdraw his troops, or there would be war
The demand was refused and on September the 3rd Neville Chamberlain told the British people they were at war with Germany
unless we heard from them by
11 o'clock
That they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland a state of war
Would exist between us I?
Have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and that
Consequently this country is at war with Germany
Some of Germany's more cautious generals had warned Hitler that the country was not yet ready for a second massive European confrontation
Germany's rearmament plans predicted war with Britain and France breaking out in 1945
By which time they would have their own aircraft carrier large u-boat fleets and powerful tank forces
the generals therefore concocted their blitzkrieg style of war
Blitzkrieg meant lightning war and called for the widespread use of tanks and aircraft to break through enemy
Formations to capture a key strategic areas and divide enemy forces up to make them easy to destroy
Above all it was intended to achieve a quick victory rather than a drawn-out war of attrition which Germany could not afford it
Was first used in Poland and the Polish army proved totally inadequate for this new form of warfare in
Less than a month the Polish army was annihilated and the German army the viewmarq
Began consolidating their positions in western Poland as the Soviet Union invaded the east of the country on
September the 17th as von Ribbentrop had agreed to and was something that was all but ignored by Britain and France who?
concentrated on Germany
Poland ceased to exist as a free country on October the 6th 1939 and
Nazi Germany now shared a land border with the Communist Soviet Union
Britain and Frances declaration of war on Germany sends shockwaves across Europe that were felt politically but appear to do very little ounce
Belgium Holland and Norway joined a chorus of European voices declaring themselves neutral in the fighting
But in fact this seemed to be very little fighting at all in
Terms of helping defend Poland Britain and France could do very little and instead they prepared for when Hitler would charge West
This was the start of the phoney war a period with both sides seemed to be doing everything
They would normally do in a war except all-out warfare
the French mobilized their armed forces and sent them to the border while Britain created the British Expeditionary Force or
BEF to be sent to France to support them
Mirroring how the country went to war in 1914
at sea German u-boats and surface Raiders did sink unprotected merchant ships
While in the air British aircraft made attacks on German shipping or conducted leaflet drops over the Ruhr region
During one such leaflet dropping mission on September the 9th a formation of RAF Whitley bombers
Strayed into Belgian airspace and were attacked by Belgian Fighters
This forced one of them to land and they lost two aircrafts to British defensive fire
However in the South Atlantic a drama was about to unfold that would become a naval legend
The German pocket battleship Graf Spee was attacking British merchant ships capturing their cruise and then sinking them
The crews were then put on the Graf Spee support ship the Altmark for returning to Germany
three British cruisers met German ship in the battle and
Managed to inflict enough damage to force the German battleship to put into neutral, Montevideo
modern-day Uruguay for repairs
while there the British began flooding local media sources
That a huge British Armada was assembling to destroy the pocket battleship when it left port
The German captain learned of this and believing the situation was hopeless he scuttled his mighty warship
in reality there was no Armada, but the deception meant potentially thousands of sailors lives were saved a
Few weeks later British special forces raided the Altmark and rescued a number of captured merchant crews
Everyone knew the phony war couldn't last forever, and it would only be a matter of time before Hitler struck west of France
In the meantime Britain and France decided to embark on a campaign in Norway then a neutral country
but one that along with Sweden helped supply Germany with vital iron all the
eyes mined
Norwegian harbors from where German ships operated which provoked Hitler to send his forces in on April the 9th to secure them
The battle for Norway would last until June a 10th by which time France and Britain had long retreated
Leaving the country to its feint
The disaster in Norway forced Chamberlain to stand down as Prime Minister on May the 10th and
After Lord Halifax refused the post it was offered to Winston Churchill
Who as a First Lord of the Admiralty was still basking in the success of the Graf Spee operatiom
Churchill was something of a surprise having more friends than enemies in the establishment Bert was a popular figure amongst the people
He would eventually form a new government made up of members of the main political parties
But in doing so effectively suspended British democracy for the foreseeable future
He told the British people rather bluntly that he had nothing to offer them but blood toil tears and sweat
Across the channel the French had been preparing for another war against Germany for over a decade
By constructing the Maginot Line a series of turf fortifications along the border with Germany
It was designed and constructed in the belief that the war would be reminiscent of the static nature of World War one
But it was fundamentally flawed
