1st Marking Period Reflection
• What would you like to see more/less of in the second
marking period?
• Discussions?
• Projects?
• Assignments?
• Format of instruction?
• Group work?
• Test preparation?
• The topics we will be covering in the 2nd MP:
• WW2
• Holocaust
• 1950s
WORLD WAR II
BEGINS
Chapter 20 Section 2
Path to War
• In 1935 Hitler began to defy the Treaty of
Versailles. He began building up an airforce and began a military draft—both in
clear violation of the treaty
• European leaders tried to negotiate with
Hitler
THE AUSTRIAN ANSCHLUSS
• In 1937, Hitler called for the unification of all
German people-including those in Austria and
Czechoslovakia
• He then sent troops into Austria (German
speaking) in March and declared Anschluss or
unification of Germany and Austria
• Hitler then announced German
claims to the Sudetenland (an
area of Czechoslovakia with a
large German-speaking
population)
• Czechs resisted
• Munich Conference: Britain, France, Italy,
Germany
• Britain and France agreed to Hitler’s
demands (Appeasement)
• Made concessions in exchange for peace
Munich Conference
Hitler Demands Danzig
• A month after the Munich Conference, he
demanded Danzig (90% German, in Poland)
• He also requested to put a highway and Railroad
across the Polish Corridor
• His new demands convinced Britain and France
that war was inevitable
March 31, 1939—Britain announces
that if Poland went to war to defend
its territory, Britain and France would
come to its aid.
• May 1939- Hitler ordered German army
to prepare to invade Poland
• Ordered his foreign minister to begin
negotiations with USSR
• Why would Hitler start talking to Stalin?
Who are the people portrayed?
What is the overall meaning?
Nazi-Soviet Pact
• Hitler did not want to fight the Soviets as well
• Germany proposed a non-aggression treaty to the
Soviets—Stalin agreed
• This pact shocked the world—Communism and Nazism
were supposed to be totally opposed to each other
• No one knew about the secret deal to divide Poland
between Germany and the Soviet Union
THE WAR BEGINS
• September 1, 1939-Germany invades Poland
• September 3, 1939-Britain and France declared
war on Germany
• *WWII begins
• Germans used blitzkrieg or “lightning war”
• Large number of tanks to break through and
encircle the enemy—with aircraft dropping
bombs and paratroopers as support.
• September 27, 1939- Polish capital, Warsaw, falls
to the Germans
Invasion of Poland
The Fall of France
• After World War I, the French had built the Maginot Line.
(concrete bunkers along the German border).
• French preferred to wait behind the line for the Germans to
approach---proved disastrous. WHY?
The Fall of France
• Disastrous because…
• It allowed Germany to concentrate on
Poland first
• Hitler decided to go around it and into
Belgium instead
• Weak border between Belgium and
France
Miracle at Dunkirk
• After trapping the Allied
forces in Belgium, the
Germans began to drive
them to the English
Channel
• Only hope was for Britain
and France to evacuate
their surviving troops by
sea
• Only port not captured by
Germans was Dunkirk
Miracle at Dunkirk
• As the German forces closed in on Dunkirk—Hitler
suddenly ordered them to stop
• No one really knows why…nervous about risking his
tanks?
• Gave then British time to evacuate….
• 338,000 British and French troops had been saved, a
miracle
• Price: Had to leave most of the equipment behind
French Surrender
• 3 weeks later, France
surrenders
• Germany now
occupied much of
Northern France and
its Atlantic coastline.
• Installed a puppet
government at the
town of Vichy,
France.
Winston Churchill
• New prime minister of
Britain
• Germany expected them
to surrender after
France, but Churchill was
defiant
• Intended to rally the
British people and
alert isolationist US to
Britain’s trouble
Battle of Britain
• Hitler ordered his commanders to
invade Britain
• Problem: had few transport ships to
get across English channel; British air
force would sink them
• Hitler needed to defeat the British
Hitler’s goal:
Royal Air Force
terrorize the British into
surrendering
• German air force, Luftwaffe, launched
an air battle to destroy the Royal Air
Force
• June- Oct 1940
Battle of Britain
• Royal Air Force was outnumbered
• One major advantage though: new technology called
radar
• Could detect incoming German aircraft and direct
British fighters to intercept them
• Outcome:
• Germany lost 1,733 aircraft…Britain lost 915 fighter
planes
• October 1940- Hitler cancels invasion of Britain