War in Europe
Chapter 16 Section 2
I. Austria and Czechoslovakia Fall
 A.
Gaining Territory
 1.
On March 12, 1938 German troops marched into
Austria and unified with Germany.
 2. This was called the “Auschluss.”
 3. Hitler wanted to annex Sudetenland in Northern
Czechoslovakia.
 4. Hitler met with Edouard Daladier and Neville
Chamberlain and they agreed to let Hitler have
Sudetenland.
 5.
This policy of appeasement was designed to
prevent war, but it gave Hitler whatever he
wanted.
 6. On Sept 30, 1938 the leaders signed the
Munich Agreement.
 7. On March 15, 1939 Hitler sent his troops into
the rest of Czechoslovakia to occupy it.
II. The German Offensive Begins
 A.
 1.
The Soviet Union Declares Neutrality
Hitler and Stalin signed the non-aggression pact on
August 23, 1939 which they promised not to attack
each other.
 2. They signed a second secret agreement promising to
divide Poland.
 B.
Blitzkrieg in Poland
 1.
On Sep 1, 1939 Hitler attacked Poland.
 2. Using blitzkrieg or lightning war, German Stuka
fighters and tanks rolled across the Polish border.
 3. Two days later France and Great Britain declared
war on Germany, but the battle for Poland was over in
three weeks.
 C.
Phony War
 1.
For the next few months British and French troops
on the Magniot line stared across at the Germans on
the Siegfried line.
 2. The war ended when Germans sent their tanks
through the Ardennes, a wooded region considered
impassable.
III. France and Britain Fight On
 A.
The Fall of France
 1.
Allied troops were cut off at Dunkirk and Paris fell
on June 22, 1940.
 2. A French General, Charles De Gaulle set up a
government in exile in England.
 B.
The Battle of Britain
 1.
In the Summer of 1940 Hitler launched an airborne
invasion of Britain.
 2. The Luftwaffe attempted to destroy the RAF.
 3. British pilots used radar to fight back and Hitler
was never able to land troops in Britain.
 “We
shall defend our island, whatever the cost
may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall
fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the
fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender.”
 Winston
Churchill