Transcript Germans invaded Denmark & Norway (lightly defended

On a sheet of paper…
Judge whether you think countries such as
Great Britain and France should have
appeased or intervened in the aggressive
actions Germany (for example) was taking.
What actions did Hitler take? Should they have
appeased Hitler’s actions, like they did? Or should
they have stopped him? Why do you feel this way?
Axis Aggression:_
War Begins_
Lightning Attacks_
• September 1, 1939
-Germany attacked Poland
-new tactic: blitzkrieg
-air attack to damage defenses
-fast-moving tanks & mobile
artillery attack
-foot soldiers clear out the rest
Poland_
• Polish air force = destroyed
• Polish soldiers = no match for Germans
• Polish landscape = no natural barriers to
slow the blitzkrieg
Allied Response_
• Poland had support from Great Britain &
France
• September 3, 1939
-Great Britain & France declare
war on Germany
• Great Britain & France didn’t give much
help to Poland
Allied Response_
• collapse of Poland = fast
• little could be done to stop German
invasion
• German troops move to western border
– The Maginot Line ‘”phony war”
– http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/ani
mations/wwtwo_map_fall_france/index_emb
ed.shtml
Attack on France_
• spring, 1940
-Germans invaded Denmark &
Norway (lightly defended)
• May 1940 = northern France
-Germans go through Netherlands &
Belgium
-around Maginot Line
Attack on France_
• May 1940 = northeast France
-Germans attack Ardennes
-dense forest region near French/
Belgian border (undefended)
-Germans move northwest to coast
Dunkirk_
• May 1940- Dunkirk = coastal town
(northwest France, near English Channel)
• German troops trapped hundreds of
thousands of Allied troops
• Allied military & civilian ships saved over
300,000  retreated to Great Britain
France_
• remaining Allied troops couldn’t stop
Germans from taking Paris
• June 22, 1940
-France surrendered to Germany
• Germany occupied France
• area under control of French officials
cooperating with Hitler = Vichy France
Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
• Winston Churchill = Prime Minister (PM)
of Great Britain
-May 1940
• Video Clip #2: Winston Churchill
• France surrendered to Germany
-June 22, 1940
Battle of Britain
• August-October 1940- Operation Sea Lion
-Germany sent thousands of aircraft to
attack British targets
• Hitler’s plan use Luftwaffe = destroy Royal
Air Force (RAF) to make it possible to
invade
-Germans failed
Battle of Britain
• British had new technology
-radar and code breaking machine
“Enigma”
• British air defenses = more effective than
other countries’
London Blitz
• September 1940
-German planes began bombing British
ports & cities, including London
-Hitler attacked civilians = tried to break the
will to fight; demoralize
-fires often worse than bombs
London Blitz
• 57 straight nights
• people took shelter in the Underground
(subway)
• children evacuated to countryside/north
Battle of Britain
• bombing continued, but British refused to
give in
• early 1941
-Hitler called off his plans to invade
Britain
North Africa
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1TTO
dpN__Q