WORLD

WAR II
(1939-1945)

Causes:
- Treaty of Versailles
- Other peace treaties.
- Aggressions / Imperialism
- Appeasement
- The Polish Corridor
- Non aggression pact (Germany USSR)


QUESTIONS
What circumstances would lead you to support or oppose
your countrys participation in a war?
How are civilians sometimes as much a part of the war effort
as soldiers?






BLITZKRIEG
Lightning war in German.
Its a massive infantry attack while at the same time you use
bombers to soften enemy positions. Tanks were also essential.
September 1st, 1939. German invasion of Poland. Official
beginning of WW II. Germany took the western half that had a
large German population. On the 17th, the Soviet Union took the
eastern half.
September 3rd, France and the UK declare war on Germany.

 After taking half of Poland, Stalin occupied Lithuania, Latvia,

and Estonia. Finland took much more time to be defeated and
they had to accept losing some territory to the USSR. The
Soviets had to send almost 1 million troops to conquer the
Finns. One person, Simo Hyh (called The White Death by
soviets) was a sniper that killed 505 soviet soldiers. The
highest in any major war.
Hitler then turned to France. The French and British soldiers
had been waiting for the war, called phony war, behind the
Maginot Line, a system of defenses along the Franco-German
border. Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway. Then, he
entered France through Belgium and the Netherlands,
bypassing the Maginot line.//


THE FALL OF FRANCE
In May 1940, German forces sweep through the Netherlands,
Luxembourg, and Belgium.
They moved lots of tanks through the impassable forest of
the Ardennes. This took French and British forces by surprise.
They reached the northern coast in just 10 days.
French and British forces trapped in the beaches of Dunkirk
were rescued by 850 civilian boats. 338,000 soldiers were saved.
June 14 --- Paris falls, June 22 --- Surrender
Southern France becomes a puppet government Vichy
France governed by Petain.
Charles de Gaulle.
HW: What is a collaborator? (in this context)
Why did Hitler let the French and British forces escape?//