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The Road to War
World War II
The League of Nations
• Only met 4 times a year • Its decisions had to be agreed
upon by ALL members • The USA never joined
• Did not have the “will” or the
“way” to stop Mussolini, Hitler
and Japan
No Consequences
•
1932 - Japan conquers Manchuria (China) and massacres
300,000 civilians - The League of Nations does nothing
•
1933 - Hitler begins rearming Germany in direct violation
of the Treaty of Versailles - The League of Nations does
nothing
•
1935 - Italy invades Abyssinia (ETHIOPIA) - The League of
Nations fails to respond
•
Could history have been changed?
Germany
At the end of WWI
1936 – HITLER SENDS THE GERMAN ARMY INTO THE RHINELAND
•
According to the Treaty of
Versailles Germany was:
“forbidden to maintain or
construct any fortification
either on the Left bank of the
Rhine or on the Right bank to
the west of a line drawn fifty
kilometres to the East of the
Rhine". If a violation "in any
manner whatsoever" of this
Article took place, this "shall
be regarded as committing a
hostile act...and as
calculated to disturb the
peace of the world"
1938 – HITLER TAKES
CONTROL OF AUSTRIA
•
Nazism was based on the belief that
the Germanic people were a “master
race” who belonged together
•
Hitler used this idea to justify
invading neighbouring countries
where Germanic people lived •
In 1938, he persuaded government
officials in Austria to “invite: the
German army into their country
•
The Austrians had a plebiscite (vote)
and most wanted to join the German
Empire.
•
The uniting of Germany and Austria
was forbidden by the Treaty of
Versailles - Anschluss
Europe
March 1938
1938 – HITLER DEMANDS
THE SUDETENLAND
•
In a desperate attempt to avoid
war, Britain, France and Italy
allowed Germany to takeover
this part of Czechoslovakia
•
The Munich Agreement gave
Germany this territory without
the consent of the Czech
people as long as Hitler agreed
to stop there.
•
This is referred to as the policy
of Appeasement - the goal
was “Peace for our time”
March 1939 - The Invasion of
Czechoslovakia
•
On March 15 President Hácha
(Czechoslovakia) and Hitler
meet in Berlin
•
Hitler informed the President
that the Luftwave would attack
Prague if he did not surrender
•
President Hácha had a heart
attack during the meeting and
was kept awake by medical
staff until he accepted Hitler’s
terms
•
Again, Hitler ignored the
agreement just signed (The
Munich Agreement)
Europe March 1939
The End of Appeasement
The Enemy of My
Enemy is My Friend
•
On August 23, 1939 Hitler and
Josef Stalin shock the world •
Two dictators opposed to each
other sign a non-aggression
pact and agree to divide up
Europe between them
•
The secret agreement has
plans for dividing Poland
between them
•
Hitler is now free to focus on
the Western Front (Remember
The Schlieffen Plan?)
The September Campaign
(or the 1939 Defensive War)
•
False Flag Operation: German
agents dressed as Polish
officers staged an assault at
the German border
•
The Germans use a Blitzkrieg
(lightning) attack on Poland
•
Coordinated and extensive use
of the Luftwave (air force) and
fast moving armoured divisions •
The Soviet invasion in the east
began on September 17
•
On September 3rd, 1939
Britain and France declare war
on Germany
By Ai6z83xl3g - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/
index.php?curid=17935460
Europe, September 1939
The Phoney War
Canada Enters the War
•
September 10, 1939 Canada declares war on Germany
•
Prime Minister King insisted that the Canadian Parliament declare war on Germany •
King wanted Canada to make an independent decision, not like World War One
when Canada entered the war as part of the British Empire
The Phoney War
•
Although France and Britain declared war on Germany there was
little they could do
•
Hitler and Stalin moved quickly and by 1940, Finland, Norway, the
Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg fell to Germany
•
In the East: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fell to the Soviets
•
Most countries planned for World War One style trench warfare blitzkrieg tactics allowed German forces to smash through their
defences
•
In September of 1940 Italy, Germany and Japan sign an agreement
to support each other
The Fall of France
•
The French prepared a defensive
line (The Maginot Line) for a long
drawn out war like WWI
•
The Germans simply went around
the line (through Belgium)
•
The Allied forces collapsed and
338,000 troops (British,
French,Canadian, Polish, Belgian
and Dutch) retreated to the port of
Dunkirk
•
Less then a month later on June
25, 1940 France officially
surrendered
Operation Dynamo
•
“A colossal military disaster”
•
300,000 allied troops captured during the fall of France
•
The evacuation at Dunkirk left the French to fight alone against the German
Army
•
The rescue of 338,226 allied troop was made possible by:
Hitler’s indecision
The heroic efforts of 40,000 French troops who delayed the
German advance despite being heavily outnumbered
An armada of 800 fishing, pleasure and commercial boats many
of them operated by civilians
We Shall Fight on The
Beaches
Winston Churchill