War in Europe  Josef Stalin  Adolf Hitler  Benito Mussolini  Neville Chamberlain  Appeasement  Non-Aggression Pact  Sudetenland  Blitzkrieg  Charles DeGualle  Battle of Britain  Battle of Dunkirk

New Leaders in Europe  Josef Stalin  Communism  Leader of U.S.S.R  Totalitarianism  Gov’t has complete control over its citizens  Benito Mussolini  Fascism  Leader of Italy  Stressed nationalism and placed the needs of the state above those of the individual  Power rested with a single strong leader and a group of devoted party leaders

More new leaders  Adolf Hitler  Leader of Germany  Nazi  Extreme form of fascism  Powerful public speaker  Called himself “der fuher” the leader  Wrote Mien Kampf (My Struggle)  Wanted racial purification to an Aryan race  Took control of Germany in 1932  Established the “Third Reich” Third Empire

Hitler’s Aggression  Part of Nazi plan was expansionism  Hitler invaded and took over Austria in 1937  Also charged that the Czechs were abusing the German speaking people of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia  Also wanted to expand Germany’s control and resources

Sudetenland  France and Great Britain offered to protect CZ.  Neville Chamberlain was P.M. of G.B.  A conference was called by Hitler to solve the situation  French premier and Chamberlain were invited to Munich  Hitler said that the Sudetenland would be his last territorial demand

Appeasement  Signed “Munich Agreement” Sept. 20, 1938  Turned Sudetenland over to Germany  Chamberlain came home and pronounced that he had achieved “peace in our time”.  Winston Churchill  Chamberlain’s political rival in parliament  Believed that Chamberlain had appeased Hitler  “Britain had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor.”  Believed that Hitler would want more-He was right

Poland  Once CZ was conquered, Hitler moved against Poland  Most believed that Hitler was bluffing  Might begin a war with Soviets, French, and British  Wouldn’t risk a two front war  Stalin signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler in 1939  Secret vow was to split Poland between them

Blitzkrieg  Blitzkrieg in Poland  “Lightning War”  Stage 1 “Stuka”  Attacks by the Luftwaffe to destroy communications and instill shock  Stage 2  Infantry and tanks  France and G.B. declared war two days after Poland was invaded

Defenses  The Nazis had control of Poland in three weeks  Allies were not able to set up defenses that quickly  France and Britain set up defenses in Eastern France  Some newspapers called it a “Phony War”  No fighting was going on  Stalin annexed Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania and began to take over Finland in late 1939  Chamberlain was replaced as P.M. by Winston Churchill

War Expansion  Hitler launched an invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940  Needed bases to attack G.B.  The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg were next on Hitler’s hit list  End of the phony war

Battle of Dunkirk  Germans went around the Maginot Line from Belgium into France  Pushed French and British troops to Dunkirk 400,000 troops  Could have crushed the French and British forces  They were trapped by the sea

Battle of Dunkirk cont.  800 civil. Boats transported 330,000 French, British, and Belgians  Italy entered the war a few days later

France  Italy began taking Southern France  Germans pushed into Paris  Nazis controlled Northern France  Puppet gov’t was set up in France  “Vichy Government” set up in the south  Gen. Charles DeGualle fled France after it fell  Set up a gov’t in exile in England

Battle of Britain  “The Blitz”  Only way Germany had to attack Britain was by air  Luftwaffe began bombing runs over Britain  Tried to destroy R.A.F.  2000 German planes bombed London for two months  R.A.F became stronger with help of radar and a strong defensive system