Beginning of WWII
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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