It only went as far as north of the Belgian border and despite popular belief at the time
It was not a continuous fortification
Having several gaps where it was believed that nature obstacles such as forests and Hills would provide protection
It consumed huge amounts of men and resources
Leaving some to worry the French were putting all their eggs into one basket as far as defence was concerned
Hitler looked at the situation and immediately saw what had to be done
He was simply going to bypass it by going through Belgium, Holland
Like the Kaiser before him in 1914
He paid little interest Belgium's or anyone else's declaration of neutrality if it served his purpose on
May the 10th 1940 Germany struck west quickly over running Belgium Luxembourg and the Netherlands and
Turning inwards to the heart of France
All the Maginot Line had achieved was to swell the fighting in the neighboring countries and effectively hand even more of Europe to Hitler
The Germans flooded France making good use of their tanks and air forces despite being outnumbered on paper
Indeed Germans tank forces were in many ways
technologically inferior to the Allies in 1940 but the Germans had far superior tactics in
the end the British and French found themselves heavily outclassed by the vaunted German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and
sustained heavy losses but
It would be another German plane that would gain notoriety during the Battle of France
The Ju 87 Stuka was a famed dive bomber, but could attacked Tanks and Bridges with extraordinary accuracy and potency
striking terror into ground units
Later the aircraft would be fitted with a siren ears wings that would create a terrifying howl when entered a dive
Making it as much as a psychological weapon as a bomber
To compound problems for the allies the quick German succession and the failure of the Maginot Line
To keep Hitler's forces at bay saw French morale in particular suffer terribly
Despite spirited resistance by the French army and the British Expeditionary Force a sense of defeatism quickly overwhelmed them
It soon became apparent that France would fall and
So in Britain plans began to be drawn up to evacuate the BEF back to the British mainland
So they could defend Britain from what now seemed like an inevitable invasion
dubbed Operation Dynamo a huge armada of fishing boats pleasure crafts and even row boats were assembled on the southeast coast of England
to make the trip across the channel to Dunkirk with the remnants of the BEF and
elements of the surviving French and Belgian armies were assembling in
This small pocket of French coastline the British and French troops at Dunkirk were surrounded by German troops and waited for either rescue
capture or death
Hitler wanted to send his troops to wipe them out once and for all but the head of the German Luftwaffe Hermann Goering
Convinced him that the air force which had so far proved almost unstoppable could smash them on the beaches with fewer losses to German forces
Goering hoped that by doing this he would gain favour with Hitler over some of his rivals within a Nazi High Command
The evacuation began on May the 27th
1940 with the fleet of little boats bearing down on the beaches to take men out awaiting British warships the
German Luftwaffe launched a fierce aerial bombardment and inflicted painful losses on the British
However for the first time in war the superiority of the Luftwaffe was finally challenged
Since Dunkirk was in range of Fighters flying from Britain itself
The sea and sky thus became a brutal killing field until the evacuation ended nearly a week later on June the 4th
By which time a staggering three hundred and thirty-eight thousand men had been rescued
The evacuation was seen as a victory for Britain, but those in the offices of power knew the truth
The defeat in France had not only cost the relatively small British Army sixty-eight thousand men
But it had lost huge amounts of equipment such as artillery tanks and other assorted vehicles. That would be vital in repelling a German invasion
Churchill warned against the optimistic mood after Dunkirk noting that Wars were not won by evacuations in
The wake of the success of the evacuation a tragedy would occur that has been largely glossed over by history
When the British ocean liner the RMS Lancastrian attempted to escape the French port of San Nazaire
The liner was taking part in operation Arial, which aimed to evacuate British nationals from France
When a 10 Minister for on June the 17th it was bombed by German aircraft
Exact numbers of how many men women and children were on board is unknown because in the chaos of the evacuation
People were crammed into every available space
But it's estimated that between 3 and 6 thousand people were killed making it the worst maritime disaster in British history
To put this into perspective the most conservative estimates put the death toll as being twice that of the Titanic the
disaster was quickly covered up for fear of damaging national morale On
June the 10th 1940 Mussolini waded in on the side of Nazi Germany declaring war on Britain and France
although Italian forces would play only a token part in the fight for France On June 25th 1940
After just 46 days of fighting Hitler's troops achieved. What the Kaiser had failed to do in four years by defeating and occupying France
France was not wholly occupied by Germany, but instead the country was split in two
With Germany occupying the northern half and the South being ruled by the Vichy French government who were essentially German puppets
