Transcript Drill 4/14

Drill 4/14

Why did the Munich Conference/
Appeasement policy fail?
World War II
The Blitz
Objective

Students will be able to chronicle the
events of Hitler’s early actions in Europe at
the onset of World War II
September 1, 1939

German forces invade Poland
– Hitler once again claims that the region of
Poland, that contains the important port of
Danzig, rightfully belongs to Germany
The Non-aggression Pact

Part of that non-aggression pact that was
signed stated that the Germans and the
Russians would divide up Poland
– Also, other key areas in the Soviet’s “zone of
interest” would be given up.
Soviet
Nazi

German forces swept
in from the west and
drove the Polish
military back

The Germans and the
Russians had a secret
agreement at the
time.
Major Reason for Polish Defeat
The Battle of
Bzura
Poland Falls

September 3, Britain and France declare
war on Germany
– But can do little to stop the attack on Poland
Poland falls in a matter of weeks
 September 17, Germany and the Soviet
Union divide up Poland

– The USSR also receives the “Baltic States”
The Blitzkrieg
“Lightning war”
 This was the first actions of Hitler’s war on
Europe
 By 1941, Axis forces will have made their
way throughout Europe


Complete Guided Reading 16.1
Summary

What were the characteristics of Hitler’s
“Lightning war”?
– How did he fight it?
– Fast, violent
 OVERWHELMING FORCES!!
Drill 4/15

Why did Poland fall so easily to German
forces?
Germany had superior tactics and
weapons
 Aided by the Soviets in the east

Objective

Students will be able to identify the causes
for the fall of France during Hitler’s
advance
World War II
The Blitz: The Fall of France
The Phony War

A period of quiet in Europe after the fall of
Poland
– Prior to Germany’s invasions of Denmark and
Norway

France and Germany fortified their borders
in preparation for an attack
The Maginot Line

Heavily fortified
static defensive
line

Reminiscent of
World War I
thinking
The Maginot Line

Fortified “trench-like” defensive line

Pictured here is a
machine-gun nest
known as a cloche
The Maginot line

Avoid a surprise attack

Give time for the main army to be
mobilized behind it

Dissuade a direct assault
– Force the Germans to go up through Belgium
The Line fails
May 1940
 Germany set up a decoy army directly
opposite the line

– Sent a second army to the north to battle the
French forces along the border of Belgium

The French forces were outmatched and
the Germans took Belgium
– May 26, 1940
By going through Belgium the
German forces simply went around
the Maginot Line
Germany storms through France

June 10, 1940
– Mussolini (Italy) officially joins the German
side of the war
– Declares war on France and Britain and
invades Southern France

June 14
– Paris Falls to German forces

June 20
– France surrenders to Germany
Blame

Why does the Maginot Line get the blame
for the fall of France?

It DID force Germany to go through
Belgium, what it was designed to do.

On the back of your Blitzkrieg paper from
yesterday answer the following question

Is the Maginot line itself the reason for
France’s defeat? Does it deserve to be
called one of history’s “greatest military
mistakes”?
France fights back

Hitler divided France in half
– Northern France was “Occupied” France
– The Southern was “Unoccupied” France

The Southern half was controlled by a
“puppet government” based in the French
town of Vichy
Summary

Why does Hitler create the puppet
government?

Why not just take over France like any
other country?
Drill 4/16

What is a “puppet government”?
– A government that appears to be independent
but is really being controlled by someone else
or another government in another location
– The Puppet Government in France was based in
the city of Vichy (The Vichy Gov’t)

Why did Hitler set up the puppet
government and divide France in half?
World War II
The Blitz: The Battle of Britain
Objective

Students will be able to compare and
contrast Hitler’s early victories with his
defeats in Britain and the Soviet Union
Operation Sea-Lion
The plan:
 Bomb key cities in England

