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The Start of World War II up to 1941: Germany’s Advantages
A. Background: Major Alliances during World War II
Axis Powers: Italy, Germany, Japan
with Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria
Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, the United States, the Soviet Union, China
With the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Greece, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Canada, Poland, India,
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Philippines, Cuba, and Mongolia
B. Nazi Racial Policy and Propaganda
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Anti-Semitism: hatred against Jews
Nationalism: love and devotion to one’s country
Aryan Supremacy: the idea that Germans are descendants of the Aryans, a type of Caucasian (white
people) who are mentally and genetically superior to all other white peoples, especially Slavic peoples
who live in Eastern Europe such as the Polish, Russians, Serbians, Armenians, Gypsies, and Ukrainians.
Racism: Germans (as all Western imperialist nations) were racist towards Africans
Question: Based on the slides of Nazi propaganda, how could German children seeing this kind of stuff
every day impact their thinking? Use specific slides as evidence.
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C. The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact – August 23, 1939
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1934-1939: Stalin watched Great Britain and France appease Hitler
August 2, 1939: Stalin asked Great Britain for an alliance with the Soviet Union, but the British refused
because they distrusted the communist economic system.
August 23, 1939, Hitler proposed a non-aggression alliance with Stalin. Stalin knew that Hitler was
anti-Slav, anti-Communist, and wanted to attack the Soviet Union. He signed the alliance (called the
Nazi-Soviet Pact) which also promised that the USSR could conquer Poland and the Baltic States of
Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.
Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invaded Poland and started WWII in Europe.
Question: What explains why Stalin did this? How could he benefit from this deal with Hitler?
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Question: Do you think it was the best possible idea for Stalin to sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact? Why/why not?
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D. Blitzkrieg – the Nazi military attack strategy
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Most military leaders send some soldiers into battle and keep some behind as reinforcements for the
soldiers who die
Hitler’s strategy was to send most of his soldiers, tanks, and airplanes into a battle like a bolt of lighting
(blitzkrieg means “lightning attack”) with the goal of overwhelming the enemy and defeating them
quickly. So he didn’t need soldiers staying behind since he would win the battle quickly.
Question: Based on the scenes of the Nazi blitzkrieg, describe details of how a blitzkrieg attack is used.
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Initially, Germany had more advantages than any European nation – they had a bigger army in Europe,
more equipment, better trained soldiers, and the blitzkrieg strategy worked.
Question: What could be some possible weaknesses of the blitzkrieg strategy? Could this ever fail?
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