The War In Europe

NAZI-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

• Signed August 23, 1939• What it said:

– Germany & the USSR would never attack one another

– If one became involved in war, the other would remain neutral

– Secret agreement to create spheres of influence in Europe

• Germany would get the western part of Poland• USSR would get eastern Poland, Finland, part of Romania,

Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania

Political Cartoon Analysis

• Write a paragraph to interpret the political cartoon from the previous slide.

September 1, 1939

• NAZI Germany invades Poland from the West, USSR occupies Poland from the East

• September 3, 1939, Great Britain & France declare war on Germany– Germans used Blitzkrieg to devastate Poland

in a few weeks– Britain & France didn’t even have time to send

troops

The USSR

• Stalin forced the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania, & Estonia to accept Soviet military bases

• Finland refused & war between these two broke out– The Finns held on until March 1940 when they

were forced to surrender.– This gave the USSR a 70 mile buffer on the

west from the Germans

Think-Write-Pair Share

• Hitler and Stalin did not like each other; nor did they trust each other. Why do you think they created the NAZI-Soviet Nonaggression Pact?

After the Quiet(Sitzkrieg/Phoney War)

• April 1940, British mined Norwegian waters to keep German ships from trading there

• Hitler claimed that this was a sign that Britain was going to invade Scandinavia

• Hitler delivers an ultimatum to Norway & Denmark to accept “protection of the Reich”.– Denmark accepts, Norway does not

NAZI Invasion of Scandinavia

• April 9, 1940 Germans meet little resistance in Denmark & take control

• Same morning German forces land in Norway & within hours control major cities, including the capital of Oslo

• Although Germany lost destroyers & cruisers, they gained access to the Atlantic

The Fall of France

• The Maginot Line– A series of fortifications 200 miles long to

protect against German invasion.– Concrete bunkers & trenches along France’s

border with Germany.

• May 10, 1940, Hitler carried out massive attacks on Luxembourg, the Netherlands, & Belgium.– NAZI paratroopers land in the Netherlands.

1st large scale air-borne attack in history.

The Fall of France (cont)

• May 10, 1940, Britain & France moved their best troops into Belgium. They become encircled by German Panzers. Panzers go through Luxembourg toward France.

• British, Belgian, & French troops are pushed to the English Channel by NAZI troops.

Miracle of Dunkirk

• 300,000 Allied troops are surrounded by NAZI troops on 3 sides & the English Channel on the other.

• May 26, 1940, an evacuation mission begins.– 850 vessels included: destroyers, cruisers, trawlers,

tugs, yachts, & fishing boats.– Smaller boats were operated by civilians– Lasted for 9 days under fierce air & ground attack– All Allied troops were evacuated

Predict

• After the “Miracle of Dunkirk”, what do you think happens in France?

Vichy French

• June 14, 1940, NAZI troops enter Paris.• One week later, France signs an armistice with

Germany.• Nazis occupy northern France & the Atlantic

coastline to Spain.• Southern France is governed by the Vichy, a

“puppet” government which collaborated with Germany

• “Free French” fought from elsewhere & the “French Resistance” was an underground movement to fight against NAZI occupation

Critical Thinking

• Why would France sign an armistice with Germany in June 1940?

• Why would the Vichy government collaborate with Germany?

• “You ask, what is our policy? I will say: it is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask what is our aim? I can answer in one word. Victory---victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however hard and long the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.” Winston Churchill, May 13, 1940

Battle of Britain

• August 1940, Luftwaffe began to bomb Britain’s southern coast.

• From August 24-September 6 Goering sent 1000 planes a day to bomb Britain.– RAF (Royal Air Force) lost 466 fighters & 103

pilots. Germans lost even more.

• September 7-November 3, Germans bombed London with 70,000 fire bombs. This was called the “blitz”.

Results of the Blitz

• Thousands of civilians were killed & injured

• Damaged light, power, & gas lines• Destroyed buildings, roads, & railways• Heavy losses to the RAF

– RAF downed more than 1,700 German aircraft.

– RAF effectively blocked Hitler’s invasion of Great Britain

Interpret

• Churchill said of the RAF pilots: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” Using your own words, write what Churchill meant by this statement.