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Global Struggles
1941 – 1960
Unit 7
A World in Flames
1931 - 1941
World War II Begins
Chapter 20 Section 2
Path to War
• Hitler began to defy the Treaty of Versailles
– Announced Germany would build an air force and
begin a military draft
• European officials tried to negotiate with Hitler
– Wanted to avoid a bloodshed
– Thought most of Hitler’s demands were reasonable
– People ASSUMED the Nazi’s would be interested in
peace once they gained their territory
Path to War
• The Austrian Anschluss
– Unification of Austria and Germany
– Hitler threatened to invade Austria unless the
Nazis were given important government positions
Path to War
• The Munich Crisis
– Hitler announced claims to the Sudetenland – part
of Czechoslovakia
– France threatened to attack Germany if Germany
invaded the Sudetenland
– Munich Conference
• Appeasement – Britain and France agreed to Hitler’s
demands about the Sudetenland
– Czechoslovakia was divided into two parts
• Slovakia became an independent nation
• Czech lands became a German protectorate
Path to War
• Hitler Demands Danzig
– Danzig was a part of Poland since WWI but it was
90% German people
– Britain announced that if Poland went to war to
defend itself Britain and France would come to
Poland’s side
– Germany prepared to invade Poland and sent its
foreign minister to USSR to negotiate
Path to War
• The Nazi- Soviet Pact
– German officials presented a nonaggression
treaty to the USSR
– Stalin agreed to the treaty
– The treaty shocked the world
– Communists and Nazi’s together???
– The pact included a secret deal
• Divide Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union
The War Begins
• September 1, 1939 Germany Invades Poland
• September 3, 1939 Great Britain and France
declared war on Germany
• Blitzkrieg – “lightning war”
– Use large numbers of massed tanks to break
through lines and encircle the enemy
– After the tanks, waves of aircraft bombed enemy
positions and dropped paratroopers to cut
supply lines
The War Begins
• The Fall of France
– Maginot Line
• Line along the German border made of concrete
bunkers
• French soldiers would wait behind the line for the
Germans to attack
– Hitler went around the line not through the line
and invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and
Luxemburg
– British and French troops rushed towards
Belgium
– Germany sent troops through the Ardennes
Mountains and captured France
The War Begins
• The Miracle at Dunkirk
– The Allied troops (Britain and France) were
trapped in Belgium and the Germans began
forcing them to Dunkirk
– Hitler suddenly ordered his men to stop the
attack
• Provided a three day delay
• Passenger ships loaded the British and the French
soldiers and allowed them to escape
– Germany now occupied much of northern France
– Germany installed a puppet government in
France
Britain Remains Defiant
• Winston Churchill – Prime Minister of Great
Britain
– Gave a speech to Parliament saying that Britain
would never give up and surrender
• Hitler ordered his troops to attack Britain
– Germany decided to attack the British Royal Air
Force
Britain Remains Defiant
• Battle of Britain
– German Air Force (Luftwaffe) began attacking
British ships in the English Channel
– Luftwaffe began attacking with an all out air
battle on the RAF
– In the beginning the battle only involved the
army but Germany made a mistake
• German bombers accidently bombed London
• Britain responded by bombing Berlin
• Hitler ordered all attacks on military equipment to be
stopped and concentrate on bombing London
Britain Remains Defiant
• Battle of Britain
– Britain had a major advantage
• Radar
– Finally Hitler canceled his invasion of Britain