Transcript World War II Begins

A World In Flames
WORLD WAR II BEGINS
The Austrian Anschluss
 Anschluss: unification of Austria and Germany
 Hitler’s first demand concerned Austria
 Hitler called for the unification of all German speaking peoples
 Hitler sent troops into Austria in March and
announced the unification of Austria and Germany.
The Munich Crisis and Appeasement
 Hitler next claimed the Sudetenland.
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An area of Czechoslovakia with a large
German-speaking population
 There were major differences between
Austria and Czechoslovakia
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Austrians shared a common culture with Germany;
Czechoslovakia had several different language speakers.
Austria had an authoritarian government; Czechoslovakia had a
democratic government.
Austria had no allies for defense; Czechoslovakia was allied with
France and the Soviet Union
The Munich Crisis and Appeasement
 The Czechs strongly resisted.
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France threatened to fight if Germany attacked
The USSR also promised assistance
England promised to support their ally, France
 Representatives of Britain, France, Italy,
and Germany agreed to meet in Munich.
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At the Munich Conference on September 29, 1938, Britain and
France agreed to Hitler’s demands, a policy that came to be
known as appeasement.
Czechoslovakia was informed that it must give up the
Sudetenland or fight Germany on its own.
A year later Germany ruled all of Czechoslovakia.
Danzig and the Polish Corridor
 Hitler next demanded that Poland give up Danzig:
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Danzig was a Baltic Sea port with 90% German speaking peoples which
had been taken from Germany after WWI to give Poland a sea port.
 Hitler also demanded a highway and railroad corridor across
Poland from Berlin (the German capital) to East Prussia:
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East Prussia was a part of Germany separated by Poland
 France and Great Britain now knew that appeasement had
failed
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France and Great Britain announced that if Germany went to
war with Poland; they would come to its aid.
Hitler seeks an alliance with Stalin (USSR) so as not to have to
fight the USSR also.
Danzig and the Polish Corridor
The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
 Stalin (USSR) had been trying to make some sort of
agreement with Britain and France in case Germany
attacked them.
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Britain and France refused to sign an agreement with the USSR
because of their lack of democratic values
 On August 23, 1939, Germany and the USSR signed
the nonaggression pact.
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A secret agreement was made to invade Poland and divide it
between Germany and the Soviets.
Germany 1940
World War II Begins
 September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland
 September 3, 1939 Britain and France declare war on
Germany
Blitzkrieg in Poland
 Blitzkrieg
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Translated from German means “lightning warfare”.
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Used large numbers of mass tanks to break through and rapidly
encircle enemy positions supported by aircraft bombing enemy
positions and dropping paratroopers behind enemy lines to cut off
supplies.
Depended heavily on radios to coordinate the tanks and aircraft
By September 27th, Germany had captured the Polish capital
of Warsaw.
The Fall of France
 Compared to Poland, the fighting in France was called
“sitzkrieg” by Germans and the “Bore War” by the British.
 Both sides sat around and waited for the other to attack
 After WWI France built up a strong fortification made up of
concrete and underground bunkers called the “Maginot
Line” along the German border.
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Instead of risking an attack through the Maginot Line, the Germans sent
their tanks through the Ardennes Mountains where the French believed
that large numbers of tanks could not travel through.
Miracle at Dunkirk
 After trapping the Allied forces in Belgium, the
Germans began to drive them toward the English
Channel.
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The only hope for British and French troops was to evacuate by
sea
Dunkirk was the only port the Germans had not captured
 Hitler stopped his troop advancement so that the
Luftwaffe (German air force) could attack
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This gave British and French troops time to evacuate 338,000
troops, but left behind 90,000 rifles, 7,000 tons of ammunition,
and 120,000 vehicles
 June 22, 1940 France surrenders to Germany
Images of Dunkirk
The Battle of Britain
 In June of 1940, the Luftwaffe began to attack
British shipping in the English Channel.
 In August of 1940 the Luftwaffe launched an all out
attack on the British Royal Air Force.
 The Luftwaffe then targeted civilians in London.
 The British had developed a new system to detect
when, where, and how many Luftwaffe planes were
attacking. (Radar)
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This allowed the small Royal Air Force to fend off the large
Luftwaffe and save Britain from a land invasion.
Essay Question
 Describe the “Miracle at Dunkirk” and Hitler’s
surprising order that helped make it possible.
Essay Question
 Describe the “Miracle at Dunkirk” and Hitler’s surprising
order that helped make it possible.
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After trapping the British and French forces in Belgium, the
Germans began to drive them toward the English Channel. The
Germans had captured nearly all of the ports except the ones at
Dunkirk in northern France. As German forces closed in on Dunkirk,
Hitler suddenly ordered them to stop. No one is sure why, Historians
know he was nervous about risking his tanks forces, and he wanted
to wait until more infantry arrived. Perhaps Hitler thought that
aircraft alone could destroy the soldiers trapped near Dunkirk. There
is also some evidence that Hitler thought that the British would be
more willing to accept peace if the Germans did not humiliate them
by destroying their forces at Dunkirk. In any case, his order provided
a three-day delay. In that time, the British sent 850 ships of all sizes,
some as small a sailboat operated by civilian volunteers. They were
able to save an estimated 338,000 British and French soldiers, a feat
referred to as “Miracle of Dunkirk.”