What you'll learn
This revision guide covers the essential content for WJEC GCSE History on the Second World War, 1939-1945. You'll examine the key military campaigns, the Holocaust and Nazi persecution, the impact on home fronts in Britain and elsewhere, and the events leading to Allied victory. This knowledge is directly tested in both source-based and essay questions.
Key terms and definitions
Blitzkrieg — German 'lightning war' tactics combining fast-moving tanks, aircraft and infantry to overwhelm enemies quickly, used successfully in Poland (1939) and France (1940).
Operation Barbarossa — The codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the largest military operation in history involving over 3 million German troops.
The Holocaust — The systematic, state-sponsored persecution and genocide of approximately six million European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1941 and 1945.
Total War — A conflict requiring complete mobilisation of all resources and population, blurring distinctions between soldiers and civilians, as seen in Britain's conscription, rationing and bombing campaigns.
D-Day — 6 June 1944, when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in occupied France, opening the Western Front that would lead to Germany's defeat.
The Blitz — The sustained bombing campaign by the German Luftwaffe against British cities from September 1940 to May 1941, killing over 40,000 civilians.
Unconditional Surrender — The Allied policy announced at the Casablanca Conference (1943) that Axis powers must surrender without negotiating terms, prolonging the war but ensuring total victory.
VE Day — Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945, marking Nazi Germany's formal surrender and the end of the war in Europe.
Core concepts
The expansion of the war, 1939-1941
The Second World War began on 1 September 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, prompting Britain and France to declare war two days later. Germany's Blitzkrieg tactics proved devastatingly effective, crushing Polish resistance within weeks despite heroic defence. The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east on 17 September under the secret Nazi-Soviet Pact.
The 'Phoney War' followed from October 1939 to April 1940, with little fighting on the Western Front. This ended dramatically in April 1940 when Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, securing vital iron ore supplies and naval bases.
In May 1940, Germany launched its western offensive. Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg fell rapidly. France, considered Europe's strongest military power, collapsed within six weeks. The British Expeditionary Force retreated to Dunkirk, where 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated between 26 May and 4 June 1940 in Operation Dynamo—a strategic defeat presented as a propaganda victory.
Britain now stood alone against Nazi Germany. The Battle of Britain (July-October 1940) saw the RAF defend against the Luftwaffe's attempt to gain air superiority for a planned invasion (Operation Sealion). Fighter Command's narrow victory, aided by radar technology and intelligence from Ultra codebreaking, forced Hitler to postpone invasion indefinitely.
Operation Barbarossa began on 22 June 1941, breaking the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Three million German troops invaded across a 1,800-mile front. Initial German advances captured millions of Soviet prisoners and reached the outskirts of Moscow by December 1941. However, the brutal Russian winter, fierce Soviet resistance, and overstretched German supply lines halted the assault.
The war became truly global when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, bringing the United States into the conflict. Hitler declared war on America four days later, a catastrophic strategic error that sealed Germany's eventual defeat.
Turning points, 1942-1943
The Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942-February 1943) marked the war's crucial turning point on the Eastern Front. German forces became trapped in brutal urban warfare in the ruined city. Soviet counteroffensive Operation Uranus encircled the German Sixth Army. When 91,000 German survivors surrendered on 2 February 1943, it shattered the myth of German invincibility and began the Red Army's inexorable westward advance.
In North Africa, the Battle of El Alamein (October-November 1942) saw British forces under General Montgomery defeat Rommel's Afrika Korps in Egypt, protecting the Suez Canal and beginning the Allied liberation of North Africa. Churchill called it "the end of the beginning."
The Battle of Midway (June 1942) in the Pacific saw American forces destroy four Japanese aircraft carriers, crippling Japan's naval power and shifting momentum in the Pacific War.
The Allied bombing campaign intensified from 1942. The RAF conducted night raids on German cities while the USAAF bombed industrial targets by day. The controversial bombing of Hamburg (July 1943) created firestorms killing 42,000 civilians. The strategic bombing offensive aimed to destroy German industrial capacity and civilian morale, though its effectiveness remains debated by historians.
The Battle of the Atlantic raged throughout 1942-43 as German U-boats attempted to starve Britain by sinking merchant convoys. Allied improvements in sonar, depth charges, long-range aircraft and convoy tactics, combined with breaking the German Enigma codes, turned the tide by mid-1943.
The Holocaust and Nazi persecution
Nazi racial ideology viewed Jews, Roma, disabled people, Slavs, homosexuals and political opponents as threats to Aryan racial purity. Persecution escalated systematically from discrimination to genocide.
The 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped German Jews of citizenship rights. Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938) saw orchestrated violence against Jewish communities, with 91 Jews murdered, 30,000 arrested, and hundreds of synagogues destroyed.
Following the invasion of Poland, Jews were forced into overcrowded ghettos in major cities like Warsaw and Łódź. Conditions were deliberately designed to cause death through starvation and disease. The Warsaw Ghetto held 450,000 people in 1.3 square miles.
