HITLER’S
LIGHTNING
WAR
Aug. 1939
Hitler & Stalin sign a
non-aggression pact
1. What did each leader gain
from the secret pact?
• Hitler: Removal of threat from
the east
• Stalin: Take over of Baltics /
no German threat
Sep. 1939
Hitler invades Poland
2. What strategy did Hitler
use to conquer Poland?
• Blitzkrieg “Lightning War”
USSR
Germany
- Using
fast moving mechanized
weapons & overwhelming force.
April 1940
Hitler invades Denmark &
Norway
3. What was Hitler’s plan
for conquering France?
• Distract the Allies & create a
path to France through
Holland, Belgium &
Luxembourg
June 1940
France Surrenders
4. What happened at Dunkirk?
• British civilians rescued
Allied soldiers trapped there.
Sept. 1940
German Luftwaffe begins
bombing British cities
5. What was the outcome of the
Battle of Britain?
• R.A.F. fighters & British
resistance forced Germany to
end the attack and focus East.
Sept. 1940
Italy moves to seize Egypt &
the Suez Canal
Feb. 1941
Hitler sends Rommel to
help Italian troops seize
Egypt and the Suez Canal
6. What was the outcome of
the fighting at Tobruk?
• In the beginning of ’42, the
Brits pushed Rommel out of
Tobruk.
• By the middle of ’42,
Rommel regained Tobruk
June 22, 1941
Hitler invades the Soviet
Union
7. How did Hitler’s invasion
compare with Napoleon’s
invasion of Russia?
• Terrible winters
• “Scorched-Earth” policy by
Soviets
US Assistance
• Roosevelt provided aid to the Allies:
Lend-Lease - 1939
•US “lent” war materials to
cash-strapped Great Britain
Atlantic Charter
•US secretly meets with England
to commit to defeating Germany