the French surrender also gave Churchill concerns that France's fleet would be absorbed into Germans Navy and
Used to try and blockade Britain in one of the most controversial acts during the war on July the 3rd
He ordered the Royal Navy to demand the French warships atmail Kerber in french algeria to surrender to them
And when they refused the Royal Navy bombarded them with shall fire killing
1297 French soldiers and sinking or damaging 8 ships
With France dully suppressed Hitler was now concerned with what to do with Britain
It wasn't in his favor to destroy them as he believed that would only hand her Empire to the Americans who were becoming increasingly
Hostile to him after Poland
Believing Britain was spent after the fall of France he sued for peace
But Churchill refused even though. He knew Britain's chances of repelling a full German invasion was slim at best
Hitler therefore ordered his generals to draw up plans for operation sea lion the invasion of Britain
At the same time Germany along with Mussolini's Italy met with representatives of Japan to begin negotiations
For an alliance that was meant to counter the United States
this ultimately culminated in the tripod pact signed on September the 27th 1940 and
Saw the birth of WOD history now remembers as the Axis forces
Unlike Germany's previous military endeavours the invasion of Britain had a serious obstacle in the way namely the English Channel
Hitler's military leadership agreed that it would only be possible to cross the channel in the summer
Since the weather during the autumn and winter months would be too poor to cross safely
First however you would have to destroy Britain's air force
Otherwise his troops would be sitting ducks to British aircraft as they sat in their invasion barges during the crossings
As Germany made their invasion preparations Churchill readied the country to do what to be done to defend themselves
Declassified documents
Show just how far he was prepared to go to repeal Hitler's forces should they land in Britain
He ordered that British forces would use chemical and even biological weapons at any German landing zone in Britain
Frequently saying that is our country and we can do what we want to defend it on
July the 10th 1940 the German Luftwaffe began their offensive to destroy the RAF
It was the start of the Battle of Britain and German confidence was still high after their swift defeat of Poland and Western Europe
However unlike much of the fighting in Europe the Luftwaffe now had to be content with a well-organized and highly integrated air defense Network
Centered around the re s fighting command led by Sir Hugh Dowding
They were equipped with two of the best fighter aircraft in the world at the time
Namely the Hawker hurricane and the more advanced Supermarine Spitfire
Fighter commands ranks also swelled with an influx of British Commonwealth French Dutch polish and even American pilots
volunteering to fight with them
Many of whom already had combat experience during the battles for their own countries
Over the coming weeks the RAF would rise to face the overwhelming German aircraft
But they were suffering for it as the Luftwaffe blasted their airfields in an effort to destroy their support infrastructure
on August 13 to 1940 so many German aircraft attacked Britain
But Churchill was warned that the invasion was finally under way
but despite a great deal of damage being done the RAF was still holding out against the Germans who were joined by the
contingents of Italian aircraft
By September Fighter Command was at its weakest point in terms of men and machines
But then British fighter production ramped up to the point where it outstripped Lawson's a newly trained pilots began to join the fight
However the damage to the airfields was proving more problematic
Hitler on the other hand was unaware that the RAF was once again growing in strength and
Was taught by Goering that it was barely able to put any aircraft into the air
after British bombers hit targets in Berlin in response to an accidental bombing by German aircrafts of London
Hitler decided to order his bombers to turn their attention away from the airfields in order to devastate London and other British cities
His belief was that British morale would be so shaken by these terror attacks, that the country would collapse
Forcing Churchill to surrender thus making an armed invasion
unnecessary
It was a colossal mistake
Fighter Command effectively rebuilt and reorganized itself and by the time Hitler realized his mistake the summer was coming to an end
The weather was worsening RAF Fighter Command was still a potent threat
And the country's defenses had been built up to where it was no longer practical to invade
While the Germans had successfully captured the British Channel Islands Britain herself was spared
Just as it had been in the first world war
The outbreak of war in Europe again saw the fighting spill over into the territories
But European imperial powers held control of elsewhere around the world
Britain and France held territory across Africa, which Italy's Mussolini eyed jealously and
When Italy declared war on Britain and France in support of Germany it
Gave him the opportunity to invade those territories from Italian possessions
Such as Ethiopia Somaliland and most significantly Libya which bordered British Egypt
Egypt was vital to British interests because of the Suez Canal
Which linked Britain to its Far East possessions such as Hong Kong and India as well as the oil-rich Middle?
