AGGRESSION LEADS TO WAR – THE ONSET OF WORLD
WAR II IN EUROPE - PART II
Narrated Power Point Presentation
APPEASEMENT
Appeasement is the official policy of giving in to,
or ceding to the demands of, an aggressive nation
in order to avoid war. During the 1930s,
European nations and the League of Nations –
who had the power to intervene against Adolf
Hitler – hoped that the Nazis would be satisfied
when they allowed Germany to take over Austria
and the Sudetenland. Meanwhile, in the United
States, Franklin Roosevelt was hampered by a
population and a Congress which was steadfastly
devoted to isolationism and neutrality, allowing
Nazi Germany to gain strength. Hitler took the
Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia, too.
THE MUNICH PACT AND THE POLICY OF APPEASEMENT
In the Munich Pact, British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain agreed to allow Hitler
to take over all of the Sudetenland in
Czechoslovakia. Hitler had contended that
the land was German in population and
therefore should be ruled over by Germany.
In exchanged, he promised not to invade any
other nations – and not to take over the rest
of Czechoslovakia. The policy, which
Chamberlain believed would guarantee
“peace in our time” was quickly ignored by
Hitler – he took over Czechoslovakia almost
immediately.
GERMAN
AGGRESSION, 1939
By the year 1939, Germany had
rebuilt its military, occupied the
Rhineland, funded a war in
Spain, taken over all of Austria
by extortion, seize the
Sudetenland, captured all of
Czechoslovakia, and, in
September of 1939, invaded
Poland, starting World War II.
US FOREIGN POLICY
The United States continued to follow
a foreign policy of isolationism during
the 1920s and 1930s. Fearful that they
may be dragged into another European
War, the US passed Neutrality Acts
which forbid the sale of weapons or
military equipment to rival nations in
Europe – and Americans watched
silently as Nazi Germany emerged as a
dominant world power and a
dangerous rogue nation – all in
violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
THE NON-AGGRESSION
PACT OF 1939
Much to the surprise of the rest of the
world bitter enemies Germany and the
Soviet Union signed a peace treaty in
1939 – the Molotov-Ribbentrop NonAggression Pact. With Germany in
cahoots now with Italy, Japan, and the
Soviet Union, it seemed that all of the
world’s dictators had joined forces to
suppress freedom. Democracies were
justifiably frightened.
SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 - GERMANY INVADES POLAND
The German invasion of Poland from
the West coincided with a Soviet
Invasion from the East – and as a
result, Polish resistance was rapidly
crushed. The nation would be
devastated by the war, with both
German and Soviet Armies
occupying the land and violating the
liberties of its people. Poland would
not experience true independence
again until the late 1980s.
THE RUSSO-GERMAN
ALLIANCE, 1939
Since German Nazism and Soviet
Communism were two rival
philosophies and each nation had a
brutal dictator for its leader, most
European observers correctly predicted
that the relationship would end in
betrayal. Germany would eventually
violate the Non-Aggression Pact and
invade the Soviet Union – Operation
Barbarossa began in the Summer of
1940. But in the meantime, The Soviet
Union took advantage of the
agreement to conquer some territory of
their own.
ENGLAND AND FRANCE
DECLARE WAR
Horrified by the brutal
repression of the Polish people,
England and France both
declared war on Germany. Yet,
both nations refused to declare
war on the equally aggressive
Soviet Union. They correctly
predicted that the Soviet Union
would be betrayed by Hitler –
and knew they would likely need
another ally, no matter their ilk.
ESTONIA, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, FINLAND, AND POLAND
WERE INVADED BY THE U.S.S.R.
ENGLAND AND FRANCE AT WAR
• When the war finally came, both Great Britain and France were overwhelmed by the
massive German onslaught.
• The German blitzkrieg, or “Lightening War,” devastated the advanced forces of the
British and French armies so completely that they were forced to retreat.
• The English and French were pinned down at Dunkirk, an isolated beach along the
English Channel, where they were surrounded and preparing to be routed or surrender.
• The people of England organized every fishing vessel, yacht, ferry and cruise liner in
the nation, though, to evacuate as many soldiers as possible to fight another day.
• Over 300,000 soldiers were evacuated and saved.
DUNKIRK
THE GERMANS CAPTURE PARIS, JUNE 22, 1940
PRIME MINISTER WINSTON CHURCHILL
“We have before us an ordeal of the most
grievous kind. We have before us many, many
long months of struggle and of suffering. You
ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage
war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and
with all the strength that God can give us; to
wage war against a monstrous tyranny never
surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of
human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is
our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory,
victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror,
victory, however long and hard the road may be!”
THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
OPERATION BARBAROSSA: THE INVASION OF THE SOVIET
UNION – JUNE, 1941
WINSTON CHURCHILL AND JOSEF STALIN
BY DECEMBER OF 1941, THE UNITED STATES WOULD JOIN
AND UNEASY TRIO: THE ALLIES AGAINST THE AXIS POWERS