RISE OF FORTRESS EUROPE
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Transcript of RISE OF FORTRESS EUROPE
RISE OF FORTRESS EUROPE17 May 2010
THE AXIS FORMS
• 1936: Japan and Germany conclude the Anti-Comintern Pact– Later expanded to include Italy
• 1940: Anti-Comintern Pact replaced with full-scale political and military alliance– Officially called the Tripartite Pact, referred in
short as the Axis Pact
German Military Actions
• 1934: German militarism– Producing tanks and aircraft– Proposed 500,000 man army– Institute draft
• 1936: Reoccupy Rhineland• 1938: Austrian Anschluss• 1938: Sudetenland
– Appeasement
Military Actions (cont’d)
• 1939: Invade Czechoslovakia• 1939 (August): Non-Aggression Pact
– Signed between Soviet Union and Germany– Pledge not to attack one another– Form a secret pact: split Poland
• 1939 (Sept. 1): Blitzkrieg of Poland begins• 1939 (Sept. 3): Great Britain and France
declare war on Germany
FALL OF FRANCE
• Early Tactics of the French– Remain of defensive while mobilizing military and
industry– Offensive after 2 – 3 years– Rely on Maginot Line
• Hitler’s Plan– Defeat Poland then quickly attack west– Held up: bad weather and plane crash
“Thank God for the French Army” – Winston Churchill
Defeat of France
• Maginot Line too defensible for direct attack– Primary Attack: through Ardennes
Forest– Secondary Attack: Belgium and Holland
• Fall of France
Evacuation of Dunkirk
• 340,000 Allied troops evacuated between May 28 and June 4 after all other escape routes had been cut off
Legacy of French Defeat
• Puppet gov’t established– In collaboration with Germany
• De Gaulle forms army and gov’t while in exile
• Britain now stands alone
Hitler/ Effiel Tower