Key Terms

Maginot Line
Fortified line of defense along
German/French border

Blitzkrieg
Lightning war

Wehrmacht
German armed forces

Luftwaffe
German air-force

Military Engagements in
WWII
Think in terms of Sky, Land, and Sea

Sky: Battle of Britain

In July 1940 once Germany had
captured France, attention turned to
Britain and Hitler launched
Operation Sea Lion
Being an island, the Blitzkrieg that had
worked had to be amended and the RAF
had to be wiped out before crossing the
English Channel

Sky: American and British

aims
After London was bombed, the Allies
bombed Berlin and later other
German industrial centres
British accuracy was poor and
bombing raids took on new tactics
Carpet bombing
Hamburg
Dresden

Video
Watch for the challenges that Britain
had to overcome and why Germany
was unsuccessful
(6 minutes to 18 minutes)

Lebensraum
Lebensraum one of Hitlers key aims
Living space in which Hitler believed it was
the right and duty of the German master
race to be the worlds greatest empire
German domination of central and eastern
Europe at the expense of Slavic peoples
Primary target was Russia and her vassal
border states

Land: USSR
In 1941 Germany sought to take
USSR (Operation Barbarossa)
(seize Leningrad, advance to Moscow
and south occupy the Ukraine)
Hitlers generals were silent when shown
the plan but they did not voice doubts
The Germans were not successful

Land: Dieppe
In 1942 the Allies planned to breach
German defenses in France at Dieppe
Churchill wanted a morale boosting
victory
After years of training in Britain, some
Canadian politicians and generals were
anxious for Canadian troops to
experience battle

Land: Italy
In 1943 the Allies sought to push
Italy back and relieve pressure from
the Eastern Front
Soft underbelly of Europe proved to be
harder than anticipated
4 June 1944 Allies seized control over
Rome

Land: D-Day
On June 6, 1944 the Allies tried again
to gain a foothold on the continent in
order to launch further offensives
Whereas Dieppe had been practiced
twice, the Normandy invasions were
repeatedly practiced and all details
worked out

Video
Canadian involvement in the raid on Dieppe
Watch for the reasons for its failure

Canadian involvement in Italy

Watch for the new style of fighting and the
impact on Canadian soldiers

Canadian involvement in D-Day (Operation

Overlord, the invasion of Normandy)
Watch for the impact that Canadians made and
the cost of success

Sea: Battle of the Atlantic

German U-boats very successful at
sinking supply ships crossing the Atlantic
Wolf packs of U-boats patrolled the Atlantic

Without the supplies the Allies could not

have been successful
Britain relied on Canada and the US for food and
munitions
Allies used a convoy system as they did during
WWI

Changes
May 1942 Allies cracked the German
naval code and they could track
submarines more easily
Also, there was better training for
personnel, increase in equipment
sophistication and there were more
ships were manufactured than were
sunk

Video
Canadian involvement in the war at
sea
Watch for the conditions and level of
danger that sailors faced during WWII
A Miserable, Rotten, Hopeless Life from
Canada: A Peoples History approximately 26
minutes