The 'Final Solution'—the deliberate plan to exterminate European Jewry—was coordinated at the Wannsee Conference in January 1942. Six extermination camps were established in occupied Poland: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Sobibór, Bełżec, Chełmno and Majdanek.
Victims arrived by train and faced immediate 'selection'. Those deemed unfit for labour—children, elderly, sick—were murdered immediately in gas chambers disguised as shower rooms, using Zyklon B poison gas. Bodies were cremated in industrial ovens or open pits. Those selected for work faced brutal conditions, starvation and eventual murder when no longer productive.
Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing squads) followed German armies into the Soviet Union, murdering over 1.5 million Jews, Roma and others in mass shootings. At Babi Yar in Ukraine, 33,771 Jews were murdered in just two days (September 1941).
Approximately six million Jews perished in the Holocaust, alongside 200,000-500,000 Roma, 250,000 disabled people, thousands of homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and political prisoners. This genocide represents history's most systematic attempt to annihilate an entire people.
The British Home Front
Britain experienced total war requiring complete mobilisation. The Emergency Powers Act (1940) gave government sweeping control over people and resources.
Conscription extended to men aged 18-51 and, uniquely, to women aged 20-30 from December 1941. Women served in auxiliary forces, munitions factories, agriculture (Land Army) and essential services, fundamentally changing gender roles.
Rationing began in January 1940 with butter, sugar and bacon, eventually covering most food, clothing and petrol. Each person received a ration book with coupons. The Ministry of Food promoted campaigns like 'Dig for Victory' encouraging vegetable growing in gardens and parks. Despite shortages, rationing ensured fair distribution and improved nutrition for poorer families.
The Blitz devastated British cities. London suffered 57 consecutive nights of bombing from September 1940. Coventry (November 1940), Plymouth, Liverpool, Glasgow and other industrial cities faced sustained attacks. Anderson and Morrison shelters protected families, while London's Underground stations became mass shelters. Over 60,000 British civilians died in air raids during the war.
Evacuation moved 1.5 million children, mothers with infants, and pregnant women from cities to rural areas in September 1939. Many evacuees experienced culture shock, with working-class urban children encountering middle-class rural homes, and vice versa. Some evacuation hosts resented the burden, while others formed lasting bonds. The scheme highlighted stark class divisions in British society.
Propaganda maintained morale through posters ('Keep Calm and Carry On', though rarely displayed), BBC broadcasts, newsreels and films. Censorship controlled information to prevent defeatism and protect military secrets.
Allied victory in Europe, 1944-1945
D-Day commenced on 6 June 1944 with the largest amphibious invasion in history. Over 150,000 Allied troops landed on five Normandy beaches (codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword). Despite fierce German resistance, particularly at Omaha Beach, the Allies established beachheads and began liberating Western Europe.
The Normandy breakout in July-August 1944 saw Allied forces trap German armies in the Falaise Pocket. Paris was liberated on 25 August 1944. Allied armies advanced towards Germany despite logistical challenges—Montgomery's Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands (September 1944) failed to cross the Rhine quickly.
Germany's final offensive came in the Ardennes Forest (December 1944) in the Battle of the Bulge. Initial surprise gains were reversed by January 1945, exhausting Germany's remaining reserves.
On the Eastern Front, the Red Army advanced relentlessly westward, liberating concentration camps including Auschwitz (27 January 1945) and revealing the full horror of Nazi genocide. Soviet forces surrounded Berlin by April 1945.
Allied forces crossed the Rhine in March 1945 and advanced into Germany from west and east. Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker on 30 April 1945 as Soviet troops fought through the city. Germany surrendered unconditionally on 7 May 1945, with celebrations marking VE Day the following day.
The Pacific War and atomic weapons
While Europe celebrated victory, war continued in the Pacific. Japan's empire stretched from Burma to the Pacific islands. American 'island-hopping' campaigns captured strategic positions, moving closer to Japan itself. Battles like Iwo Jima (February-March 1945) and Okinawa (April-June 1945) involved fanatical Japanese resistance and heavy casualties, suggesting an invasion of Japan would cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
The atomic bomb, developed through the Manhattan Project, offered a devastating alternative. President Truman authorized its use to force Japanese surrender and avoid a costly invasion. On 6 August 1945, a B-29 bomber named Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb nicknamed 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima, instantly killing 70,000-80,000 people and destroying the city. When Japan did not surrender immediately, a second bomb ('Fat Man') destroyed Nagasaki on 9 August, killing 40,000 instantly.
Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 (VJ Day), with formal ceremonies aboard USS Missouri on 2 September. The atomic bombings remain controversial—some historians argue they were militarily necessary to end the war quickly, while others contend Japan was already defeated and the bombings served primarily to intimidate the Soviet Union as the Cold War emerged.
