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World War II: continued
Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, and World War II had begun. Over the next six years, the conflict would take more lives and destroy more land and property around the globe than any previous war. Among the estimated 45-60 million people killed were 6 million Jews murdered in Nazi concentration camps as part of Hitler's diabolical "Final Solution," now known as the Holocaust. -
World War II: A War in Europe
The instability created in Europe by the First World War set the stage for another international conflict–World War II–which broke out two decades later and would prove even more devastating. Rising to power in an economically and politically unstable Germany, Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist rearmed the nation and signed strategic treaties with Italy and Japan to further his ambitions of world domination. -
Hitler's Secret Meeting
Hitler had a secret meeting with his top military advisors. Hitler insisted that it was necessary for Germany to control neighboring lands in order to grow and prosper. His goals were to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich. -
The German's Advance
The Paris Peace Conference following World War I had creat-ed the relatively small nation of Austria out of what was left of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The majority of Austria’s 6 million people were Germans who favored unification with Germany. German troops marched into Austria unopposed. A day later, Germany announced that its Anschluss, or "union" with Austria complete -
Cezchoslovakia
Hitler then turned to Czechoslovakia. About 3 million German-speak-ing people lived in the western border regions of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland. The mountainous region formed Czechoslovakia’s main defense against German attack. Hitler wanted to annex Czechoslovakia in order to provide more living space for Germany as well as to control its important natural resources. Hitler charged that the Czechs were abusing the Sudeten Germans, and he began massing troops on the Czech border. -
An Agreement
Then, just when war seemed inevitable, Hitler invited French premier Edouard Daladier and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain to meet with him in Munich. When they arrived, the f hrer declared that the annexation of the Sudetenland would be his “last territorial demand.” In their eagerness to avoid war, Daladier and Chamberlain chose to believe him. On September 30, 1938, they signed the Munich Agreement, which turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired. Mun -
People & Vocabulary
Munich Agreement: a settlement reached by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia. Neville Chamberlain: Britian's Prime Minister
Edouard Daladier: France's premier -
Expanding the Third Reich
Chamberlain’s satisfaction was not shared by Winston Churchill, Chamberlain’s political rival in Great Britain. In Churchill’s view, by signing the Munich Agreement, Daladier and Chamberlain had adopted a shameful policy of appeasement. As Churchill had warned, Hitler was not finished expanding the Third Reich. As dawn broke on March 15, 1939, German troops poured into what remained of Czechoslovakia. After that, the German dictator turned towards Poland -
People & Vocabulary
Winston Churchill: Chamberlain's political rival
Appeasement: giving up principles to pacify an aggressor -
A Nonaggressive Poland
In the spring of 1939, Hitler began his familiar routine, charging that Germans in Poland were mistreated by the Poles and needed his protection. The result would be a two-front war. I. As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin surprised everyone by signing a nonaggression pact with Hitler. Once bitter enemies, on August 23, 1939 fas-cist Germany and communist Rusussia now committed never to attack each other. Germany and the Soviet Union also signed a second, secret pact, agreeing to divide Poland. -
War
The Greman airforce bombed Poland as tanks raced across the land. This was Germany's newest Military tactic. On September 3, two days after German's blitzkrieg attack on Poland France and Britain declared war on Germany. During the last week the Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east to gain land for themselves. By the end of the month Poland no longer existed and World War II had begun. -
People & Vocabulary
Blitzkrieg: lightening war; used the advances in military technology to take the enemy by surprise and quickly crush all opposistion with over whelming force. Luftwaffe: the German airforce. -
People & Vocabulary
Maginot Line: a system of fortifications built along France's eastern boarder.
Sitzkrieg: German term for a phony war. -
A Phony War
Months after the fall of Poland British and French troops marched along the Maginot Line while Germans waited along the Siegfried Line. Meanwhile Stalin conqured Finland. Suddenly Hitler launched a surprise attack on Denmark and Norway. However his true plan was to build bases along the coasts to strike at Great Britain. Hitler then turned to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. -
France's Fall
Germany trapped almost 400,000 British and French troops. In less than a week about 330,000 British, French and Belgain troops were saftely transported across the English Channel. Days later Italy attacked France from the south and Germany attacked from the north. On June 22 Hitler hadded his terms of surrender to French officers. -
Britain Fights Back
As Germany prepared a fleet along the French caost it also created an air war to help less the attacks from Britain's powerful navy. The German airforce's goal was to gain total control of the skies and destroy Britain's Royal Airforce (RAF). On August 15 approximately 2,000 German planes began bombing Britain. This continued for two solid months. -
Germany Calls Quits
The RAF fought back and shot down over 185 German planes with a personal loss of only 26. Six weeks later, Hitler called off the invasion. Although no invasion was at large Germany continuted to bomb Britain to disrupt production and lower morale. Britain only did the same. Both coutries continued to attack unrelentingly.
