INVASION OF POLAND

1. INVASION OF POLAND • Nazi troops strike hard and fast • Luftwaffe destroyed Polish planes on the ground, attacked tanks, pounded defense networks, and bombed civilian targets • Tank columns opened holes in Polish defenses and motorized units over-ran Polish army • Blitzkreig • Soviet troops occupy eastern Poland on September 17 • Poland surrenders on September 27

2. “PHONY WAR” • September 1939-early April 1940 • No ground fighting between two sides in West • Hitler waiting until spring to unleash blitzkrieg • French and British waiting behind Maginot Line for German attack

3. BLITZKRIEG IN THE WEST • Nazi forces hit Norway and Denmark in early April • Reasons were primarily economic • Results • Both countries easily conquered • German victory discredits Chamberlain and he is replaced by Winston Churchill • Norwegian merchant fleet escapes to GB and dramatically increases Allied shipping strength

4. HOLLAND, BELGIUM, AND LUXEMBOURG • Nazis attack Holland • City of Rotterdam bombed • Belgium attacked next • French forces rush into Belgium to prevent Nazi breakthrough • Nazi tank divisions avoid French and move through Ardennes forest and into France

5. FALL OF FRANCE I • German troops rocket across northern France, cutting French troops in Belgium from those in France • French and British forces driven to Dunkirk where the Nazis planned to bottle them up and destroy them • Hitler orders Luftwaffe to bomb Dunkirk into dust • Fog and rain hinder air attack • Allies evacuate across English Channel

6. FALL OF FRANCE II • French government asks for an armistice • Signed June 22, 1940 • Why did France lose? • French officer corps did not understand use of aviation in modern warfare • French officer corps had not mastered the psychology and technology of motorized warfare • Loss of will among French people

7. VICHY • Germany occupied northern France and Atlantic coast • French military demobilized • Retired Marshall Henri Petain heads French government in southern France • Capital at Vichy • Collaborated with Germans • General Charles De Gaulle escapes to London and organizes Free French forces

8. BATTLE OF BRITAIN • August 1940—Luftwaffe begins massive attacks on British air and naval installations • Royal Air Force (RAF) fights Luftwaffe on daily basis in skies over England • Due to high losses and failed objectives, Hitler postpones invasion of Britain “until further notice” in September 1940 • Reasons? • British development of radar • Skill and courage of RAF • German difficulties in replacing downed planes

9. THE “BLITZ” • Luftwaffe begins daily bombing of cities, industrial centers, and ports in order to destroy British morale • Despite heavy losses, British morale and determination to fight never broke

10. OPERATION BARBAROSSA • In July 1940, Hitler instructs his generals to prepare for invasion of Soviet Union • Sets May 15, 1941 for start of invasion • Italian army flounders in Greece in October 1940 • Hitler forced to send Nazi troops there to help in April 1941 • Forces Hitler to delay invasion of Soviet Union until June 1941 • Barbarossa finally starts on June 22, 1941 • Massive invasion force • 4 million men, 3300 tanks, and 5000 planes

11. THE INVASION • German ground forces move rapidly into Russia • 2.5 million Soviet soldiers killed, wounded, or captured and 14,000 tanks destroyed in 3 months • Stalin refuses to surrender • German army begins to run low on fuel and suffers from poor transportation • Russian conditions do not favor blitzkrieg tactics

12. BATTLE OF MOSCOW • December 1941 • Bitterly cold conditions • Frostbite • Lack of antifreeze • Germans advance to within 20 miles of city but are stopped by Soviet counterattack

13. SEIGE OF LENINGRAD • Germans surround Leningrad by September 1941 • Constant bombardment • People of city suffer from famine, disease, and shelling • One million die as a result • City never surrendered to Germans