Transcript CHC2D – Canadian History since Wolrd One

CHC2D – Canadian History
Since World One
Unit 1 – Lesson #13
1939/40: War Returns to Europe and
Canada Prepares for War
Background
 The failures of the Western Democracies (Britain &
France) to stand up to German threats to its neighbours
made Hitler more bold in his demands.
 Additionally, the attitude of the United States that
Europe’s problems were not it’s concern made matters
worse as Britain and France understood that without the
support of Russia or the US, they could not stand against
Germany.
German War Plans
 Hitler ordered the generals of the German Army,
known as the Wehrmacht, to begin planning an
invasion of Poland in March of 1939.
 Germany planned to invade Poland with nearly all of
its armed forces, attacking south from East Prussia and
north from Germany to capture the Polish capital at
Warsaw.
Blitzkrieg - 1939
 The German Blitzkrieg (which means lightning war) was
a new style of war which combined air strikes with
concentrated attacks by Panzer (tank) divisions.
 The goal was to get behind the enemy, capture key cities
and transportation connections and then let the slower
moving infantry finish off trapped enemy forces.
Germany Declares War
 Germany declared war on Poland on September 1,
1939.
 By September 9, the German army had already
surrounded Warsaw.
 Warsaw surrendered by September 27th and the
remainder of Polish forces were defeated by October
1st.
Germany’s Victory
 Within a month of their declaration of War, Germany
stunned the world by completely defeating Poland.
 The Polish army had the reputation of having the best
cavalry in Europe, it was too bad that they were fighting
against German Panzers.
 Germany easily defeated an army of over 800,000 at a
cost of only 14,000 dead.
Phoney War
 Between October 1939 and April 1940, despite being at
war, neither side fired a shot.
 This period is referred to as “Sitzkrieg.”
 During this time, England and France sat by as Hitler
was able to consolidate his conquest of Poland and redeploy his armies to the west and plan for the invasion
of France.
Germany’s Salvation
 The rapid conquest of Poland and the fact that Britain
and France did not attack Germany despite their
“guarantee” to Poland, gave Hitler what he needed
most.
 Time; time to move his troops in position to invade
France; time to train new recruits into the German
army; time to build more planes and tanks; and time
to plan his next move.
Canada’s Readiness for War
 Canada was not ready to go to war in 1939.
 The economic problems of the Depression caused the
Canadian government to reduce expenditures on the
armed forces.
 When Canada declared war, the Canadian Armed Forces
had an army of 5000 regular soldiers, 50,000 militia, 16
modern tanks, 4 anti-aircraft guns, and 3 modern
destroyers.
Canada’s Role in the War
 In light of the weakness of Canadian forces, Prime
Minister King proposed that Canada’s contribution to
the war effort be largely in raw materials, food and
industrial production.
 With 900,000 Canadians still unemployed in 1939,
Canada had the resources to grow, both industrially
and militarily.
Canadians Respond
 Despite the experiences of World War I, Canadians
eagerly volunteered for service in September 1939 as
70,000 young men enlisted in the armed forces.
 On September 19, King announced that 1 Canadian
Division was sent to England under the command of
Major General A.G.L (Andy) McNaughton.
Arrival in Britain
 The Canadian division arrived in Britain on December
and began to train along with British forces during the
period of Sitzkrieg.
 Many of the Canadian soldiers would later refer to this
period as their “English” vacation.
 The “war” seemed distant to them.
Canada and Aircraft
 On December 17th, King announced a plan to turn
Canada into the aircrew training school for the entire
British Commonwealth.
 The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP)
brought air crews from all over the Commonwealth for
training as pilots, navigators, air gunners, bombardiers,
and radio operators.
Why Canada?
 Canada was close enough to Britain to fly graduates of
the training program to the war zone quickly.
 But Canada was also far enough away from the war that
the crews could train in relative safety without fears of
being attacked by the German air force.
 By the end of the war, the BCATP trained over 130,000 air
crew including nearly 50,000 pilots!
1940 – War Resumes
 In April 1940, the calm of the “phoney war” was
shattered as Germany invaded Denmark, the
Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and France.
 On April 9, 1940 Germany attacked Denmark and
Norway.
 On May 10, 1940 Germany attacked Belgium, the
Netherlands and France.
Lightning War & Lightning
Victories
 Belgium and the Netherlands were defeated in 5 days!
 As the German Panzers smashed through the Allied
forces; 340,000 British and French troops were
evacuated at Dunkirk between May 26th and June 4th.
 On June 14, 1940 German Panzers entered the city of
Paris, by June 22nd France officially surrendered.
The Situation in June 1940
 The fall of France signalled the ultimate victory for
Germany.
 The humiliation of the treaty of Versailles had been
avenged and now Hitler could look to win for Germany its
“place in the sun.”
 Hitler had two more objectives to accomplish: end Britain’s
dominance of the seas and provide Germans with “living
space” by conquering more of Eastern Europe
Britain & Canada
 France and the rest of Europe were defeated; Italy was
allied with Germany; Spain and Sweden were friendly
to Germany; and Russia had a non-aggression pact
with Germany.
 This left Britain and Canada, along with the rest of the
Commonwealth, alone against Hitler’s seemingly
unstoppable forces.