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How and Why did Nazism

Collapse?

Nazi Germany

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

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What we will learn today

In this presentation you will consider:

1. The fall of Nazism in relation to three key campaigns:

a) The Battle of Britain,

b) the battle for the USSR and

c) the battle for Germany.

You will also consider:

2. What happened to the Nazis, Germany, and the wider

world following the collapse of Hitler's regime in 1945.

In the early stages of the war, Hitler had some incredible

victories. However, this success did not last.

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Introduction: Blitzkrieg

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The plan to invade Britain

After the fall of France, Hitler was keen to defeat Britain –

the only country still at war with Germany.

His plan of attack, Operation Sea Lion, aimed to destroy

the RAF in preparation for a seaborne invasion from France.

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However, by September the

Luftwaffe had still not succeeded

in destroying the RAF.

Operation Sea Lion was called

off on 17 September.

The Battle of Britain

Photograph

courtesy of the

Imperial War

Museum,

London.

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The Battle for the USSR

Despite signing the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939, Hitler had

always intended to invade the USSR to gain more

‘lebensraum’ (living space). According to Nazi racial

doctrine, the USSR was populated by ‘inferior’ Russians,

Eastern Europeans and Jews, so Germany had every right

to take their land for the Aryans.

By the summer of 1940, Hitler’s attention was being drawn

away from Britain, and towards the Soviet Union.

Besides, Hitler had always hated Communism, and

Russia had vast oil reserves that Germany could exploit.

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Operation Barbarossa

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The German campaign in Russia dragged on until

1944, with incredible suffering on both sides.

The Battle of Stalingrad ended with the capture of

500,000 German soldiers after Hitler refused to allow them

to retreat.

The Siege of Leningrad which lasted from 1941 to 1944

resulted in the deaths of almost 1 million Russians (one

third of the city’s population), many from starvation.

In 1942 Hitler told his tank commander General Heinz

Guderian that feelings of pity and sympathy for his

soldiers had to be shut out. Soldiers were a necessary

sacrifice in the ‘heroic struggle’.

The Eastern Front

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The Battle for Germany

By 1944, the tide had turned decisively against Germany.

The USSR was attacking Germany from the east, whilst

Britain (now aided by the USA) was attacking from the

West following the successful D-Day landings in France.

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The defeat of Nazi Germany

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The defeat of Nazi Germany

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Which was the most significant turning point

of the war:

(a) The Battle of Britain

(b) the battle for the USSR

(c) the battle for Germany?

Explain your answer carefully.

The defeat of Nazi Germany

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After the war: the Nazis

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After the war: the Nazis

Photograph courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London.

What do you think about

the fate of the Nazi

leaders?

were too lenient,

were too harsh,

treated the Nazis fairly?

Do you think that the Allies…

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After the war: Germany

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After the war: the wider world

After World War II, the international community was

horrified to discover the true scale of Nazi atrocities against

the Jews.

So in 1947, the United Nations declared that the Jewish

people should be given their own legitimate homeland. It

was to be situated in Palestine, where the ancient Jewish

Kingdom of Israel had been.

However, the Muslim Arab peoples who already lived in

the area refused to accept this decision.

This gave rise to the Arab-Israeli conflict which

continues to pose a serious threat to world peace today.

The USA gives strong support to Israel while the Arab

world supports the Palestinians.

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Plenary