Canada Declares War Canada and Early WWII

August 23, 1939 – Germany and the USSR sign a non-aggression pact March, 1939 – Hitler invades Czechoslovakia (wasn’t happy with just the Sudetenland) August 23, 1939 – Germany and the USSR sign a non-aggression pact August 31, 1939 – Germany invades Poland Britain & France Declare War: September 3rd, 1939 Canada Declares War: September 10th, 1939

The "Phony War" (Sept. 1939-May 1940) Allied troops were not prepared for war Troops that were deployed were very inexperienced Spent months training, sometimes with wooden bullets

Germany & The USSR Begin Taking Europe… Jointly take Poland by the end of September November 1939 – USSR invades Finland 1940 - USSR take Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) - Germany take Denmark in a day, Norway in a month -Canadians and Britons went to help, but it was too late - The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg are taken by Germany Interactive Map of Nazi Aggression

Maginot Line – France France had built concrete defences between themselves and Germany They were preparing for a war like WWI Germany goes around this defence by cutting through Belgium Allied defences are pushed back to Dunkirk

The "Miracle" at Dunkirk Hitler paused to plan tactics in dealing with the Allies in Dunkirk In that time, the British assemble about 800 civilian boats + volunteers + 222 naval vessels 4 of the naval vessels are Royal Canadian Naval Destroyers The smaller boats picked up the Dunkirk soldiers and took them to the larger ships 200 of the civilian ships are sunk Churchill calls the successful evacuation a "miracle"

France Surrenders: June 25th, 1940

Battle of Britain: Begins July 10, 1940 Germany wants to destroy the British air presence Germany has better planed, well-trained pilots and land crew German air force is called the Luftwaffe British have better radar to help the Royal Air Force (RAF) find and destroy Luftwaffe planes 100+ Canadian pilots, 200+ bombing raid pilots + ground crew

Douglas Bader Buzz Beurling

The Blitz Germany accidentally bombs London – the RAF bomb Berlin Hitler is angry and begins carpet bombing London for 57 nights causing 43000 deaths The RAF get time to regroup and by 1941 the Battle of Britain is won in their favour

Do you think Canada has made a "significant" contribution to the war effort from what we have learned so far? What else is important to consider that you perhaps don't know yet?