World War Ii

World War II1939-1945

LIC. LAURA FLORES

In the spring of 1939 Hitler made new demands:

That Danzing, plus a German railway and a highway route through the Polish Corridor, be returned to Germany

Finally Britain and France ended their policy of appeasement and pledged to defend Poland if Hitler threatened its independence

Reasons why Hitler and Stalin signed a ten-year nonaggression pact:

Hitler wanted to avoid a two-front war. Stalin wanted to gain territory In private they agreed to divide Eastern

Europe. Soviet Union was to have Finland and the

Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Germany and Russia would each take over a part of Poland.

Hitler’s advantage for the agreement was clear: Germany need not to

fear a two front war like the one it had faced in 1914

Germany invaded Poland

August 31, 1939. Hitler needed an excuse for attacking Poland:

A small band of German soldiers disguised themselves in Polish uniforms….

The Poles he said had violated Germany’s borders…

September 1st 1939 German planes roared over Poland.

Germany Blitzkrieg In less than 48 hours the Germans wiped

out the Polish air force, army, railroads, telegraph centers and factories…they were demoralized, stunned, defeated.

Germans using the fast moving weapons of modern war, the armor tank and the airplanes, called their sudden massive attack “blitzkrieg”

France fell to the Nazis The German attack on France was similar to the

beginning of WWI. The German army swung west around French defenses and struck through Belgium.

Key difference between the two wars, German attack: “ German blitzkrieg”

Two thirds of Northern France were occupied by Nazis, Petain’s government was to hold the southern part in the city of “Vichy”

German troops blitzed the West

In May, 1941 Neville Chamberlain was forced to resign as prime minister, his successor was Winston Churchill

who said: “there’s no quick road to victory,I have nothing to offer but blood and tears”

Germany attacked Great Britain In all of Europe, only

one country still held out against Hitler, this country was Great Britain

Germans prepared for “Operation Sea Lion”

Hitler sent his “Luftwaffe”(bombers)

British secret weapons Radar, Ultra RAF Determined population America aided the Allies. Roosevelt

persuaded the Congress to allowed the sale of weapons to fighting nations

US gave Britain 50 destroyers

Hitler invaded the Soviet Union Living Space Valuable mineral resources Germans conquered the Balkans,

destroyed 1000 Soviet planes and the Red Army

Hitler’s campaign turned into a disaster