Hitler & Stalin sign a 10 year nonaggression pact

Germany Invades Poland 1939

• Hitler turns his attention to Poland

• Sept. 1, 1939, Germany begins to attack Poland

• Merciless bombing of Warsaw

• Tanks and troops move in quickly (blitzkrieg)– Take the enemy by surprise

and overwhelm them

Stalin Moves Troops to Poland• England & France declare

war• Russia begins to annex

countries north of Poland• Latvia, Lithuania, & Estonia• Finland resisted and Stalin

sends in 1 million troops• Fins were a tough foe• Soviets were able to defeat

the Fins by March of 1940

The Phony War• After England & France

declared war on Germany, allied troops moved to Maginot Line

• Allied troops waited for an attack

• Both sides stared at each other for days without a shot

• Nicknamed “sitzkrieg”• April 9, 1940 Germany

invades Norway and Denmark

France Falls• By May of 1940, Hitler uses

the Schlieffen Plan• Germans were able to move

to the Northern French coast in 10 days

• Germans trapped the Allied forces

• Allied forces retreated to Dunkirk

• Britain sends ships to rescue the army

France Falls• France begins to fall • June 14th, Germans soldiers

march onto Paris• June 22nd, French leaders

surrender• French Gen. Charles de Gaulle

sets up a government in exile in London

• De Gaulle calls for people of France to join him in resisting the Germans