Worked examples
Example 1: Source evaluation question
Question: Study Source A. How useful is this source to a historian studying the impact of the Blitz on British morale? (8 marks)
Source A: A government poster from 1940 showing a cheerful British family in an Anderson shelter with the caption 'Britain Can Take It'.
Model Answer:
Source A has limited usefulness for studying the Blitz's impact on morale. As a government propaganda poster, it shows the morale the authorities wanted to create rather than actual public attitudes. The cheerful family presents an idealized image designed to encourage resilience, not document reality.
However, the source is useful for understanding government concerns about morale. The need for such propaganda suggests authorities feared the Blitz might break civilian spirit. The shelter setting shows awareness of bombing dangers while projecting confidence.
The source's provenance limits its usefulness. As official propaganda, it was censored and controlled, deliberately omitting negative information like casualties, destruction or fear. For balance, a historian would need personal diaries, Mass Observation surveys, or photographs showing actual bomb damage to assess real morale.
The timing (1940) is significant as this was early in the Blitz when maintaining morale was critical. This makes it useful for understanding government strategy, though not for measuring actual public sentiment.
Mark scheme notes: This answer demonstrates cross-referencing content and provenance (8-mark standard). It evaluates usefulness considering purpose, reliability and gaps, using specific contextual knowledge about propaganda and the Blitz.
Example 2: Extended writing question
Question: Explain why the Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the Second World War. (8 marks)
Model Answer:
The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point because it marked Germany's first major defeat and began the Soviet Union's westward advance that would end in Berlin.
Before Stalingrad, German forces had advanced deep into the USSR, capturing millions of prisoners and approaching Moscow. Victory at Stalingrad would have secured oil supplies from the Caucasus and Soviet industrial capacity. However, fierce Soviet resistance trapped German forces in brutal urban warfare from August 1942. Operation Uranus, the Soviet counteroffensive in November 1942, encircled the German Sixth Army. When 91,000 Germans surrendered in February 1943, it shattered the myth of German invincibility and destroyed an entire army.
This victory shifted momentum permanently on the Eastern Front. Soviet forces began advancing westward, liberating occupied territory. The battle demonstrated that Germany lacked resources to win a war of attrition against Soviet industrial and manpower reserves. German morale was severely damaged, while Soviet confidence surged.
Additionally, Stalingrad encouraged Allied powers. It proved Germany could be defeated and justified continued aid to the USSR. Combined with Allied victories at El Alamein and Midway in the same period, it marked 1942-43 as the war's decisive turning phase.
Mark scheme notes: This answer provides multiple explained reasons (military impact, strategic significance, psychological effects, wider context) with specific factual support. It demonstrates clear understanding of 'turning point' as a historical concept.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Confusing chronology of major battles. Create a timeline placing Dunkirk (1940), Pearl Harbor (1941), Stalingrad (1942-43), D-Day (1944) and VE Day (1945) in order. Understanding sequence helps explain causation.
Treating the Holocaust as separate from the war. The Holocaust was integral to Nazi ideology and war aims. Persecution escalated with military conquest, providing opportunities and cover for genocide in occupied territories.
Describing sources without evaluating them. Don't just say what a source shows—analyse its purpose, reliability, and limitations using provenance. Ask: Who created it? Why? What might they have omitted?
Ignoring the home front's importance. Examiners want you to understand total war's impact on civilians. Know specific examples of rationing, bombing, evacuation, and women's roles with supporting detail.
Oversimplifying atomic bomb debates. Avoid claiming the bombings were simply 'right' or 'wrong'. Acknowledge competing historical interpretations and supporting evidence for different viewpoints.
Writing narrative instead of analysis. Exam questions ask 'why' and 'how', not 'what happened'. Always link facts to analytical points addressing the specific question asked.
Exam technique for "The World at War, 1939–1945"
Master command words: 'Describe' requires factual detail. 'Explain' needs reasons with supporting evidence. 'How useful/reliable' demands evaluation of sources using content and provenance. 'To what extent' requires balanced argument with a judgement.
Use the mark scheme's structure: For 8-mark questions, make 3-4 developed points with specific supporting evidence. For source questions, always discuss both content and provenance (who created it, when, why, what they might omit).
Support generalizations with precision: Don't write 'many people died'—write '91,000 German soldiers surrendered at Stalingrad'. Specific statistics, dates, names and places demonstrate strong knowledge and earn higher marks.
Plan extended answers: Spend 2-3 minutes noting key points before writing. This ensures balanced coverage, logical structure, and you won't forget crucial evidence mid-answer.
Quick revision summary
The Second World War began with German Blitzkrieg victories (1939-40) but became global when Hitler invaded the USSR (1941) and Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Turning points at Stalingrad, El Alamein and Midway (1942-43) shifted momentum to the Allies. Nazi Germany perpetrated the Holocaust, systematically murdering six million Jews in the Final Solution. Britain experienced total war with conscription, rationing, evacuation and the Blitz. D-Day (1944) opened the Western Front, leading to Germany's surrender in May 1945. Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan's surrender in August 1945.