16.1 Hitler’s Lightning WarAlex Anderson

Justin AbarquezEric Bonfadini

Germany Sparks A New War in Europe

• 1936-39 Hitler takes Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia.

• Hitler Demands Polish Corridor• Germany’s Lightning Attack on Poland

– Great Britain and France resist– Previously, U.S.S.R. had signed

non-aggression pact with Germany. Publicly, they agreed not to attack each other, but privately they agreed that the U.S.S.R. could take over Finland and the Baltic Countries.

• Germany’s Lightning Attack on Poland– Hitler launches surprise attack on

Poland on September 1st, 1939• Hitler overwhelms Poland with

troops• Used “Blitzkrieg” or lightning

war. Used fast planes and tanks, followed by massive infantry forces to take the foe by surprise.

• On September 3, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany, beginning WWII

• The Soviets Make Their Move– September 17, Stalin sends troops

to occupy eastern half of Poland and begins annexing the regions in second part of agreement

• All fall without struggle except Finland

– Stalin sends one-million troops, but does not consider winter. Finnish put up good fight though greatly outnumbered. They lose eventually

• The Phony War– All is calm for seven months after Poland

Falls.– April 9, 1940 Hitler Launches Surprise

attack on Denmark and Norway• Denmark Falls after four hours.

Norway follows two months later.

The Battle for France and Great Britain

• May 1940, Hitler sweeps though Holland, Belgium, nad Luxembourg

– Strategy to strike at France– While Allies are distracted, Hitler sends

and even larger force through the Ardennes towards France.

• France Battles Back– Nazi Troops sweep up French coast and

meet up with more troops at Belgium Border.

• Belgium Surrenders– Allies retreat to Dunkirk, a French Port

City where they are trapped• Great Britain rescues over 338,000

soldiers with 850 ships• France Falls

– June 10 Mussolini Joins Hitler– June 14 Paris Falls– June 22 France Surrenders– Charles De Gaule Flees to London and

forms the Free French military forces to fight Germany

• Germany Attacks Great Britain– Winston Churchill says his nation will never back

down– Hitler initiates Operation Sea Lion. This plan

involved first taking out the Royal Airforce (RAF) and then landing 250,000 troops on England’s shores

– Summer 1940, Hitler begins bombing Great Britain• RAF is badly outnumbered with 2,900 planes

to the Luftwaffe’s (German Airforce) 4,500• Germans first attack airfields and Factories,

Then begin to focus on cities, especially London, to break morale.

• With pressure of airfields, the RAF strike back, two things help turn the tide in their favor

– Radar– German code machine called Enigma

• Germans give up daylight raids• Battle of Britain continues until May 10, 1941

when Hitler calls of attacks and turns focus to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean

• Allies learn that Hitler is not unstoppable

The Eastern Front and the Mediterranean

• Germany and Italy Attack North Africa– During Battle of Britain, Mussolini attacks

British-controlled Egypt.• Great Britain Strikes Back

– British attack and crush Italy taking over 130,000 troops as prisoners

– Hitler steps in to save Italy– Sends General Erwin Rommel, later known

as the “Desert Fox” to Libya. He is to command a new tank corps called the Afrika Korps. Rommel atacks the British at Agheila on March 24.

• British Retreat 500 miles east to Tobruk

– Mid-January 1942 British forces Rommel back again to where he started,

– June, tide turns AGAIN and Rommel pushes Britain back across the desert and takes Tobruk

• Shattering loss because Tobruk was a symbol of British resistance.

• The War in the Balkans– Hitler eventually plans to take the Soviet

Union• Balkans are part of his plan• Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary join

Axis• Yugoslavia and Greece resist

– Yugoslavia falls in 11 days, Greece in 17

• Hitler Invades the Soviet Union– Operation Barbarossa – Hitler invades Soviet Union

using Blitzkrieg• The Red Army is the largest in the World at the

time, containing over 5 million men, though they are neither well equipped nor well-trained.

– Germans push for weeks over 500 miles inside the Soviet Union. Russians burn everything as they retreat like they did against Napoleon

– Leningrad is cut-off from the world, over 1 million people starve. Though Leningrad refuses to fall

– Hitler turns to Moscow, but Soviets counter-attack, using new troops from Siberia and the harsh winter

– Nazis have summer uniforms, so they retreat, their vehicles and fuel freeze, but the still dig in 125 miles west of the capital. Germans lose 500,000 lives.

The United States Aids Its Allies

• Due to neutrality acts passed by congress, the U.S. does not go to war, though they do lend arms to their allies

• President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet secretly on a battleship off Newfoundland on August 9 1941. – They issue joint declaration called the Atlantic Charter

• Upheld free trade among nations and the right of people to choose their own government.

• September 4, a German U-boat fires on a U.S. destroyer in the Atlantic.– Roosevelt orders all German subs to be shot on sight– Undeclared Naval war with Germany

Key Terms and Important Names

• Nonaggression pactNonaggression pact: an agreement in which nations agree to not attack one another

• BlitzkriegBlitzkrieg: Germany’s military strategy (“lightining war”)• Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle: French general whom after France fell fled to

London to set up a government-in-exile which was comitted to reconquering France

• Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill: British prime minister who declares that Great Britain will never give up

• Battle of BritainBattle of Britain: Hitler’s invasion on Great Britain; Hitler calls of attacks and turns focus to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean

• Atlantic CharterAtlantic Charter: joint declaration between Churchill of Great Britain and Roosevelt of the United States that upheld free trade among nations and the right f people to choose their own government– would later serve as the Allies’ peace plan at the end of WWII

Jeopardy– Vocab Battles

Miscellaneous

– 100 100 100

– 200 200 200

– 300 300 300

– 400 400 400

– 500 500 500

Vocab-100

• The nonaggression pact was signed by which two people?

• Joseph Stalin and Hitler.

Vocab-200

• What is “lightning war”?

• blitzkrieg

Vocab-300

• Who was the French General that fled to London?

• Charles de Gaulle

Vocab-400

• With the fall of France, the British stood alone against the Nazis, who was the British prime minister at this time?

• Winston Churchill

Vocab-500

• What was the joint declaration between Roosevelt and Churchill called?

• The Atlantic Charter

Battles-100

• After signing the nonaggression pact, on September 1, 1939 Hitler attacked which country?

• Poland

Battles-200

• Which half of Poland was Russia’s in the nonaggression pact?

• Eastern

Battles-300

• For seven months the allies waited and defended, while the Germans did the same. What was this period called?

• The Phony War

Battles-400

• On June 22, 1940, which country surrendered to the Nazis?

• France

Battles-500

• From this battle, the allies learned that Hitler’s advances could be blocked.

• The Battle of Britain

Miscellaneous-100

• What act allowed the United States to lend and lease weapons to allies at war?

• The Lend-Lease Act

Miscellaneous-200

• Which country rescued over 338,000 troops with 850 ships?

• Great Britain

Miscellaneous-300

• The United States were drawn into the war after which country fired on a U.S. destroyer?

• Germany

Miscellaneous-400

• The attack on the U.S. destroyer by a German U-Boat was actually from which country?

• Japan

Miscellaneous-500

• Which Country broke the nonaggression pact?

• Germany