HH::1939-1945
■Hitler Takes Poland■After securing the Rhineland,Austria, + Czechoslovakia, Hitlerwanted Poland■After WWI, the Allies createdthePolish Corridor (strip ofland that cut throughGermany to give Polandaccess to the sea)▪Hitler demanded that itbe returned■Hitler + Stalin had signed aNonaggression Pact in which theyagreed not to attack each other for10 yrs. Secretly, it also determinedhow they would divide Poland +stated the USSR could take overFinland, Estonia, Latvia, + Lithuania
■9/1/1939 Hitler’s surprise attack onPoland began w/ tanks + aircraft,followed by massive infantry -this isknown asblitzkrieg“lightning war”■2 days later (9/3/1939), Britain +France (The Allies) declaredwar, but they couldn’t mobilizebefore Poland fell to Hitler■Hitler quickly annexed WesternPoland while Stalin occupied theEastern ½ + Finland, Estonia,Latvia, + Lithuania
■The Fall of France■After declaring war, Britain + Francestationed troops along theMaginot Line(a system of fortifications alongFrance’s border w/ Germany) + waitedfor the Germans to attack.Nothinghappened for 6 months – this wasknown as the “Phony War”■This lasted until April of 1940when Nazis invaded Denmark (in4hrs!) + Norway (in 2 months)■In May, Nazis swept throughNetherlands, Belgium, +Luxembourg■While British + French were distractedwatching other countries fall, the Naziscame through the Northern woods ofFrance.They circled around to trap theAllied troops
■Allied troops were trapped at beaches ofDunkirk when the British sent every availableship (naval + civilian) to rescue them.Theysaved over 300,000 troops■After Dunkirk, France fell on 6/22/1940■Germans occupied Northern France, butset up a puppet gov.’t in the southknown asVichy France▪French General Charles deGaulle established agovernment-in-exile in London
■The Battle of Britain■Britain’s new Prime Minister wasWinston Churchill■Summer 1940, theLuftwaffe(German Air Force) began bombingBritain’s Air Force.In September,they started bombing citiesespecially London to break Britishmorale■The RAF (British Royal AirForce) was able to fight backb/c in addition to the inventionof radar, the British acquiredan Enigma machine whichwas a German code makingmachine.They nowunderstood the German’ssecret messages■Lasted until May 1941, when Hitlerordered a halt
■Fighting in Northern Africa■Once Italy formally joined w/Germany (The Axis Powers)against the Allies, Mussolini beganattacking North Africa inSeptember 1940.Mussoliniwanted to capture theBritish-controlled Suez Canalwhich would give access toMid-Eastern oil■British push Italians back +take 130,000 Italiansprisoner■Hitler sent in the AfrikaKorps, led by General ErwinRommel “The Desert Fox”▪Advantage goes back+ forth b/w British +Germans
■Hitler InvadesUSSR■6/22/1941 Hitler launchesOperationBarbarossa (his plan to invade theSoviet Union)■USSR completely unprepared +Nazis advance 500mi.
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