World War II
Appeasement
• What was the part of Czechoslovakia
where most German speakers lived
called?
– Sudentenland
• Which four countries were at the Munich
conference?
– Britain, France, Germany and Italy
– Which other countries should have been
invited?
Appeasement
• What was agreed to at the
Munich Conference
– Germany would occupy the
Sudetenland
– Other parts of Czechoslovakia
would go to Poland and
Hungary
– Czechoslovakia had to agree or
face Germany alone
– Hitler promised to take no more
land
• Why did many people feel
giving into Germany at
Munich was a good idea?
– It would avoid war
Appeasement
• Why were the countries of Europe so keen
to avoid war?
– Because of the horrors of World War I
– They were not ready to fight another war
• What did Hitler claim when he united the
countries of Austria and Germany?
– He was uniting German speaking people into
a greater Germany
Why were the early months of World War II
referred to as the “phony war”?
• Hitler attacks Poland on September 1,
1939 – Blitzkrieg
• France and Britain have promised to
defend Poland (no more appeasement)
• Britain and France declare war on Sept 3
• Both countries mobilize their armies along
the Maginot Line – Germany along the
Siegfried Line
• Nothing happened – Phony war
Maginot Line
Siegfried
Line
4. Why was Egypt of strategic importance in
WWII?
• The Suez
Canal was the
route to the oil
of the Middle
East.
• It would also
allow the Axis
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Why did President Roosevelt want to
offer help to the Allies?
• He feared an Allied defeat would pull the
United States into the War.
• He did not want a world in which Nazi
Germany dominated Europe
Why did Stalin want the US and Britain to
launch a second front in the west?
• To relieve pressure on the Soviets.
• Until the second front, Germany could
focus its forces on the east
How did the Allies try to conceal the true
location of the D-Day Landings?
• Operation Fortitude
– Prepared a dummy
army to attack
Calais
– This would lead the
Germans to believe
the attack would
come at a different
location