• After WWI, France built a defensive system of fortifications along their border with Germany called the Maginot Line

• The Germans sat opposite and waited. It was called the “Phony War” because nothing happened for about 7 months.

The system included rail tracks so troops and supplies could be moved quickly along the line

Leading up to the War

•The Treaty of Versailles had several requirements that Germany was suppose to abide by:•Treaty limited the size of Germany’s army – in 1935 Hitler said he wasn’t going to obey this provision •German troops were forbidden to enter the area called the Rhineland, it was a 30 mile-wide buffer zone between Germany & France. In 1936 Hitler moved troops into it. France and everyone else condemned these actions, but not wanting to provoke a war did nothing else (Hitler later said he would have backed down if he had been challenged)

• The weak response by France & England convinced Italy that they should join forces and in 1936 they signed an agreement known as the Rome/Berlin Axis.

• In 1936, a civil war in Spain led by the Fascist, Franco, were aided by Hitler & Mussolini. This was a perfect opportunity to test their war weapons (the only western country to send aid to the elected government were the Soviets). Many Americans, as well as others, went to Spain and fought on the side of the government. The Hemingway book, For Whom The Bell Tolls was written about this struggle.

• In 1938, in order, Hitler said, to bring all German people under one leadership, Hitler’s troops marched into Austria and then western Czechoslovakia (called the Sudetenland)

• Instead of fighting Hitler (as their treaties & alliances required), Britain & France had Hitler sign the Munich Conference Agreement in which Hitler basically said he was satisfied and would go no further. ( lol )

German troops entering German troops entering AustriaAustria

Although not every Austrian was happy, the majority welcomed the union with Germany

Voting ballot from 10 April 1938. The ballot text reads "Do you agree with the

reunification of Austria with the German Empire that was enacted on 13 March 1938, and do you vote for the party of our leader

Adolf Hitler?," the large circle is labeled

"Yes," the smaller "No."

“Peace in our lifetime”

An emotionally “happy” Czech while German

soldiers march into their into their countrycountry

Germany wanted to bring into their fold all Germanic people – the western

part of Czechoslovakia was heavily German

German-Soviet non-aggression pact

• Russia believed Germany would eventually attack them, but they needed time to prepare

• Hitler knew that when he invaded Poland the western powers would go to war with Germany and he couldn’t risk a two front war

• The two countries would divide Poland in half, and Germany agreed to let Russia take over Finland and the Baltic countries.

Poland divided between

Germany & Russia. This

alliance wouldn’t even last 2 years.

Was it a fair war? Germany had the

most modern

military in the world, and their planes & tanks had just gone

thru a workout in

the Spanish

Civil War.Poland was very backward military wise. In 1939 they relied on their cavalry – obviously wasn’t too successful against a tank

• The Germans employed a new fighting technique called “blitzkrieg” which means

“lightening war”

• German troops, on a pretext that they were attacked, attacked Poland from the west, while from the east Russia attacked (even through they had a treaty with Poland).

• The war in Poland was over in 5 weeks

France & Britain declared war 2 days after the invasion from Germany because of their alliance with Poland

Call me paranoid

On April 9, 1940, Germany invaded Denmark. The government surrendered in 2 hours. Many

Danes woke up not realizing they had been invaded! This picture was taken an hour

before the attack. 2 of them died.

Norway lasted a month

They put up more of a fight than the

Danish. Germans had 5,000 casualties –

Norway 6,000+

The Germans invaded France from the north and quickly cut off the British & French troops.

Many were surrounded at

the Belgium city of Dunkirk. But the Brits were able to save

338,000 soldiers to fight another

day.

Some didn’t make it

Luxemburg fell in late May

France wasn’t able to stop the German offensive either

It’s ironic that the area that got it the worst in WWI got it the worst in WWII in France

By the end of June, France had fallen.

On June 25, 1940, at the same location, inside the same train car, Hitler and the French signed a new

armistice

Once France fell, the leader of the French Government, Charles de Gaulle, went to England and set up a new

government called the Free French Forces

For 10 months the Germans pounded England from the air in the Battle of Britain, but the English wouldn’t

surrender – Hitler turned his attention towards his friends, the Russians

Originally invented by the Polish, the

British version called the Enigma Machine was able to decipher coded messages from the

Germans which allowed the British

to be ready for some air attacks

The invention of radar by the

United States was also very helpful during the Battle

of Britain and the entire war.

The Battle of Britain lasted almost 1 year and

was fought mainly in the air

Germany attacked Russia June 22, 1941 – they advanced 500 miles by November, only 30 miles from Moscow. Then

the Russian winter set in

The Germans attacked Russia without preparing for winter so the soldiers froze as did their weapons. The Russians had winter clothing and would later counter

attack. They just didn’t have bullet-proof clothing!

German soldiers trying to keep warm

Russian citizens digging anti-tank trenches

Both sides took many prisoners, but neither

kept many alive for long – they were shot or

starved

But it was the civilians that had it the worst – they were caught in the middle of both

armies

• When the war started, the U.S. took the position of remaining neutral.

• To help, the U.S. passed the Land-Lease Act which allowed the U.S. to lend or lease weapons to their friends.

Churchill & Roosevelt met secretly off of Canada and signed the Atlantic Charter which permitted free trade

and the right for people to have whatever kind of government they wanted