1. Hitler’s Lightning War
Macdonald
World History

2. Mein Kampf
In jail, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf or My Struggle – that explained his beliefs and goals for Germany
Treaty of Versailles an outrage / Hitler would regain German lands
2. Germany was overcrowded & needed more lebensraum or living space – get that by conquering other lands
3. Claimed Germans (Aryans) were master race / all others inferior

3. Hitler Attacks Poland Hitler / Stalin signed non-aggression pact
After signing, Hitler attacked Poland in a surprise attack
Used blitzkrieg – “lightning war” – used fast moving planes & tanks, followed by massive ground forces to surprise enemy & overwhelm them

4. Hitler Invades Poland

5. Polish Invasion
Britain & France declared war, but Poland already fallen
“Phony War”
2 weeks later, Stalin sent Soviet troops to occupy half of Poland and then moved to annex many other countries to the west
7 months later German troops invaded Denmark and Norway

7. Fall of France
May 1940 Hitler invaded Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg in strategy to attack France
Allies sent most troops to protect those countries, then Hitler sent in larger force to mostly undefended France
France quickly fell & by June, France surrendered, Germans took control of northern part of country

9. Battle of Britain Now Great Britain stood alone against Hitler
Winston Churchill new prime minister declared that his nation would never surrender
Hitler’s plan to conquer Great Britain was to first knock out British Royal Air Force, then land 250,000 ground troops to overwhelm Britain

10. London Blitz

11. Battle of Britain (con’t)
1940 Luftwaffe (German air force) began bombing Great Britain
Attacked both military & civilian targets
Royal Air Force began to fight back using 3 advantages
Radar
German code-breaking machine
Churchill’s determination

12. Never Surrender!!!!!!!!

13. Battle of Britain (con’t)
To avoid RAF, Germans gave up daylight attacks & focused on night bombing
Battle of Britain continued until May 1941 until Hitler decided to call off attacks & focus on Mediterranean &Eastern Europe
Proved Hitler could be stopped

14. Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary Fall to Axis Powers

15. Operation Barbarossa Attack on the Soviet Union
3 million Germans poured into USSR
Stalin was caught by surprise
Further weakened by recent purges where he had killed some of his best generals

16. Russia Defends Itself
The Soviets had to retreat under the German attack
2 ½ million Soviets died
Scorched Earth Policy
Burned everything (factories, shelter, fields)
By autumn, the Germans were outside of Stalingrad

17. The Russian Winter The Germans attacked Stalingrad, but in winter
Freezing temperatures led to many German soldiers freezing to death
Inside Stalingrad, people were starving
They ate all of the food, then all living things (including rats), and got to the point where they were boiling wallpaper from their walls and eating it or boiling leather and eating it

19. Hitler’s Solution to the “Jewish Problem”

20. Nuremberg Laws

21. Nuremberg Laws
Kristallnacht

22. Nuremberg Laws
Kristallnacht
Ghettos

23. Nuremberg Laws
Kristallnacht
Ghettos
Concentration Camps

24. Nuremberg Laws
Kristallnacht
Ghettos
Concentration Camps
“Final Solution” – genocide (extermination camps)