WESTERN EUROPE RESPONSE September the 1st, France and England sent an ultimatum to Germany to withdraw from Poland The Nazi army had 24 hours to leave Poland On September 3, 1939 France and England had no choice but to declare war on Germany. Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister said: “In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.”
CANADA JOINS THE WAR Canada was NOT automatically at war since Britain declared war on Germany. WHY? Statute of Westminster (1935): Canada will have control over its own foreign affairs HOWEVER…
PM KING DECLARES WAR Sept 9, ‘39 – PM King declared war on Germany Canada joined the Allied Forces By the end of the first month 70 000 Cdns. had signed up. One million would serve by the end of the war
Canadian Forces GroupContributions French Canadians Africans Canadian Women Aboriginals Asians (Chinese and Japanese) Jewish Canadians Worked as spies, fight in the war, non combat roles Accepted into fighting in the war, Integrated through out the army navy and air force 50,000 vol, mechanics, technicians, spies, drivers, non combat roles 3,000 joined the army-72 women Used as translators, fought in the jungles of Asia, worked as spies, broadcasters 17,000, Hid there identity,
September 1939 Nazis Invade Poland BLITKREIG Modern” version of the SCHLIEFFEN PLAN Lightning Strike in German German attack strategy using the three major military corps of the Third Reich’s army GERMANY ADVANCES
BLITZKREIG STEP 1: The LUFTWAFFE the Air Force, went in first and bombed the enemy Luftwaffe’s planes: STUKAS
STEP 2: The PANZER the armoured divisions, went second and shelled the enemy Panzer’s tanks: Tiger
STEP 3: The WERMARCHT the infantry, went in and “cleaned up” the remaining resistance. Wermarcht: infantry
HOW DID THE FIGHTING BEGIN... Hitler tried to make peace w/ Britain & France by promising not to invade any other country NO ONE WAS FOOLED THIS TIME!! Sept 17, 1939 – World was SHOCKED…Russia invaded Poland from the East. Poland was now occupied by Nazi and Communist regimes!! No Fighting (Sitzkrieg – phony war) until the spring of 1940.
Hitler’s next invasions 1. April ’40 Denmark/Norway Blitzkrieg 2. May ’40 Holland/Belgium attacked WHAT PARTS OF EUROPE DID HITLER CONTROL? 1. 2. 3. 4.
INVASION OF FRANCE German invasion of France was quick Britain sent troops France and Britain were not prepared for the BLITZKRIEG British soldiers retreated to the coastal French city of Dunkirk
Germany’s Strategic Errors They were trapped with no where to go…. German troops were advancing…and… Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe (air force) to bomb the Br. forces, while ordering the Wermacht (army) to pull back This would prove to be one of Hitler's costly errors.
MIRACLE OF DUNKIRK Fortunately a dense fog pinned the Luftwaffe A call went out to all British vessels to cross the English Channel and rescue the men. 900 boats - ferries, fishing boats, pleasure boats- joined the British destroyers. It was believed that only 10 000 men could be rescued, but by the end 340 000 soldiers were rescued from certain destruction. Many historians believe that "the Miracle of Dunkirk" prevented Hitler from winning in 1940.
FRANCE FALLS Meanwhile, the French army had fallen. On June 14, 1940 the Nazis marched into an undefended Paris 3 days later France surrendered. Hitler had conquered most of w. Europe. Only the Soviet Union remained to the East and the British Isles to the West.
HOMEWORK Fill in the section “YEARS IN CRISIS” on your chart Study the Map on page 117 Answer 1 and 2 p. 119 1-2
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