THE EARLY YEARS OF THE WAR IN EUROPE

the enemy. Then tank divisions followed. THE WESTERN FRONT 1939 - 1940 On September 1st 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland On September 3rd, Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany Hitler attacked Poland using a new kind of warfare called ‘Blitzkrieg’ (Lightening War). First dive bombers from the ‘Luftwaffe’ (German air force) softened up the enemy. Then tank divisions followed.

THE WESTERN FRONT 1939 - 1940 France and Britain had promised to support Poland, but there was little they could do. In fact, both countries began to prepare to defend themselves, thinking their countries would be invaded

THE WESTERN FRONT 1939 - 1940 April 1940 - Hitler’s next move was to invade Norway and Denmark. Again he used Blitzkrieg tactics, and again Britain and France were unable to provide sufficient help Capturing Norway meant: The Nazis had access to Swedish iron ore which was crucial for the war effort The west coast of Norway provided useful air and naval bases for attacks on Britain

THE DEFEAT OF FRANCE THE WESTERN FRONT 1940 : May 10, 1940: Nazis invade France, Belguim, Luxembourg and the Netherlands French forces, despite being backed up by a large number of British soldiers, were forced into a desperate retreat By mid 1940, Germany occupied Paris, the capital of France

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN - JULY 1940 THE WESTERN FRONT 1940 THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN - JULY 1940 Hitler then orchestrated Operation Sealion: the conquest of Britain using the north coast of France as a base. His plan was to defeat the British Royal Air Force so he could then take Britain. This time the Blitzkrieg failed.

THE BLITZ THE WESTERN FRONT 1940 Despite their failure, the Germans continued to bomb British cities, towns and factories well into 1941. This became known as the Blitz Over 40000 civilians were killed and two million left homeless as the Germans attempted to break Britain’s morale

Can you imagine having to sleep in Parliament station because Melbourne was constantly being bombed?

THE EASTERN FRONT – 1939 - 1941 THE RUSSIAN FRONT Hitler eventually decided to invade the Soviet Union and abandon the Blitz He did this because: He saw the Soviet Union as a powerful potential ally to the British He hated Communism and wanted to destroy it Russia provided valuable lebensraum (living space) for the German people Eastern Russia had valuable supplies of wheat and oil

A three pronged attack: EASTERN FRONT – 1939 - 1941 OPERATION BARBAROSSA A three pronged attack:

EASTERN FRONT – 1939 - 1941 The Germans again applied their Blitzkrieg tactics with great effect As the Russians retreated east they enacted a ‘scorched earth’ policy: They destroyed anything they could not use This, combined with the onset of a terrible winter, left the German troops short of supplies and their advance ground to a halt.

EASTERN FRONT – 1939 - 1941 Scorched Earth Policy The policy of devastating all land and buildings in the course of advancing or retreating troops so as to leave nothing salvageable to the enemy.

EASTERN FRONT – 1939 - 1941 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE WAR IN EUROPE The Blitzkrieg tactics of the Nazis were very effective in the early years of the war. Turning their attention to Russia was a fatal mistake that many historians argue cost Hitler the war

THE EARLY YEARS OF THE WAR IN EUROPE In September 1941, Germany, Italy and Japan (lead by Hideki Tojo) signed the Tripartite (Axis) Pact and became allied. This is where we derive the expression ‘Axis of Evil’. While Germany was carrying out its attempted conquest of Europe and Russia, Italy attacked Greece, Egypt and captured British territory in Africa Japan was continuing its attempted conquest of the Pacific region AT THIS POINT IT HAD BECOME A WORLD WAR IN THE TRUE SENSE OF THE WORDS!

Europe on the Eve of WWII