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World War II
{ 1939 to 1945
Secrets Hidden in the
Nonaggression Pact
In a secret part of
the pact, Germany
& the USSR
agreed to invade
Poland together.
 To sweeten the
deal, Stalin would
take over Finland,
Latvia, Lithuania,
& Estonia

Invading Poland

On September
1st, 1939
Germany
invaded
Poland with
both land and
air attacks on
Warsaw.

This was the first time Hitler used his new military
strategy called Blitzkrieg. It meant “Lightening
War” & was known for fast air and land attacks to
quickly surprise and overwhelm the enemy.
Invading Poland
On September 3rd,
Britain & France declare
war on Germany.
 Blitzkrieg works well
and defeats Poland
before Britain or France
could respond.
 In April of 1940, Hitler
takes over Norway and
Denmark. Why?

Invading France
Just a month later, Hitler swept through the
Netherlands, Belgium, & Luxembourg.
Why?
 Meanwhile he sends a large force of tanks
and soldiers through the Ardennes or woods
of N.France. He was able to reach the coast
in just 10 days.

Rescue at Dunkirk
After German forces
reached the coast, Allied
Forces were cornered in
Northern France.
 Britain set out to rescue the
Allied Forces by sending
850 ships across the English
Channel to Dunkirk.


This became known as one
of the most heroic acts of
the war!
Rescue at Dunkirk

Civilians joined the effort and from May 26
– June 4th they sailed back and forth carrying
Allied soldiers to safety.

338,000 were rescued!
Fall of France

By June 14th,
German forces
made it to
France. French
leaders
decided to
surrender on
June 22nd, 1940.
Battle of Britain
Great Britain now
stood alone.
 Winston Churchill
knew he had to
inspire his people.


https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=pfSqp755KE
Battle of Britain

Hitler wanted to take
out the Royal Air Force
(RAF) and then hit
Great Britain on land.

They did this by
targeting airfields &
aircraft factories first.
Then the Germans
targeted cities.
Battle of Britain

Even though Britain was outnumbered,
the RAF struck back and proved the
Battle of Britain would be a turning
point in the war.

This is mostly because of 2 pieces of
technology...
1.
2.
RADAR – detected the number, speed, &
direction of incoming planes
Enigma – German code-making machine
used to decode secret messages
Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain

Germany responded by
launching nightbombings.
British civilians retreated
to subway tunnels at night
for safety from the raids.
 This continued until May
10th, 1941 when Hitler
called off the attacks on
Britain!

Hitler’s New Strategy (Africa)

With Britain resisting, Hitler focused
on other areas.

1st would be Northern Africa because Italy
had attacked Egypt while Hitler was
dealing with the Battle of Britain and
failed! Hitler’s forces had to save the
Italians with the Afrika Korps or German
tank force sent into Africa, led by General
Rommel
Hitler’s New Strategy (Africa)
The Afrika Korps were successful in
pushing the British to the East in Libya.
 By June 1942, Rommel was able to seize
Libya and defeat the British.

This was a HUGE
loss for the British

Rommel earned the
name “Desert Fox”
for his leadership
Hitler’s New Strategy (Balkans)

Hitler was
planning on
invading the
USSR by the
Summer.
 To prepare
Hitler
persuaded
Bulgaria,
Romania, &
Hungary to join
the Axis
Powers.
Hitler’s New Strategy (Balkans)

In April of 1941,
Germany invaded
Yugoslavia &
Greece.
 Yugoslavia fell
in just 11 days
& Greece
surrendered in
17 days.
Operation Barbarossa

Germany had set itself
up to easily invade the
USSR and on June 22nd,
1941 Hitler launches
Operation Barbarossa or
the German Invasion of
the Soviet Union.
 Hitler wanted to
starve the country by
bombing food
warehouses &
isolating big cities.

Almost 1 million died
of starvation but the
Soviets did not back
down!
Operation Barbarossa

German forces entered
the USSR in their
Summer uniforms,
however as Operation
Barbarossa continued
they were forced to deal
with the harsh Winter.
U.S. aids the Allied Powers


While the American people
remained isolationist,
President Roosevelt knew
that if the Allied Powers
fell, the US would be drawn
into war.
In September of 1939, FDR
asked Congress to allow the
Allies to pay cash for
supplies from the US, and
use their own ships to
transport them. This became
known as the Lend-Lease
Act