Hitler’s Lightning War

WWII Begins

Hitler Grabs New Territories

•The Rhineland•Austria•Czechoslovakia•Then he turned to Poland to

reclaim the Polish Corridor

Rhineland & Corridor

Nonaggression Pact

• 10 year pact between Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union) and Adolf Hitler (Germany).

• Hitler promised Stalin territory• Secretly agreed to divide Poland between

them• USSR could take over Finland and the

Baltic countries of Lithuania, Lativia, and Estonia

Hitler courting Stalin

Germany’s Lightning Attack• Hitler attacked Poland at dawn on

September 1, 1939• Known as Blitzkrieg• First test of Germany’s newest

military strategy• Use fast-moving planes and tanks

followed by massive infantry forces

Blitzkrieg

Allies are too late

• September 3rd, 1939, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany

• However, Poland fell to Germany quite sometime before the allies could make a military response.

Poland

•Germany annexed the West•The USSR sent troops to

occupy Eastern Poland on September 17th, 1939

Poland Divided Between Germany and Russia

Soviets make their move

• Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia fell without struggle

• Finland resisted• November Stalin sent 1 million troops into

Finland• Expecting a quick victory they didn’t

prepare for a winter battle• #s again benefit the soviets • March 1940 Finns surrender

The Phony War

• “Sitzkrieg” = sitting war• French and British armies

mobilized around the Maginot Line (F&G border)

• Allies waited on Germans to attack and nothing happened

• Germans decided to launch a surprise attack elsewhere

Denmark and Norway

• April 9, 1940• Hitler launched a surprise

invasion • Denmark fell in just 4 hours• Norway surrendered 2 months

later

Significance of Denmark and Norway

•This gave Germany bases along the Norwegian and Danish coasts from which they could launch strikes on Great Britain

Exit Slip

• Summarize the events that led to the second world war.