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32.1 Hitler’s Lightning War

Explore Hitler's Blitzkrieg in Europe, Poland's fall, secret agreements, phony war, and the Battle of Britain during WWII. Witness key events and tactics of this tumultuous period.

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32.1 Hitler’s Lightning War

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  1. 32.1 Hitler’s Lightning War Using the sudden, mass attack called the blitzkrieg, Germany overruns much of Europe and North Africa

  2. #1 Hitler demanded the Polish corridor to the sea & the port city of Danzig be returned to Germany.

  3. Germany Sparks a New War in Europe • Secret Agreement • #2 Nonaggression pact—Germans and Soviets agree not to fight each other. This was known as the “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact” signed in 1939. • Agreement includes secret deal to split Poland Ribbentrop and Stalin at the signing of the Pact

  4. Text of the secret protocol (in German)

  5. Soviet and German invasions, annexations, and spheres of influence in Central and eastern Europe 1939-1940

  6. Germany Sparks a New War in Europe • Germany’s Lightning Attack • #3 September 1, 1939—Hitler launches invasion of Poland • #4 Britain, France declare war on Germany, but Poland falls quickly • #5 Blitzkrieg —lightning war—Germany’s new military strategy • Planes, tanks, infantry used to surprise enemy and quickly conquer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ha0qKquG2E

  7. Germany’s Lightning Attack • The Soviets Make Their Move • Soviets capture Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, resistance met in Finland • Finland is invaded by the Soviet Union in what is called the “Winter War.” Finland surrenders in March, 1940 • The Finns name the incendiary device the “Molotov Cocktail” after Soviet foreign minister Molotov during the Winter War.

  8. Germany’s Lightning Attack • #6 The Phony War • French, British mobilize along French border, wait for German attack • Many months of no action—the “phony war” • In April 1940 Hitler attacks and quickly captures Denmark and Norway British Ministry of Home Security poster of a type that was common during the Phony War

  9. Denmark quickly surrenders to the Nazis, and cooperates with the German occupation. However, King Christian X becomes a symbol of Danish resistance when he stays in his capital of Copenhagen and still goes on a daily horseback ride through the capital. This picture taken in 1940 is of one of those rides. He is NOT accompanied by any armed guard.

  10. King Haakon of Norway (brother of Christian X of Denmark) refused to surrender to the Nazis, and was a symbol of Norwegian resistance. He escaped to London and moved the Norwegian government in exile there.

  11. German infantry attacking through a burning Norwegian village.

  12. German Neubaufahrzeug tanks in Oslo.

  13. The Fall of France • Further Gains • #7 May 1940—Germany conquers Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg • Soon after, German army reaches French coast

  14. The Fall of France • #8 Rescue at Dunkirk • German forces trap British, French on coast of Dunkirk • British Navy and civilians take ships across the English Channel to rescue soldiers British troops evacuating Dunkirk's beaches. Many stood shoulder deep in water for hours, waiting to board the warships. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpreYC2cbRk

  15. Vichy Government • #9 Puppet government of Henri Petain in southern France after the invasion of Germany

  16. The Fall of France • France Falls • June 1940—France surrenders to Germany • #10 Charles de Gaulle, French general, escaped to London & organizes French opposition to Germany in-exile

  17. The Battle of Britain • Threat to Britain • Winston Churchill—Becomes British prime minister and vows no surrender.

  18. Winston Churchill giving his famous 'V' sign

  19. #11 Operation Sea Lion • Plan by Hitler to invade Great Britain • 1st knock out the RAF • Then land 250,000 soldiers on England’s shore • At first, targeted airfields & aircraft factories – • then began focusing on cities, especially London • #12 RAF = (Royal Air Force of Great Britain) Tower Bridge in London

  20. #13 British Secret Weapons • Radar – electronic system to track airplanes in the sky • Enigma-German code making machine acquired by the British

  21. The Battle of Britain #14 Battle of Britain —Air war over Britain that lasted until May 1941 • Germany plans invasion of Britain; begins with air attacks in 1940 • British use air force, radar, code-breaking to resist Germany • Stunned by British resistance, Hitler calls off attacks A pair of 264 Squadron Defiants. (PS-V was shot down on 28 August 1940 over Kent by Bf 109s.)

  22. Battle of Britain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbv-x_cQ26I

  23. Aircraft spotter on the roof of a building in London. St. Paul's Cathedral is in the background. 306-NT-901B-3.

  24. Standing up gloriously out of the flames and smoke of surrounding buildings, St. Paul's Cathedral is pictured during the great fire raid of Sunday December 29th." 1940. 306-NT-3173V.

