World War II
Pat Bowes
Phoney War
Shortly after Britain and France had declared war on Germany in September
there was a lull in the fighting througout the fall and winter of 1939-1940.
Because of this lull, the war was referred to as the phoney war.
Poland, however, had been devastated and the war was very real to
them. Britain and France missed an opportunity to attack Germany's
western front while it was preoccupied with Poland and why they didn't
attack is a matter that is still debated. It seems, though, that
their militaries were ill-equipped and could not mobilize quickly enough.
While the world was focusing on the lack of war by Germany, the Soviets
decided to break a non-aggression pact they had signed earlier in the decade
with Finland. In late-November, 1939, Russian troops stormed across
the border of Finland with the intent of duplicating Hitler's blitzkrieg
tactics and occupying Finland by year's end. The Russians were surprised,
though, at the resilience of the Finns. The Finnish military used
their knowledge of their local terrain and the advantage of a severe winter
to triumph over the overwhelming strength and brutality of the Russian
forces. Russian deaths outnumbered Finnish deaths 10 to 1 as more
than 27,500 Russians were killed versus 2,700 Finns. By spring the
weather had changed and so, too, did the Russian tactics as they poured
overwhelming numbers of men and materiel into Finland forcing the Finns
to finally cede in March of 1940.
The inactivity of the Germans during the "Phoney War" period did not
mean that Hitler's planning stopped. The so-called Phoney War ended
on April 9, 1940, when Germany invaded both Denmark and Norway. Neither
country was strong enough to stop the Nazis, nor was Belgium, the Netherlands,
nor Luxembourg as all of them fell to the Germans by June 10.
France and The Maginot
Line
The Maginot Line was a line of defensive concrete and steel fortifications
built before World War II to protect the eastern border of France.
It stretched 125 miles along the France/Germany border, from Belgium to
Switzerland. Underground there was an expansive level of bunkers
and storage areas. While waiting and anticipating attack, soldiers
lived in relative comfort. France sent many troops to the Maginot Line
to reinforce and prepare for an attack from Germany. The Germans,
however, easily outflanked the Maginot Line by invading from Belgium.
Italy declared war on Britain and France on June 10 and attacked France
from the south. Just six days later the Germans occupied Paris.
On June 22nd France surrendered.
Miracle of Dunquerque
As France and Belgium fell into the hands of the Nazis there were more
than 370,000 British, French, and Belgian troops trapped at the small French
port of Dunkerque. From May 30 to June 4, 1940, the British government
sent every imaginable type of ship and boat to Dunkerque in an attempt
to rescue the troops. While being attacked by German aircraft; British
ships, gunboats, fishing boats, private yachts, motorboats, and rowboats
ferried men back and forth along the 24-mile-wide English Channel and miraculously
saved 338,000 soldiers. The number of men saved far exceeded the
estimated 45,000 troops the British had anticipated saving. Still,
32,000 men were killed seeking the relative safety of England.
Dunkerque is located near the
border of France and Belgium
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Operation Barbarossa
- An Enormous Mistake
In what may have been his worst miscalculation of the war, in 1941 Adolf
Hitler decided the time was right to break his nonaggression pact with
the Soviet Union. Hitler had just easily overrun Yugoslavia and Greece
and his confidence and arrogance was soaring. In an operation code-named
Operation Barbarossa, German soldiers invaded the Soviet Union on June
22, 1941. The Soviets were shocked and were retreating rapidly.
The Germans had moved so fast that by late-November they had Moscow in
their sights. It appeared the Soviet Union would collapse but as
they had been retreating they were burning bridges and destroying railroads
and supplies. Fortunately for the Russians, a hard winter arrived
just in time. The Germans were unprepared for the bitter weather
as many soldiers froze to death, their weapons wouldn't operate, and tanks
could not move. The Russians attacked and forced the Germans to retreat.
Hitler decided to turn his attention to Stalingrad instead of Moscow and
an enormous battle ensued. The Russians won the Battle of Stalingrad
and halted Germany's advance to the east. For the first time in the
war, the Germans and the Axis Powers were on the defensive. The Battle
of Stalingrad may well have been the most important battle in the European
part of World War II.