Chapter 16 Section 2 War In Europe

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Chapter 16 Section 2War In Europe

• Main Idea
• Using the sudden mass attack called blitzkrieg,
  Germany invaded and quickly conquered many
  European countries.

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Austria and Czechoslovakia Fall

• Nov 5, 1937 Hitler met w/ military advisors
• Declared that to grow and prosper Germany needed
  the land of the neighbors
• Hitlers 1st target Austria
• March 12, 1938 German troops marched into Austria
  unopposed
• Hitlers 2nd target Czechoslovakia

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Bargaining for the Sudetenland

• Hitler said the Czechs were abusing the Sudeten
  Germans
• Great Britain and France promised to protect
  Czechoslovakia
• Hitler met with French premier Edouard Daladier
  and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
• He stated that this would be his last
  territorial demand
• To avoid war they believed him and signed the
  Munich Agreement

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Munich Agreement

• To avoid war France and Britain believed Hitler
  and signed the Munich Agreement
• This turned the Sudetenland over to Germany
• Winston Churchill said that Britain and France
  adopted the policy of
• Appeasement-giving up principles to pacify an
  aggressor

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The German Offensive Begins

• After Hitler conquered Czechoslovakia he turned
  to Germanys eastern neighbor POLAND
• An attack on Poland would
• Bring Germany in conflict w/ the Soviet Union
• Provoke declaration of war from Britain and
  France (promised military aid to Poland)
• Result would be fighting a 2 front war

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Nonaggression Pact

• Stalin surprised everyone by signing a
  nonaggression pact with Hitler
• Fascist Germany and Communist Russia committed to
  never attack each other
• Also signed a secret pact to split up Poland

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BLITZKRIEG IN POLAND

• Blitzkrieg (lightning war)- Germanys new
  military strategy
• Air force rained bombs over military basses,
  airfields, railroads and cities
• Made use of tanks and powerful aircraft
• September 3 (2 days after invasion) Britain and
  France declared war on Germany
• WWII had officially begun!

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THE PHONY WAR

• After the fall of Poland French and British
  troops held the Maginot Line (along Frances
  eastern border)
• Hitler sent Generals through the Ardennes (region
  of wooded area) in northwest France
• Italy entered the war on the side of the Germany
  and defeated France

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The Battle of Britain

• Summer of 1940
• Germany could not compete with Britains navy
• Germany launched an air war over Britain
• On a single day (August 15th) about 2,000 German
  planes attacked Britain
• Every night for 2 months bombers pounded London

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RAF (Britains Royal Air Force)

• RAF fought back against Germans
• Used radar to detect and plot the flight paths of
  German planes
• RAF shot down over 185 German planes
• Hitler called off the attack indefinitely

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