The road to war… Hitler believed that the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were totally unfair on Germany. He wanted to take his native Austria, France, Eastern Europe and USSR for ‘living space.’ In 1934, Germany and Poland signed a non-aggression pact, even though secretly Hitler also had eyes for Poland.

Once in power, Hitler stopped paying money to his enemies in Europe. He took Germany out of the League of Nations. He started building up his army again.

The Nazi party in Austria tried to hold a rising to join Germany. But before Hitler was ready to invade, Mussolini moved troops to the Austrian border, believing himself to be a protector and friend of Austria. Hitler backed down, needing to get Italy on his side.

In 1935, Hitler began re-arming his troops in a big way. Europe did nothing throughout this because of the fear of another world war. This policy was called appeasement and mainly the idea of British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain.

Britain Neville Chamberlain (British Prime Minister 1937 - 1940)

Meanwhile, Mussolini wanted an Italian empire in Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia.) The Abyssinian emperor asked the League of Nations for help but the League was afraid that any interference would push Italy to join Hitler.

In 1936, civil war broke out in Spain with General Franco overthrowing the government. Again, Europe were afraid to interfere. However, Hitler and Mussolini did get involved and grew close. At this time Italy, Germany and Japan signed a pact “to guard against communism”…i.e. USSR. This group was to become known as ‘The Axis.’

With help from his friends, Hitler now felt confident enough to begin to seriously expand across Europe. He took over Austria without much resistance. Britain and France protested against this action but nothing more. Hitler next invaded the Sudetenland, part of North Czechoslovakia.

The Road To War

Hitler driving through the streets in Austria

Appeasement Chamberlain was still intent on solving this problem through discussions and appeasement. He met with Hitler and the agreement was made that Hitler could keep the Rhineland and Sudetenland if he did not advance any further. However, Hitler broke this agreement when he invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939. The British and French distrusted Hitler, they were aware that Poland was next on his list of countries to conquer. The leaders announced that if Hitler invaded Poland they would go to war with Germany

A meeting of leaders

War begins On September 1st Hitler sent his army into Poland. Britain and France kept their promise and declared war on Germany. World War II had commenced Eight other counrtries including Italy and Japan sided with Germany (axis Powers) Fifty countries fought against Germany, including Britain, France, Russia, Canada, Australiand and the USA, (allies) they did not all go to war at the same time

In 1940, Chamberlain resigned as PM of Britain In 1940, Chamberlain resigned as PM of Britain. He stood aside for Winston Churchill Churchill made a number of famous speaches designed to inspire the British people to fight for their country

Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister 1940 - 1955)

Churchill was a great speaker and famously declared… “We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…”

Five countries in Western Europe remained neutral in WWII Ireland Spain Portugal Sweden Switzerland

German fighting The Germans had the upper hand during the beginning of world war II. This was largely due to their method of fighting. Trench warfare was replaced with Blitzkrieg (lightning war) which had 3 steps: 1) Bombers destroyed important enemy targets. The Germans had an excellent airforce known as the Luftwaffe.

London was particularly hit by this form of attack (since it couldn’t be reached by land.)

Life in London was very difficult at the time of the blitz Life in London was very difficult at the time of the blitz. People lived in fear of the sound of sirens which signalled a German raid.

Much of London was destroyed during this time. People were afraid to be outside at night as this was the perfect time for German bombers to attack. Why?

Blitzkrieg 2) After air raids, tanks broke through defences and captured targets. German tanks were known as Panzers and could cross most terrains with their caterpillar tracks.

Blitzkrieg 3) After the bombers and tanks did the hard work, foot soldiers cleared away the last of the enemy.

German fighting The Germans also used warships and submarines. German U-Boat Why do you think they were called U-Boats?

Rationing

Rationing To make Britain weak, the Germans cut off all food supplies coming in. Ration books were handed out to all British citizens. These ensured that everyone got a fair share of the food and that it wasn’t hoarded by some people. Different people got different coloured books: Red = most adults Green = pregnant women Blue = children between 5 and 16