Modern Euro 2, Week Six: U-boats, 1943, and Disney

Last week we wrapped up 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United State's entrance into the war. There were immediate changes with this addition to the Allies, from German u-boats along the coast of the US to a reinvigorated Allied offensive in Africa and Italy.

Barely a month after declaring war on the US, Germany sent u-boats to the American coastlines. U-bouts, "unterseeboot" in German-- translated literally as under sea boat, were first used in the First World War by the Germans. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to surrender the u-boats at the end of the war and they were forbidden to build or purchase u-boats in the future. Then came Hitler and in 1935, amidst his vast number blatant disregard for the Treaty of Versailles, ordered new u-boats to be built. In the early months of the war, German u-boats were uncontested and highly successful in their missions. Initially, they were single missions where one u-boat would go out and easily take down Allied ships. The Allies got smart and began traveling in convoys. German Admiral Dönitz quickly responded with a new "wolf pack" tactic of several u-boats surrounding convoys and striking. This dramatization, The Stealthy U-Boat Attack that Crippled Britain, illustrates this tactic.

Additional information about u-boats in WW2, follow this link, World War Two in HD Colour: Turning the Tide (Part 7/13). We watched minutes 37:57 to 41:12.

This dramatization, Why Was the US so Unprepared for this U-Boat Attack?, depicts the use of u-boats along the US coast and an attack on a merchant ship in New York Harbor.

Advances in radar apprehended the wolf packs that had ruled the Atlantic. Also the convoys of ships between the US and Britain moved with armed escorts with the addition of air bombers.

Switching gears in the timeline, 1942 was a continuation of skirmishes in Africa and the Eastern Front. It would soon be a new war with the arrival of troops from the United States.

1942

• 13 January: U-Boat offensive in US waters
• 26 January: first American forces arrive in Britain
• 30 May: Operation Milennium: first 1,000 bomber air raid on Cologne
• 12 August: Stalin and Churchill meet in Moscow
• 23 August: Battle of Stalingrad begins
• 8 November: Operation Torch: US invasion of North Africa

Operation Millennium brought the first massive bombing raid against a German city. Geographically, Cologne (or Köln)  is the largest German city and closest to Britain. Nearly 1,500 tons of bombs were released over the city in a span of 90 minutes. 600 acres of the city were damaged, 45,000 were left without homes, 469 were killed. The Axis and the Allies both utilized the bombing of civilian populations to destroy morale and intimidate, "overwhelming display of power and set the tone for future bombing runs." (www.warhistoryonline.com)

Cologne's Massive Destruction after Operation Millennium 

The Battle of Stalingrad, renamed by soldiers involved as "Rattenkrieg" or "Rat War" because of their use of the sewers to get around and battle, began 23 August and continued to 2 February 1943. 

The Battle of Stalingrad

1943

• 14-24 January: Casablanca Conference; Churchill and Roosevelt (who states the only surrender is an "unconditional German surrender")
• 2 February: German surrender at Stalingrad; the first major German military failure
• April: Operation Mincemeat
• 13 May: German and Italian troops surrender in North Africa
• 9-10 July: US lands in Sicily
• 22 July: US takes Palermo, Sicily
• 27-28 July: Hamburg Firestorm
• 25-26 July: Mussolini arrested, Fascist government fails
• 9 September: Allied landings at Salerno and Taranto
• 11 September: Germans occupy Rome
• 12 September: Germans rescue Mussolini
• 23 September: Mussolini re-establishes Fascist government
• 1 October: Allies in Naples

After the Axis surrender in North Africa, the question was where should the Allies go next? The answer was Italy.

World War Two in HD Colour: The Mediterranean and North Africa (Part 6/13). We used minutes 40:52 to 45:07.

Now to one of the most fascinating operations of WW2: Operation Mincemeat (with a quick overview of the details involved with this deception found here).

This deception was based on another deception plan named the "Trout Memo" made several years prior by one Ian Fleming. The name might sound familiar-- and it is-- as he was the man who wrote James Bond and weirdly enough, the book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Last week, we talked briefly about propaganda in the US and it was noted that the War Department utilized the film industry for the war effort in a variety of different ways, instructional clips, parodies, etc. 

Here is one from Looney Tunes: The Ducktators.

One from the Walt Disney Company: The Thrifty Pig.

And one more, also from Disney: The Spirit of 1943.