  25. Over 500 firemen and members of the London Auxiliary Fire Fighting Services, including many women, combined in a war exercise over the ground covered by Greenwich (London) Fire Station." Ca. July 1939. 306-NT-901-19.

  26. Children of an eastern suburb of London, who have been made homeless by the random bombs of the Nazi night raiders, waiting outside the wreckage of what was their home." September 1940. 306-NT-3163V.

  27. Two bewildered old ladies stand amid the leveled ruins of the almshouse which was Home; until Jerry dropped his bombs. Total war knows no bounds. Almshouse bombed Feb. 10, Newbury, Berks., England." Naccarata, February 11, 1943. 111-SC-178801.

  28. Life in London during the war. View of a V-1 rocket(flying bomb) in flight, ca. 1944. 306-NT-3157V. The British nickname was a “Doodlebug”

  29. A London bus is submerged in a bomb crater after a German air raid.

  30. The Mediterranean and the Eastern Front • Axis Forces Attack North Africa • Mussolini and Italy at first neutral • Mussolini declares war on France and Britain after German victory • September 1940—Mussolini attacks British in North Africa

  31. On 13 September 1940 Italy launched the Tenth Army stationed in Libya in a 200,000 troop invasion into the British protectorate of Egypt and set up defensive forts at Sidi Barrani. But Italian Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, Governor-General of Libya, with little intelligence on the state of Allied forces there, chose not to continue further towards Cairo.

  32. Italian L3/33 in North Africa

  33. The Mediterranean and the Eastern Front • Britain Strikes Back • December 1940—British attack and drive Italians back • Erwin Rommel, German general, battles British in North Africa • In 1942, Rommel first retreats then succeeds against British

  34. Gen. Erwin Rommel with the 15th Panzer Division between Tobruk and Sidi Omar. Sdf. Zwilling, Libya, January or November 24, 1941. 242-EAPC-6-M713a.

  35. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHmsY1kjrQo General Bernard L. Montgomery watches his tanks move up." North Africa, November 1942. 208-PU-138LL-3.

  36. The Mediterranean and the Eastern Front • The War in the Balkans • Hitler plans to invade Soviet Union; moves to take Balkan countries • Hitler invades Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941; both fall quickly

  37. An animation depicting the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia from the Why We Fight series of propaganda films.

  38. The Battle of Greece is generally regarded as a continuation of the Greco-Italian War, which began when Italian troops invaded Greece on October 28, 1940. Within weeks the Italians were driven out of Greece and Greek forces pushed on to occupy much of southern Albania. In March 1941, a major Italian counterattack failed, and Germany was forced to come to the aid of its ally. Operation Marita began on April 6, 1941, with German troops invading Greece through Bulgaria in an effort to secure its southern flank. The combined Greek and British Commonwealth forces fought back with great tenacity, but were vastly outnumbered and outgunned, and finally collapsed.

  39. #15 Operation Barbarossa • Hitler Invades the Soviet Union • Germany invades an unprepared Soviet Union in June 1941 • Soviet troops burn land as they retreat; Germans move into Russia • Germans stopped at Leningrad, forced to undertake long siege • Germans almost capture Moscow, but forced to pull back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5s2ce6q8iM

  40. Russian soldiers prepare to attack German lines outside Leningrad.

  41. A column of Red Army POWs captured near Minsk is marched west.

  42. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWtUkuh_cRw A group of Soviet POWs, taken to undefined Prison Camp

  43. The United States Aids Its Allies • American Policy • Most Americans want to avoid war • Roosevelt fears that if allies fall, U.S. would have to fight • He hopes to strengthen allies so they can resist Germany • #16 Neutrality Acts – U.S. laws passed between 1935 & 1937 that stated it was illegal to sell weapons or lend money to nations at war • #17 Lend-Lease Act —U.S. passes a law in 1941 that makes it legal to loan weapons to countries fighting Germany. By summer of 1941, U.S. ships escorting British ships with U.S. weapons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiU78oNwIxA

  44. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease bill to give aid to Britain and China (1941)

  45. The United States Aids Its Allies • #18 Roosevelt and Churchill meet, secretly Aug. 1941,issue statement of agreement • Atlantic Charter —supports free trade, right to form own government http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf9tb8wQSjU

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