War in Europe

1. The German Offensive War in Europe

2. The Need for Lebensraum • Hitler desperately wanted new territory for his people • He sought the land of his closest neighbors • Austria and Czechoslovakia • Met in November of 1937 to plot and plan • Austria was predominately German in ethnicity • On March 12, 1938, German troops take Austria • On March 13th, they became part of the Third Reich

3. Map of Western Europe

4. Invasion of Austria

5. Invasion of Austria

6. The Sudetenland • The Sudetenland are ethnic-German regions of Czechoslovakia (western) • Nearly 3 million German-speaking people • Living space and resources • Hitler used propaganda and media to spew lies about the Czech’s treatment of Germans • France and Great Britain vowed to protect Czechoslovakia • Chamberlain meets with Hitler and Munich • Hitler says this will be his last territorial demand • The Munich Agreement is signed on September 30, 1938 • Gave Germany the Sudetenland with any violence

7. The Sudetenland

8. Germans in the Sudetenland

9. The Munich Agreement

10. Winston Churchill • He is Chamberlain’s political opponent • Churchill did not agree with this appeasement of Hitler • He knew Hitler would not stop adding territory • On March 15th, 1939, Hitler takes the rest of Czechoslovakia

11. The Soviets and Germany • Hitler turned his attention to Poland • Provoking the Soviet Union was a bad idea • Attacking Poland would open a two front war • France and Britain on west • Soviet Union on east • Stalin signs a nonaggression pact with Germany on August 23, 1939 (no two front war) • Poland would be split in two • Eastern Europe would have “sphere's of influence”

12. Hitler and Stalin

13. Blitzkrieg in Poland • On September 1, 1939, the German Army debuts a new strategy • Blitzkrieg or “lightning war” • Used planes and tanks to overwhelm the enemy • France and Britain declare war on Germany on September 3 • Major fighting is over in three weeks • To quick for France or Britain to prevent the fall of Poland • Soviet Union grabs some lands in Eastern Poland • World War II has started

14. The Blitzkrieg

15. The Blitzkrieg

16. The Phony War • French and British troops patrolled the Maginot Line • German troops patrolled the Siegfried Line • They were waiting for something to happen • Germany annexes Baltic countries • Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania • The Soviets overrun Finland in three months • On April 9th, 1940, they invade Denmark and Norway • “Needed protection” • The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg fall next

17. The Maginot Line

18. Retreat at Dunkirk

19. Retreat at Dunkirk

20. Surrender at Compiegne

21. France Falls • Hitler sends troops through the Ardennes • They begin their march towards Paris • Nearly 400,000 British and French soldiers are trapped in Dunkirk • 330,000 are evacuated to Britain • Italy invades from the south • On June 22, 1940, Hitler gives his demands for surrender of the French • Germany would occupy the north • Puppet government in the south (Vichy) • Charles de Gaulle sets up government in exile in Britain • “France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war”

22. The Battle of Britain • Germany starts to amass an invasion force along the French Coast • Britain still has a great navy • Hitler turns to the skies • The Luftwaffe will continually bomb London for two months • They first targeted airports and military bases • Turned their attention to cities • Radar helped turn the tide of the battle • Allowed British pilots to track German planes • The RAF fought valiantly to protect and defend Britain • German offensive continues but full scale invasion is cancelled by Hitler • http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/07/world-war-ii-the-battle-of-britain/100102/