Transcript The Blitz - Cloudfront.net

Sec. II. WWII.
(Ch. 11)
A.
“Peace in Our Time.”
1. ‘Anschluss’ - Reuniting Hitler’s
native Austria w/ Germany.
The Nazis vote for Anschluss
The new gov’t quickly invited German troops to enter Austria and “help” in
reinforcing law and order.
 The next day, after his triumphant return to Austria, he annexed Austria to Germ.
 Threatening Austria with invasion, Hitler forced the Austria’s chancellor to put
Austrian Nazi’s in charge of the gov’t (Mar 13, 1938).
2.
Munich Conference (1938) –
Meeting w/ UK, Fr, Germ, & Italy
re: Sudetenland.
a) Appeasement – Agreeing to
Hitler’s demands.
 Hitler given the Sudetenland
(Czechoslovakia).
 Br prime minister Neville
Chamberlain boasted
“peace for our time.”
 Sudetenland (northwest
Czechoslovakia with large
population of Germans) Hitler
demanded that Germany be
given Sudetenland.
 Hitler expressed willingness to risk
“world war” to achieve objectives.
 Reps did not object to plans and
agreed to nearly all of Hitler’s
demands.
 Br prime minister Neville
Chamberlain boasted “peace for
our time.”
 Slovakia became a puppet state
controlled by Nazi Germany.
 Hitler wanted the Polish port of
Danzig (he didn’t think West would
fight for Poland).
3.
Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact –
Germ & USSR agree not to attack
each other.
a) Germ invades Poland (Sep 1, ‘39).
b) UK & Fr declare war.
 Hitler promised Stalin the western part of Poland and the Baltic states.
Pact shocked world – gave Hitler the freedom to attack Poland
 UK & France declare war on Germany two days later.
B.
WWII Begins.
1. German Blitzkrieg – “lightening war.”
 Used armored columns, called panzer divisions, supported by airplanes.
 Poland invaded & surrendered in 4-weeks.
 Poland divided between Germ and Soviet Union on Sep 28, 1939.
“England (English), look what you
have done!” A NAZI poster, printed
for Poland, attempting to shift the
blame for the German invasion of Poland
onto England.
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Europe is shocked at the speed and efficiency of attack on Poland.
Waited through the winter “phony war.”
Denmark and Norway (started Apr 9, 1940).
Netherlands, Belgium, and France (started May 10, 1940).
C.
UK Defiance.
1. Winston Churchill – Prime Minister in
‘40.
“We shall fight on the
beaches, we shall fight
on the landing grounds,
in the fields, in the streets,
and in the hills. We shall
never surrender.”
-- Winston Churchill
Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister, two months
before Battle of Britain; wartime leader.
 Churchill named Time magazines “Man of the Half Century” in 1950.
2.
Battle of Britain (July-Oct, ‘40) –
Hitler needed control of the air to
invade UK.
 Germany’s Herman Goering – supported night
bombings due to safety.
 German fighter: Messerschmitt ME-109 only
had 20 minutes over Eng.
 German bomber: Henkle.
a)
Germ planes bombed UK air &
naval bases, harbors, comms,
& factories.
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During Spanish Civil War, massive bombings (Guernica) w/ German help.
Start of WWII, both sides restricted bombing cities.
Warsaw vowing to fight to last man made it a military target – 10 days of bombing.
Rotterdam, Netherlands bombed by Germ after surrender(pilots didn’t get message).
British had effective radar system for early warnings; navigation problems at night.
Germ bomber accidentally hit city of London, so Br bombed Berlin for 3 nights – not
much damage, but blow to German morale & security (Br could reach Berlin).
 The Blitz - (In retaliation) Hitler began massive bombings of London and other
British cities to crush morale (bombed every night but 1 for two months).
 Public shelters set-up in the subway tunnels; at height, 1out of 7 Londoners
slept in a shelter; 2 million children evacuated to the countryside.
 Meanwhile, the Br military was able to rebuild their air strength and inflicted
heavy losses on the Luftwaffe bombers.
 At the end of Sep, Hitler postponed invasion of Br indefinitely.
Isolationism =
70-80% of Americans
want to stay isolated.
Because of Isolationism,
US military reduced in
size and strength after
WWI.
Neutrality Act of 1939
passed by the U.S.
Congress.
During 1940
presidential campaign,
FDR promises that
“your boys will not go
to war.”