WW2 topics:
1. Soviet- German Non- Aggression pact- Aug. 23, 1939
- Hitler and Stalin decide to sign a non- aggression pact
- agreed not to fight
- Russia gave raw materials to Germany in exchange for money and weapons
- Both agreed to say neutral if the other entered the war
- Secretly agreed to invade and split Poland. Germany would get the western half and USSR the eastern half
- Russia would get Finland, Estonia, and Latvia; Germany would get Lithuania
2. Invasion of Poland- Sept. 1939
- Poland didn't stand a chance against Germany
- less than month Poland surrendered
3. Blitz and Sitz
- Blitzkrieg= Lightning warfare
- meant to overwhelm the enemy
- airplanes come first and bomb Poland aircraft bombers, communication, transportation systems so they can't communicate
- then the tanks and infantry and mechanized units (trucks with people on it)
- mechanized units go inland as quickly as possible and drop off troops
- come back and trap Poland
- made Germany have invincibility
- made people just give up
- Sitzkrieg= sitting war
- the Phony war
- after Poland nothing is happening on land
- The winters hit and wanted to prepare for war and start in spring
- GB and France invaded Germany and nothing happened
4. Axis vs. Allied
- Axis= Germany, Italy, Japan
- Other Axis Powers= Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Romania, Thailand, Hungary
- Allied Powers= GB, Soviet Union, US, China, France
- maybe Australia, and Canada
- Allies had a lot of support
- most of the world was against the axis powers
5. German Invasion of Spring 1940:
- took over Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg
- invasion of Norway was over water
- Germany controlled the under water
- Sweden was Neutral
6. Invasion of France:
- Maginot Line= concrete barrier with spikes
- Germany went around the wall/ line
- Maginot Line didn't go all the way around France so it didn't really work
- did everything underground
- Vichy Government= Pro- German government during WW2; does what ever Hitler wanted them to do
- Vichy was a city in France
- everyone had their mind set that Germany was unbeatable
- Miracle of Dunkirk= Hitler orders troops to stop
- France escaped to Great Britain
- Hitler hated France
- France caused most of Germany's troubles during WW1
- French that moved to GB
7. Battle of Britain:
- July 1940
- GB was the only country left
- Hitler respected GB
- Hitler wanted to make a deal with GB and Churchill didn't want to
- Germany invaded Britain
- Royal Air Force (GB) vs. the Luftwaffe (Germany)
- Churchill got the people motivated not to surrender
- Germany started bombing GB
- "Never was so much owed by so many to so few."
- RAF is what saved GB
- Germany couldn't ever gain on the RAF
- Ultra was code name so British could start fighting before Germany even started
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