East which both sides desperately needed access to on
September 13th
1948 a lien forces launched an invasion in Egypt
with Britain herself still preparing for an invasion it was left to the small contingent of British and Commonwealth troops stationed there to
Defend the large border against the numerically superior Italians
At first the Italians made good progress eventually capturing the important airfield at Sidi Bharani
However when Hitler forced to cancel the invasion of Britain fresh troops and equipment
Began to be mobilized for North Africa under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Richard, O'Connor
firstly however
They would have to make the Paradis sea voyage down the North Atlantic and into the Mediterranean
Where the Italian fleet was still the dominant air force after Frances surrender
Heavily outnumbered the British concocted a daring plan to attack the Italian fleet while it was still moored in Port Toronto
Using obsolete Fairey swordfish biplane bombers on the night of November the 11th
1940 the force of swordfish bombers took off from HMS Illustrious and caught the Italians completely by surprise
the attack inflicted severe damage on a large number of the Italians capital ships
taking them out of the war for several months in order to be repaired and
their severely hampering Italy's efforts to disrupt supplies to North Africa
Unfortunately the British still had to contend with air and submarine attacks
the task of expelling Italian forces from Egypt seemed immense in the late 1914 and
Yet, the newly arrived British forces managed to achieve just that
the British retook Sidi Bahrani and by January the 3rd 1941 were already pushing forward into Libya in
Two months a British force comprising of just two whole divisions had advanced 500 miles
destroyed 10 Italian divisions and taken
130,000 prisoners as well as capturing over a thousand tanks and artillery pieces
Operating from Italy the German Luftwaffe began supporting the Italian operations from the air
But things on the ground continue to go badly for the Italians with British forces
capturing the strategic port of Tobruk on January the 22nd
Confident of Italian defeat Churchill began his plans for helping to defend Greece and the Balkans from a joint German and Italian invasion
However Germany decided to send two of its own divisions to help shore up Italian forces in North Africa
Which would form the nucleus of its Africa core under the command of Aaron Rommel
Rommel was a gifted leader and tactician who understood tank warfare better than most generals in 1941
The plans of North Africa were ideal for tank combat and Rommel"s influence was almost immediately felt
He attacked El Agheila on March 24, and then pushed east across Libya back towards Egypt
However, he failed to retake Tobruk and instead laid siege to British garrison there, which held out for a staggering 240 days
Providing a severe thorn in the side of the Axis forces and tying up resources
on
April the 14th British and Commonwealth forces had been pushed back to the border and had even captured General Connor and his replacement
General Neem
but Rommels forces were struggling with the logistic problems, which Hitler feared the British could take advantage of
Fuel was such a concern for the Germans that they began efforts to steal it from the British
Which resulted in British troops referring to their fuel cans as jerrycans
By May Rommel was forced to halt his advance at hellfire pass in egypt while he resupplied his forces under
General Wavell the british did indeed counterattack in June hoping to cut off Rommel's supplies and force him to surrender
but Rommel outmaneuvered him and the attack failed as
the year went on the British became obsessed with killing Rommel had earned the nickname desert fox and
Even send a commando raid to assassinate him which ultimately failed
For the next few months the battle lines fluctuated
But Rommel's logistical problems continued to hold him back and worsened when Hitler began to focus more on other fronts
With Hitler being forced to call off operation Sea Lion in 1940
The Germans recognized that their window to invade Britain had closed, and it would now be impractical to attempt another invasion
Britain was becoming fortress Britain and so Hitler turned to a medieval method of warfare the siege
Hitler knew that Britain relied extremely heavily on war supplies material and even food coming from her empire and North America
Therefore he turned to his navy the creeks marina and tasked them to cut off this vital supply
The Royal Navy was still the most powerful surface fleet in the world in
1940 and while Germany had advanced warships like the Tirpitz and Bismarck
They couldn't hope to meet the Royal Navy in a pitched battle like the Kaiser's fleet had in World War one
without being overwhelmed by British numbers
Therefore the German Navy used their new boat to besiege Britain the kaisers u-boats had proved how vulnerable
Britain was to such a weapon, but it seems Britain had learned very little from this during the interwar years
