
Many Americans were shocked at the
Japanese brutality toward the Chinese.

Roosevelt spoke against what the Japanese
were doing.

Roosevelt’s solution was to form an informal
alliance with peace loving nations

France and Britain made an alliance with
Poland in case Hitler decided to attack them.

Hitler was more concerned about war with
Soviet Union and didn’t want to fight on two
fronts.

Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact- Aug. 23,
1939. Agreed not to attack one another and
to divide Poland and recognize each others
territorial ambitions.

September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland.

September 17, Soviet Union invaded Poland
from the east.

France and Britain declared war on Germany
but did not help Poland.

By the end of September Poland was
defeated.
• GERMAN MILITARY TACTICS OR
“LIGHTING WAR”
•
The key to blitzkrieg is …
SURPRISE!
It is designed to attack many
different targets with
overwhelming numbers so as to
simply devastate the enemy.
•
Step One
•Attack with the Luftwaffe (Airforce)
–Fighters (air superiority)
–Stuka (Dive bombers)
–Bombers
•Destroy Communications (radio…)
•Destroy Transportation (bridges, RR)
•Destroy Military Targets (bases, supply)
Step Two
•Next come the PANZERS (tanks)
•Hitler’s military designers had developed
extremely advanced tanks.
•Their tanks were light years ahead.
•Advance very quickly, and destroy any
remaining targets that the Luftwaffe had left
behind. (Comm, Trans, Military)
Step Three
•Finally come the infantry
•They had been training for several years and
these troops were VERY ready.
•Hitler’s troops were already battle
experienced b/c of the Spanish Civil War.
•Their job was to MOP UP anything left.
Conclusion
•The Blitzkrieg was a style of battle, that had
never been seen before.
•It was extremely successful, it was so
overwhelming that no one had a defense to it.
•When other nations saw this attack they were
not sure if Hitler was THAT good, or was
Poland THAT bad……

Axis Powers

Allies

Germany

Britain

Italy

France

Japan

Soviet Union

China

United States
The goal of the Axis Powers
was to rule the world…..
The world would “rotate”
around them.
The Axis believed democratic
nations were weak.
And they would conquer
them as a “knife slices
through butter”.

April 9, 1940 Germany attacked Denmark and
Norway

May 10, 1940 Hitler sent forces into
Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

These smaller nations did not stand a chance
against Hitler’s powerful forces.

France set up Maginot Line along German
border and had armies along Belgium border
to defend off German forces.

German forces went through the Ardennes
and was trying to push them to the English
Channel and trap British and French Troops.

338,000 British and French troops escaped to
Britain

The armies escaped but the Germans took
over Paris and forced the French to surrender.

France was broken into two parts. Northern
France= Occupied by Germans Southern
France= Unoccupied but still had to follow
Nazi rules.

France fell to Germany in 35 days.
•Hitler crushes France in June 1940
•Hitler’s last enemy was Great Britain, who along with France
had been defeated at the battle of Dunkirk
•Battle of Britain, largest air battle ever fought in the history
of warfare.
•July to November 1940 and was won by the Royal Air Force
(RAF or British Air Force).
•First major German loss in WWII and forced Hitler to change
his strategy
•British people fought for their country and a possible Nazi
invasion (Operation Sea Lion).
•Hitler wanted to gain air supremacy.
Now Britain Is All Alone!
•Winston Churchill,
the Prime Minister of
Great Britain.
•The “Lion of
England”
The Royal Air Force
Battle of Britain
London’s Casualties 43,000
Killed
51,000 Seriously injured
88,000 Slightly injured
•Nearly 500 (RAF) pilots and aircrew had been killed, 500
wounded and 915 aircraft were destroyed.
•The once undefeated Luftwaffe (Nazis) had been beaten
and lost 1733 aircraft and crews in the process.
•Their immortality (RAF) was guaranteed when Churchill in a
speech made on the 20th August said
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by
so many to so few".
•Americans wanted to remain
neutral.
•America First Committee
•Committee to Defend
America by Aiding the Allies
•Feb. 21, 1940: If Germany is
defeating England & France,
should the U.S. declare war on
Germany and send our Army and
Navy to Europe to fight against
Hitler?
Yes: 23%
No 77%
December 16, 1940: Do
you think it was a mistake
for the U.S. to enter the
first World War?
Yes: 39%
No 42%
No opinion 19%
•1935: prohibited arms
shipments to all belligerent
countries.
•1936: forbid loans to all
belligerents
•1937: “Cash and Carry”
principle: all nations must pay
for nonmilitary purchases and
ship the goods in their own
vessels
•1939: prohibited
Americans from traveling
on ships of belligerent
nations
•1940: Lend Lease
program offered to Great
Britain…. U.S. becomes
the “arsenal of
democracy”
•FDR responds to Fascist aggression in Europe by protecting democracies and preparing the US
for war…..
Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis:
The Tripartite Pact--Sept., 1940

Selective Service Act- 1940 Provided 1.2
million troops trained and 800,000 reserve
troops a year.

FDR gave Britain 50 WWI battleships in
exchange for 8 British defense bases.

Britain needed the battleships to convoy
goods across the Atlantic.

Lend-Lease Act- Authorized FDR to sell, transfer
title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise
dispose of to any government when he thought
it was in the best interest of his country.

By 1945 the U.S. had given more than $40 billion
of aid to the Allies.

Economic declaration of war against the Axis
Powers

Atlantic Charter- Document that endorsed
national self –determination and an
international system of general security.

This happened in a meeting with FDR and
Prime Minister of Britain Winston Churchill.

Fall of 1941 German U Boats attacked
American Ships.

The attacks killed more that 100 Americans.

Americans were angered and this moved
them more into a position of declaring war on
Germany.