Occupied France and the Battle of Britain

1. Recap: The War from Poland to Paris

2. Collaboration in Europe: The Birth of Vichy France

- - - Marshal Philippe Pétain – Patriot or Traitor?

- - - Pétain’s National Revolution

- - - The Jewish Statutes (October 1940)

- - - Vichy and the War Effort

3. The British Empire Stands Alone

- - - The Plan: Operation Eagle and Operation Sea Lion

- - - The Battle of Britain and the Blitz

- - - The Civilian Experience

- - - The Survival of Great Britain and its Implications

4. Hitler and his Ideological goals in the East

German Troops March in Poland, September, 1939

Iconic Image of Defeat: Watching the Nazis Enter Paris

Hitler dances the jig?

Marshal Philippe Pétain

Hitler enters the same train car in which Germany had accepted defeat in 1918, in order to present the French with an armistice.

The division of France following the armistice

General (and future President) Charles de Gaulle fled to Great Britain, to lead the Free French Forces against the Germans

Pétain and Hitler shake hands

Vichy Propaganda Poster for the National Revolution

Newspaper announcing the Jewish Statutes, October 1940

Antisemitic Poster, 1941

Caricature mocking Petain as a traitor and Nazi puppet

Members of the Vichy Militia (the Milice) arrest members of the resistance

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1940

Plans for Operation Sea Lion, the amphibious invasion of Britain, to be undertaken once the Luftwaffe had control of the skies…

A German bomber over London, 1940

Damage following the first bombing of Berlin, August 1940

Luftwaffe Chief Herman Goering

Seeking shelter in a London subway station during the Blitz

London ablaze during “The Blitz”

A London home during the Blitz..

A downed German plane during the Battle of Britain

Mussolini and the War in the Mediterranean1. Mussolini’s Foreign Policy

- - The Invasion of Ethiopia, 1935

- - The Rome-Berlin Axis and The Pact of Steel

2. Italy at Enters the War

- - The Invasion of France, June 1940

3. The War in North Africa

- - The Italian invasion of Egypt, September 9, 1940

- - Rommel, the Afrika Corps, & Germany to the Rescue

- - - - General Montgomery and Allied Recovery

4. The War in the Balkans (1940/1941)

- - Italian Invasion of Greece and the German Bail-Out

- - The Invasion of Crete & Nazi Dominance in Europe

A New Roman Empire?

Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie during the war with Italy, 1935

Protesters in New York draw attention to Italian atrocities

Ethiopian troops preparing to defend their homeland, 1935

Mussolini and Hitler’s emerging alliance: “The Rome-Berlin Axis” in November 1936;

and “The Pact of Steel”, May 22, 1939

Mussolini and Churchill

Mussolini declares war on France, June 10, 1940

French alpine infantry trying to keep the Italians back…

The Italians attack British-held Egypt from neighboring Libya, September 9, 1940, hoping to capture the Suez Canal

Generals Rudolfo Graziani and Archibald Wavell

Italian tanks drive into Egypt

Italian forces move only 80 km into Egypt, and stop at Sidi Barrani

British forces pound the Italians at Sidi Barrani during “Operation Compass”, December 1940

The British push the Italian troops off of Egyptian soil, from Sidi Barrani all the way back to

El Agheila (far left)

Italian POWs in Libya, 1941

Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, known as the “Desert Fox”, is sent by Hitler to lead the “Afrika Corps” and bail out the Italians

Afrika Corps tanks, providing mobility and speed in the desert

A German tank crew surrender in the desert dust

A British tank approaches a burning German tank during Operation Crusader, 1941/42

An Italian soldier surrenders to a British Indian Army soldier

Rommel’s Match: General Bernard Montgomery

Hitler didn’t want trouble in the Balkan region (south-eastern Europe) before launching his attack on the Soviet Union

The Italian invasion of Greece from Albania, to begin October 28, 1940

Stiff resistance being offered up by Greek artillery

German artillery during the fight for Greece, April 1941

Members of the Yugoslavian infantry surrender to German troops, April 1941

Hitler moves to secure Crete in Operation Mercury, beginning May 20, 1941

German paratroopers over Crete

A dead German paratrooper

Executed civilians in Crete, 1941

Nazi-dominated Europe, May 1941