 Germany used “Blitzkrieg” – or lightening war  Planes bombed airfields, factories, towns, etc.  Then tanks and troops roared into the country  Motorized high speed “keep enemy off balance

 Poland was conquered within a month  Soviet forces took control of  Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and part of Finland

Two days later Britain & France declared war So begins the phase of the war called the “phony war” Coalition Forces wait at the “ impenetrable defensive barrier” Maginot Line where all was quiet Why did the Allied forces not go on the offensive?

Maginot Line

 April 1940, launched blitzkrieg against: 1) Norway 2) Denmark 3) Netherlands 4) Belgium Miracle of Dunkirk Germans pushed all French/British troops to the coastline Germans pushed all French/British troops to the coastline British sent an improvised armada to rescue trapped soldiers in France British sent an improvised armada to rescue trapped soldiers in France watch?v=FddKPGE19wA&fe ature=relmfu

 Germany heads toward Paris!  Benito Mussolini of Italy put his Pact of Steel with Hitler into action  Italy declared war against France and Britain on June 10  June 22, 1940 – French surrender  a new government formed by Marshal Philippe Petain (France's hero of World War I) requested an armistice  France was divided into two zones, one under German military occupation and the other under Petain's government (south)  Petain’s government was Hitler’s “puppet”

 Charles de Gaulle – French general, set up a government in exile in London.  Committed to re- conquering France.  Organized Free French military who battled the Nazis until France was liberated in 1944.

 Air power takes prominent role  Luftwaffe- German air force  Parachute troops role increases  Tanks were much improved from WWI  Deadlier bombs  Radar – to detect planes  Sonar – to detect submarines

 Hitler now turned his attention to Britain,  invasion (Operation Sea Lion) German planes bombed Britain throughout the summer of 1940  including night raids on London and other industrial centers

 Known as the “London Blitz”  8/12/1940 – air attacks on southern England  Germans bombed London for 57 nights  Considered a failure because British did not quit  Continued until May 10,1941  The Royal Air Force (RAF) eventually defeated the Luftwaffe (German Air Force)  Hitler turns his attention out of Britain onto the Eastern Front

Winston Churchill Prime Minister who rallied Britain to fight against Nazi aggression “voice of calm” Britain began receiving crucial aid from the U.S. under the Lend-Lease Act, passed by Congress in early Churchill rallies the British hd/interactives/inside-wwii-interactive What is Churchill’s prediction if they lose to the Nazi army? -End of the free world

 Hitler’s goal: continue expanding German property….  East of the Balkans  Mediterranean Sea  SOVIET UNION

 Mussolini takes North Africa in September of 1940 while the Battle of Britain was going on.  Attacked British controlled Egypt.  Egypt’s Suez Canal = key to reaching oil fields of the Middle East  Britain strikes back in December and by February 1941  Italy needs help…

 Hitler lends help to Mussolini  Germans come in with the Afrika Korps  German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia  its first commander Erwin Rommel “Desert Fox”  Seize Tobruk= loss for the Allies

The Axis power grows..  Bulgaria  Hungary  Romania  Greece and Yugoslavia had pro-British governments  Resist Hitler  Hitler invades them These nations mostly devote resources and political alliance to the Nazis They deport Jews to PolandThey deport Jews to Poland The employ secret police forcesThe employ secret police forces They become puppet governmentsThey become puppet governments

 1941 go get the USSR!!!  The Soviet Union was their allies…Why invade?  Plentiful Soviet resources!  Stalin had the largest army in the world but it wasn’t prepared!  3 million Germans caught Stalin’s 5 million unprepared  Soviets retreated  Used “torch-earth policy”

 German’s surrounded Leningrad  Starved them  USSR lost 2.5 million troops  Next moved towards Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union!  Germans were halted by Russia’s cold weather October 1941  Germany fails to take Moscow!

 End of Neutrality Acts  Lend-Lease Act (1941)  Selling or lending of war materials to countries “Vital to US defense”  United States of America supplied Britain, Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations  Atlantic Charter (Aug. 1941)  FDR and Churchill agree on: Free trade and the right of people to CHOOSE their government “Final destruction of Nazi tyranny”

 America controlled Philippine Islands and Guam  Japan had successfully grabbed Manchuria, China and beyond…plans to take Southeast Asia  Japan invades  America sends aid to China  1940 FDR bans the sale of iron, steel and airplanes to Japan

 Japan felt that the US was interfering in their plans to expand  12/7/1941 – Japan surprise attacks American Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) 2,400 deaths  US declares war on Japan (12/8/1941)  Germany, Italy declare war on US four days later!

Pearl Harbor

 Factories stopped making cars & refrigerators & made planes & tanks  Shoes and sugar were rationed  Use of propaganda  War ended unemployment of the depression  Japanese people in US and Canada  Lost their jobs and property  Forced into camps  Seen as a security risk