Europe Ablaze - World war ii in western europe - June 2014

Hi! My name's John Moser. I'm a Professor of History at Ashland University. If you're like me, you love learning about World War II. What if I told you, you could do was study away experience that is exclusively dedicated to studying World War II in Europe? Well in June of 2014, I'm going to lead a group of Ashland University students on a two-week trip to Europe traveling to various spots associated with Second World War. Let me tell you about some other places that we are going to be seeing. The first place we'll go is the Royal Air Force Museum. Ever been to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC? This is essentially the British version. See the aircraft that fought in the Battle of Britain and participated in bombing raids against Nazi-occupied Europe. Number two: the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. Now to protect themselves against German bombs during the war, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his cabinet spent much of the war living and working in a network of bunkers under the streets of London. These bunkers have been left today much as they had been during the war. Today, they're also the home to the Churchill Museum, the only museum dedicated to the life and career of Britain's most famous Prime Minister. Third: the Imperial War Museum. This is perhaps the greatest Museum of military history in the world, covering every conflict in which Great Britain has been involved but with special emphasis on the World Wars. My personal favorite part of this museum is the simulator, where you get a glimpse at what it would be like to live through a German air raid during the London Blitz. Number four: the Battle of Britain Operations Room. Now, one of the reasons that the Royal Air Force defeated the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain was the response system that was developed to guard against air attack. The nerve center of that system was just outside London, in an underground bunker where the high command remained in contact with every fighter squadron Britain and could scramble those squadron to any place in the country where the planes were needed. Number five: the Bovington Tank Museum. Located in southern England, the Bovington Tank Museum features the world's greatest collection of tanks, not just from Britain, but from all of the major participants in World War II and if you're like me, you love tanks. Most of them, you can touch. Some of them, you can even go inside. Number Six: Sainte Mere Eglise in northern France. On the night before the Normandy invasions, American and British paratroopers were dropped all over northern France. One of the first targets was the village of Sainte Mere Eglise, where one US soldier hung all-night from a church steeple, to avoid detection by German forces in the town. Number Seven: Pointe du Hoc. The Germans installed heavy artillery on the top of a cliff here, overlooking the English Channel. Fearing that the fire from those guns would threaten the Normandy invasion, allied commanders dispatched US Army Rangers the scale the cliffs and take out the guns. The emplacements are still there. Number Eight: Omaha Beach. The Normandy invasions, as you may know, comprised landings on five separate beaches. On four of those beaches, the operation proceeded fairly smoothly, but on Omaha Beach, the campaign came closest to disaster. The story is dramatically told in the first 20 minutes of the movie 'Saving Private Ryan'. The German troops held the heights overlooking the beach and they were experienced veterans. The invading US forces had to fight for every inch of ground. Appropriately enough the American Cemetery, where those killed in the invasion are buried, lies just beyond the beach. Number Nine: the Atlantic Wall Museum. In 1942, Hitler ordered construction of the Atlantic Wall, a system of concrete and steel bunkers and gun emplacements that was supposed to run the entire length of the coast of northern France. In 1944, when Allied Forces landed in Normandy, the wall was far from complete, but the defenses were still formidable. The Atlantic Wall Museum is actually located in one of these fortresses, providing an up-close look at what life was like for the German soldiers trying to fight off the invasion. Number Ten: Bastogne. It's one of the most famous stories in all of US military history during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. An unexpected German offensive succeeded in isolating and surrounding the 101st Air Force division in the Belgian town of Bastogne. When called upon to surrender, the unit's Commander, Anthony McAuliffe, was said to have replied with one word: nuts. 101st managed to hold of the Germans until their offensive was beaten back a couple of weeks later. Numer Eleven: Fort Eben-Emael. In 1940, the defense of Belgium in northern France rested on a series of fortifications that overlook the region's waterways, the most formidable of these was Fort Eben-Emael, a massive concrete and steel structure bristling with heavy guns. During their invasion, the Germans got around this by landing airborne troops and gliders on the roof of the fort. The troops then proceeded to take out its heavy guns, using explosives. Number Twelve: the Palace of Justice. In 1946, after the war was over, the major Nazi war criminals were put on trial at Nuremberg. We'll be visiting the actual courtroom where those trials took place. Number Thirteen: the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Each year, from 1927 to 1939, the Nazi Party held a massive rally at Nuremberg, to celebrate Adolf Hitler's rise to power. Attended by millions from all over Germany, footage from the rallies was used worldwide to demonstrate the power and unity of Germans under the Nazi regime. These rallies were held on 11 square kilometer parade ground, but has been preserved to this day. Number Fourteen: Dachau. One of the first acts of the Nazi regime was to establish a concentration camp 10 miles outside Munich. Between 1933 and 1945, more than 200,000 political prisoners, German-Jews and prisoners of war were sent to Dachau. Over 30,000 of them died there before the camp was liberated by US forces in April 1945. Finally, Number Fifteen: the Fuhrerbau in Munich. In October 1938, Hitler met with the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and the Prime Ministers of Britain and France. There, in the iconic act of appeasement, the British and French gave in to Hitler's demands for the Sudetenland, a mountainous region of Czechoslovakia that bordered Germany. In the process, Hitler was able to satisfy one of his early territorial gains without a shot being fired. The building where the agreement was signed is a music school today and we'll be visiting it on our final day in Munich. If this trip sounds as great to you as it does to me, I hope you'll consider joining us. Best of all, the price: all of this, over the course in two weeks, for just under four thousand dollars. If you're interested, visit the website at the Global Education Office. Hope to see you next June!