Beginning of WWII

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The Treaty of Versailles Harsh terms intended to make Germany powerless accept total blame for WW1 reduced military reparations of $33 billion loss of territory

Transcript of Beginning of WWII

The Treaty of VersaillesHarsh terms intended to make

Germany powerless• accept total blame for WW1• reduced military• reparations of $33 billion• loss of territory

Rise of Fascism in Germany1933 -Hitler becomes “Fuhrer” (leader)

Organized opposition was violently suppressed by the “brownshirts”

Hitler wants to:-take over German-speaking territories (Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia)-expand German territory to the east into the U.S.S.R.

Formation of Axis Powers

In 1937 Germany and Italy join forces.

Japan would join later

Became known

as the “Axis Powers”

during WWII

Hitler with Mussolini

German Annexation of AustriaJanuary 1938 Hitler forces Austria to give more power to Nazis by threatening military action

March 12, 1938 German troops enter Austria and are greeted enthusiastically

The Anschluss was a clear violation of the Treaty of Versailles

AppeasementWorld leaders eager to avoid war met with Hitler at Munich

Believed Germans demands were reasonable and could be satisfied

Hitler saw the appeasement as a sign

of weakness

The Munich Pact• In September 1938 World leaders give Germany sections of

Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union were not even invited to the conference

• March 15,1939: Germany takes over the rest of Czechoslovakia anyway, and the French and British feel betrayed

Soviet-Nazi Non-Aggression (the Molotov-Ribbentrop) Pact

• August 1939: Stalin and Hitler agreed to not attack each other and to divide Poland between them

German ambassador Von Ribbentrop, Soviet Leader Stalin, and Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov

• Now Hitler was free to attack Poland and then the Western Allies

World War Two Begins

Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invaded Poland

Britain and France declare war on Germany

Canada declared war on Germany on Sept. 10, 1939

German troops march into Poland

Blitzkrieg

• Blitzkrieg – lightning war• Germany used air strikes, followed by tanks, then infantry

to rapidly attack and destroy defending forces

German Early Victories• Germany defeats Poland by

the end of September, 1939

• April, 1940 - After the “phony war,” Germany invades Denmark and Norway, fighting is finished by June

• May 10 Germany invades Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France

• June 25, 1940 France officially surrenders to Germany