Tactics to combat the u-boats had changed very little and new technologies such as ASDIC an early form of sonar
Had yet to take prevalence in the fleet meaning the main method to detect a u-boat was to spot it on the surface
Recharging its batteries or when using its periscope
Aircraft was seen as ideal platforms for this, but RAF Coastal Command had aircraft inadequate for the job at the start of the war
Lacking range and weaponry, but also having to rely solely on the air crews eyes for detection
meanwhile the Royal Navy began organizing merchant ships into convoys in order to provide them protection and
Also began taking on trawlers from Britain's fishing fleets and arming them to hunt u-boats
Nevertheless the u-boats began to inflict painful losses on Britain while efforts to destroy them at sea met with mixed success
as did RAF Bomber commands efforts to bomb the u-boats yards in France and Norway
Churchill would later admit that the u-boats were the only thing that truly scared him during the war
However the u-boats needed help in locating the convoys and so the Luftwaffe used long-range Condor patrol aircraft
to organize the u-boat attacks
Realizing this Britain began looking of ways of destroying these aircraft
they weren't enough aircraft carriers in the Royal Navy during the early years to protect every convoy and
So they came up with a novel solution
catapult merchantman or cam ships
These were merchant ships equipped with a catapult to launch a single Hawker hurricane or ferry form a fighter
To attack the Condors when they were sighted it was a one-way mission there being no way to recover the aircraft
Which had to ditch alongside the convoy with the pilot hoping to be picked up by a passing ship
Which made it one of the most dangerous jobs in the war
The urgency to combat the new bones saw the rapid development of technology particularly in the field of radar
The u-boats had to ride on the surface to charge their batteries that powered them
And this was often carried out under the safety of night
However radar had been used to combat night bomber raids and was now being trialed against u-boats on
December the 22nd 1941 a u-boat was sunk by a Royal Navy plane on the surface under the cover of darkness
From that point on you boats could be attacked anytime anywhere
The situation was made worse for the u-boats by the addition of new
longer-ranged aircraft equipment with radar which left fewer and fewer places for them to hide
At the same time Mussolini's Italy opened the North African campaign
His troops also opened up another front this time against Greece
Mussolini felt he was playing second fiddle to Hitler in Europe and wanted to establish himself as an equal
He viewed Greece as an easy target and began putting pressure on the country's own facet like dictator
Ioannis Metaxas on August 15th 1940 an Italian submarine sank the Greek warship Elli
Italian troops finally attacked on October the 28th 1914 but like in North Africa they were beaten back despite the odds
seemingly being in their favor
the Italian attack pushed Greece closer to Britain who had desperate for allies after the fall of Western Europe
This in turn made Hitler take an interest in Greece
And he had his General Staff start drawing up plans for his own troops to once again come to the aid of the Italians
The problem was that Germany had no land border with Greece it being blocked by Yugoslavia and Bulgaria
Hitler demanded cooperation from both nations to allow his forces to pass through
Bulgaria greed and so too Did Yugoslavia both of whom joined the Axis forces
But public opinion in the latter was strongly anti German leading to a coup against the government and the rejection of any alliance
outraged Hitler ordered that when his troops invaded Greece from Bulgaria on April the 6th 1941
But they were to concurrently invade Yugoslavia
despite stiff resistance
Yugoslavia was overrun in just over a week and a half
Two weeks later the Greek surrendered having been overwhelmed by the combined might of the German and Italians
British assistance could do little to repel the invaders and along with the Greek forces. They retreated to the island of Crete
consolidating his position on the Greek mainland
Hitler ordered the invasion of Crete to begin on May the 20th and was opened with a massive attack by German paratroopers
after nearly two weeks of fierce fighting the island fell
But while British and observers in Washington were impressed with the effectiveness of a paratrooper invasion launched against them
Hitler was appalled at the cost of his forces and never again ordered a large-scale airborne invasion
Nazi Germany's army seemed unstoppable by mid 1941 and no-one became more convinced of this than Hitler himself
Who after defeating the British on mainland Europe in France and Greece and while Rommel continued pushing them back in North Africa
Decided that it was time to achieve his ultimate goal
the destruction of the Soviet Union
Hitler view the Soviet Union as a way of not only eradicating communism