– Cutting off supply routes
– Crushing overall morale

Then land roughly 250,000 soldiers on
England’s southern coast

This holds true to Hitler’s doctrine of
overwhelming forces
September 1940

German Luftwaffe (air force) begins
bombing British cities
– At first the Germans focused on Royal Air
Force (RAF) hangars and bases
– They would soon move onto major cities
– Especially London

The Luftwaffe severely outnumbered the RAF
– Roughly 2,900 RAF planes vs 4,500 Luftwaffe
There were daily bombing raids
 Fires and explosions on the streets of London as
the British try to go on with their daily lives

The British Stand Tall
The British people adapt and refuse to
give up
 The RAF has two key inventions that help
them survive

– RADAR
 Developed in the late 30’s
 Used as an advance warning system to track
planes in the air
– Enigma
 A codebreaking device. The British were now able
to decipher secret German transmissions
The Battle of Britain
In October Hitler switches to night bombings of
England
 The British refuse to give up


The bombings would not stop until MAY 10,
1941
– Hitler decides that Britain can wait
– It is costing too much money and taking too much
time
– He turns his attentions east
Results

For the better part of EIGHT MONTHS
Britain endured nearly constant bombing
– 27,450 civilian deaths
– Over 30 thousand wounded

Hitler would then fail in his attempt to
invade the Soviet Union
Using your book

Read about Hitler’s failure in the Soviet Union (pgs
445-446)

Answer the following question:
– What factors allowed Leningrad and Great Britain to fight
off German attacks while earlier cities and countries fell?
 Consider these points in your answer:
 The country’s ability to fight
 The costs of resisting
 The costs of surrendering

I will collect this response and the Guided Reading
for 16.1 at the end of class
Summary

What was the Atlantic Charter?

How did it get the USA involved in the war
prior to Pearl Harbor?
Drill 4/17

What is the Atlantic Charter?

A declaration of principles between the US
and UK.
Objective

Students will identify the reasons for US
involvement in World War II
The United States and WWII

Officially the US is neutral
– The Neutrality Acts of 1938,’39

Upper levels of government are growing
more worried about the situation in
Europe

No territorial gains were to be
sought by the United States or
the United Kingdom.

Territorial adjustments must be
in accord with the wishes of the
peoples concerned.

All peoples had a right to selfdetermination.

Trade barriers were to be
lowered.

There was to be global
economic cooperation and
advancement of social welfare.

Freedom from want and fear;

Freedom of the seas;

Disarmament of aggressor
nations, postwar common
disarmament
The Atlantic Charter
AUGUST 14, 1941
International Reaction

UK
– Loved the plan, sorry that the US was not getting
involved in the war

US
– Loved the plan
– Worried that this would lead us INTO war

Germany and Japan
– Took the agreement as basically a declaration of
alliance against them
– In Japan this would be used an excuse for increased
hostilities for towards the United States
US + Japan Relations

Japan had increasingly become an
imperial force
– The invasion of Manchuria in 1931

This made relations between the countries
rather tense
Japan + US Relations

As Japan allied itself with Germany that
made things worse

Japan’s islands have few natural resources
– i.e. Oil
– They would need to expand to get these
goods or receive them from another source
– For a time that was the US
Japan + US Relations

As the war went on
Japan began to move
into the European
colonies of Southeast
Asia

Japanese officials
called this area the
“Southern Resource
Zone”
The US Reacts

The United states reacted by cutting off all
oil imports to Japan

Japanese officials realized at the rate of
consumption they would only have
enough reserves for another two years
Japan Reacts

December 7, 1941
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
Was not designed to begin a long, protracted
conflict
 It was intended to be one, swift, crushing blow
to the US pacific fleet

– Take out the fleet then Japan can roll through Asia
without too much resistance

Japan delivered an official declaration of war
later that afternoon
– The United States would declare war on Japan the
next day
Classwork/ Homework

Complete Guided Reading 16.2
– Parts a+b
– It will be collected on Monday
– Next week we will look at the war in the
pacific and how the United States turns the
tide of the conflict