Transcript Leading up to the War

• After WWI, France
built a defensive
system of
fortifications along
their border with
Germany called the
Maginot Line
• The Germans sat
opposite and waited.
It was called the
“Phony War”
because nothing
happened for about
7 months.
The system included rail tracks so troops and supplies could be
moved quickly along the line
Leading up to the War
•The Treaty of Versailles had several requirements that
Germany was suppose to abide by:
•Treaty limited the size of Germany’s army – in 1935
Hitler said he wasn’t going to obey this provision
•German troops were forbidden to enter the area called
the Rhineland, it was a 30 mile-wide buffer zone between
Germany & France. In 1936 Hitler moved troops into it.
France and everyone else condemned these actions, but
not wanting to provoke a war did nothing else (Hitler later
said he would have backed down if he had been
challenged)
• The weak response by France & England
convinced Italy that they should join forces and
in 1936 they signed an agreement known as the
Rome/Berlin Axis.
• In 1936, a civil war in Spain led by the Fascist,
Franco, were aided by Hitler & Mussolini. This
was a perfect opportunity to test their war
weapons (the only western country to send aid
to the elected government were the Soviets).
Many Americans, as well as others, went to
Spain and fought on the side of the
government. The Hemingway book, For Whom
The Bell Tolls was written about this struggle.
• In 1938, in order, Hitler said, to bring all German people
under one leadership, Hitler’s troops marched into
Austria and then western Czechoslovakia (called the
Sudetenland)
• Instead of fighting Hitler (as their treaties & alliances
required), Britain & France had Hitler sign the Munich
Conference Agreement in which Hitler basically said he
was satisfied and would go no further. ( lol  )
German troops entering Austria
Although not every Austrian was happy, the majority welcomed
the union with Germany
Voting ballot from 10 April 1938. The ballot text
reads "Do you agree with the reunification of
Austria with the German Empire that was enacted
on 13 March 1938, and do you vote for the party
of our leader Adolf Hitler?," the large circle is
labeled "Yes," the smaller "No."
“Peace in our
lifetime”
An emotionally “happy”
Czech while German soldiers
march into their country
Germany wanted to bring into their fold all
Germanic people – the western part of
Czechoslovakia was heavily German
German-Soviet nonaggression pact
• Russia believed Germany would
eventually attack them, but they needed
time to prepare
• Hitler knew that when he invaded Poland
the western powers would go to war with
Germany and he couldn’t risk a two front
war
• The two countries would divide Poland in
half, and Germany agreed to let Russia
take over Finland and the Baltic
countries.
Poland divided
between Germany
& Russia. This
alliance wouldn’t
even last 2 years.
Poland was very backward military wise. In 1939
they relied on their cavalry – obviously wasn’t too
Was it a fair
war?
Germany
had the most
modern
military in
the world,
and their
planes &
tanks had
just gone
thru a
workout in
the Spanish
Civil War.
• The Germans employed a new
fighting technique called
“blitzkrieg” which means
“lightening war”
•
•
German troops, on a pretext that they were attacked, attacked Poland from
the west, while from the east Russia attacked (even through they had a
treaty with Poland).
The war in Poland was over in 5 weeks
France & Britain declared war 2 days after the invasion from
Germany because of their alliance with Poland
Call me
paranoid
On April 9, 1940, Germany invaded Denmark. The
government surrendered in 2 hours. Many Danes woke up
not realizing they had been invaded! This picture was taken
an hour before the attack. 2 of them died.
Norway lasted a month
They put up more of a
fight than the Danish.
Germans had 5,000
casualties – Norway
6,000+
The Germans
invaded France from
the north and
quickly cut off the
British & French
troops. Many were
surrounded at the
Belgium city of
Dunkirk. But the
Brits were able to
save 338,000
soldiers to fight
another day.
Some didn’t make it
Luxemburg fell in late May
France wasn’t able to stop the German
offensive either
It’s ironic that the area that got it the worst in WWI got
it the worst in WWII in France
By the end of
June, France had
fallen.
On June 25, 1940, at the same location, inside the same train car,
Hitler and the French signed a new armistice
Once France fell, the leader of the French Government, Charles de
Gaulle, went to England and set up a new government called the Free
French Forces
For 10 months the Germans pounded England from the air in the Battle
of Britain, but the English wouldn’t surrender – Hitler turned his
attention towards his friends, the Russians
Originally invented by
the Polish, the British
version called the
Enigma Machine was
able to decipher coded
messages from the
Germans which allowed
the British to be ready
for some air attacks
The invention of radar
by the United States
was also very helpful
during the Battle of
Britain and the entire
war.
The Battle of Britain lasted almost 1 year and
was fought mainly in the air
Germany attacked Russia June 22, 1941 – they advanced 500 miles by
November, only 30 miles from Moscow. Then the Russian winter set in
The Germans attacked Russia without preparing for winter so the
soldiers froze as did their weapons. The Russians had winter clothing
and would later counter attack. They just didn’t have bullet-proof
clothing!
German soldiers trying to keep warm
Russian citizens digging anti-tank trenches
Both sides took many prisoners,
but neither kept many alive for
long – they were shot or starved
But it was the civilians that had it the
worst – they were caught in the
middle of both armies
• When the war started, the U.S. took the position of remaining neutral.
• To help, the U.S. passed the Land-Lease Act which allowed the U.S.
to lend or lease weapons to their friends.
Churchill & Roosevelt met secretly off of Canada and signed the
Atlantic Charter which permitted free trade and the right for people to
have whatever kind of government they wanted