But of feeding his thousand-year Reich by providing vast areas of agricultural land and vital resources such as oil and metals
However, Germany's generals warned the Führer against invading the Soviet Union unless Moscow attacked first
Britain herself remained unconquered and worse still was now sending fleets of oh bombers into Europe to attack German industry
Also, the job of defending British and British Commonwealth forces in Africa
Required the resources Hitler wanted to commit to fighting the Soviet Union they believed
It was better to send those forces to destroy British resistance in Africa and then seize British possessions in the Middle East
Which would afford them oil which would starve Britain offer supplies, and eventually helped force London to surrender
But Hitler was impatient
He argued that the German people would not be as supportive for a war on Russia after a few more years of fighting
also, he believed the Soviet Army was incompetent after his poor showing against Finland in the winter war of 1939 if
He waited then the Soviet leadership might learn from their mistakes and become a more credible threat
Hitler would say we only have to kick in the front door and the whole rotten Russian air defense will come tumbling down
He defied his generals and gave the order to attack the Soviet Union
dubbed Operation Barbarossa
Germany committed a huge force of troops that included Romanian Finnish and Hungarian units who were by now signed up members of the Axis forces
The attack was launched from occupy polish territory at 0:00 300 hours on Sunday the 22nd of June
1941 and
involved a staggering 3.8 million personnel launched across a 2,900 kilometre front
The German forces were arranged in three key army groups north center and south
The Soviet Army had warnings that the Germans were massing for an invasion
But Stalin refused to believe it in the days after the invasion Stalin retreated into his own mind
He being unable to comprehend. Just what was happening which left his government
That was terrified to act against him following his brutal purges unsure what to do
The Soviet army sustained incredible losses in the early years of the war while the Soviet Air Force was largely smashed on the ground
The aircraft that did get airborne who often obsolete types or their pilots poorly trained
making them easy targets for skilled and experienced German fighter pilots
The Soviets also had to contend with anti-communist forces conducting sabotage and intelligence-gathering operations from the Germans
the fighting in the east was particularly brutal
Hitler had told his forces that a war against the Soviet Union could not be fought along civilised lines and
As such he promised no German would ever be held accountable for his conduct against the enemy in
A sense they were given a free hand to rape plunder and murder
When Soviet units were overwhelmed many of them surrendered as their command structure collapsed and these soldiers were led into captivity
Where there was an actual plan in place to starve them to death
behind the German troops advanced German death squads began murdering so-called undesirables such as Jews
The speed of the German advance took everyone by surprise including the Germans themselves
The vast areas of land Germany's forces took proved a logistical nightmare and on several occasions
They lost the initiative as they waited for supplies of food fuel and re armaments to catch up with them
the Germans advanced across eastern Poland Belarus Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania Ukraine and into Russia itself
proving almost unstoppable
But everyone knew that the biggest obstacle the Germans would have to face was rapidly approaching the Russian winter
By December 1941 the snow was setting in but German troops were on the verge of taking Moscow itself
However, they failed to take the embattled city and their advanced ground to a halt
The soviet union's leadership meanwhile had relocated their major weapons production
Facilities further east out at the range of German bombers which allowed them to build tanks and aircraft unmolested
They were also getting supplies from Britain. Thanks to the efforts of the men on the perilous Arctic convoys
The German army leadership knew the truth even if Hitler remained convinced of Germany's superiority
They had lost their window of opportunity to destroy the Soviet Union quickly
Now the Soviets were engaged committed and far more prepared for the coming war of attrition than Germany was in
Mein Kampf Hitler had outlined that Germany could not fight a prolonged war on two fronts
Yet at the end of 1941 he was effectively committed to three fronts
Britain in the West British Commonwealth forces in North Africa and now the Soviet Union in the East and
while the snow fell on German soldiers in Russia ill-equipped for winter warfare they whirled away in the tropical climate of Hawaii a
Fleet of Japanese ships were closing in on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor