1. War in Europe
Chapter 24 – Section 2

2. Video(s)
Awesome Hitler Story
Are we the bad guys?

3. Hitler’s Plan
On November 5th, Hitler called a secret meeting with his top military advisors – he gave them the first steps in his plan to establish the “German Empire.”
1. Absorb Austria into the “Third Reich”
2. Absorb Czechoslovakia
3. Conquer Poland
Hitler thought 1&2 would be easy

4. On March 12th, 1938… German forces marched into Austria.
They were welcome with cheers and applause because the majority of Austria’s population were Germans who favored unification.
Hitler then turned his attention to Czechoslovakia

5. Phase II - Czechoslovakia
German newspapers begin printing headlines about “Czech atrocities and abuses” being committed against German peoples living in Czechoslovakia… Hitler promises to “protect them.”
These were lies and propaganda
France & Great Britain respond by promising to protect Czechoslovakia

6. Hitler seizes the Sudetenland
Hitler invites Neville Chamberlain (Britain) & Edouard Daladier (France) to meet in Munich (September 1938).
At this meeting, Hitler promised that this would be his final act of aggression. Daladier & Chamberlain believe him and sign The Munich Agreement.
Hitler seizes the Sudetenland (a portion of Czechoslovakia) without firing a shot.

7. The Policy of Appeasement
Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain’s political rival in Britain argued that the Munich agreement was a “shameful policy of appeasement” and that Hitler would continue his aggressive acts.
Britain & France had to choose between “war & dishonor” and they chose dishonor according to Churchill.
At this point FDR wrote a letter to Neville Chamberlain praising his appeasement of Hitler and “preventing all out war in Czechoslovakia.”
Just write: Policy of Appeasement – Winston Churchill’s argument that Chamberlain should be standing up to Hitler… not giving in

8. Phase III – Hitler invades Poland
In 1939, Hitler began his familiar routine. He accused Poland of abusing the German population living there and vowed to give him his protection.
Most of the world thought Hitler was bluffing because… -This action would create a two front war with France/Britain on one side & the S.U. on the other. -This was the same situation that exhausted German troops in WW1 and no one thought Hitler would be foolish enough to repeat that mistake
Just listen

9. Surprise Deal
Stalin surprised the world by signing a nonaggression pact with Hitler – the two countries promised never to attack one another.
This was surprising because the two countries were bitter enemies.
They also secretly agreed to divide up Poland.

10. Hitler invades Poland
Hitler’s first move on September 1st of 1939 was to send in the Luftwaffe (German air force) to conduct bombing raids.
Next, Hitler launched his Blitzkrieg (lightning war) campaign which utilized new military technology (air assault & heavy tanks) to launch a surprise attack and quickly crush the enemy with overwhelming force.
Two days later, on September 3rd, Britain and France finally declared war on Germany.
Just write: “Blitzkrieg – lightning war – a campaign that seeks to quickly crush an enemy with overwhelming force and speed

11. The Phony War
For the next several months, British & French troops sat on the “Maginot Line,” a system of fortifications built along France’s eastern border and they sat staring into Germany.. Waiting for German advancement.
On the “Siegfried Line” a few miles away, German troops sat starring back at them. This stage of Hitler’s plan was called the “Sitzkrieg” (sitting war) and was meant to offset the pace of the war and keep his opponents guessing while German forces reinforced their gains.
Newspapers called this “The Phony War”
-Just write this: “The Phony war was a brief period where French&British soldiers waited for German advancement”

12. Suddenly on April 9th, 1940…
Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order to “protect those country’s freedom and independence.”
This went against France and Britain’s expectations of an invasion through Verdun… they thought the “Ardennes” were impassable.
The Ardennes are a series of forestlands on the edge of France.
This brought an end to the “phony war”

14. Hitler Crushes France
The German bypass of Verdun worked – The German forces attacked Denmark and Norway and brought their tanks through the Ardennes Forest and into France from the North.
From there, they advanced to Paris and successfully conquered France.
As soon as Italy saw that France’s defeat was assured – they invaded from the south.
Watch
-Draw the map on the board of German forces invading Denmark/Norway and then coming through the Northern Ardennes Forest to invade France.. **Bypassing the Maginot Line”

15. French & British troops flee
The French & British troops who were bypassed were now trapped – so they fled by sea across the English channel.
Charles de Gaulle set up a government-in-exile in England.
Hitler now prepared for an invasion of the British Isles.

16. The Battle of Britain
Hitler knew he could not compete with the British navy – which was the most powerful in the world.
His plan was to use the luftwaffe to carry out bombing raids to soften Britain up for a land invasion.
For two months, German planes carried our air attacks on London.
The British used radar to map out German flight patterns and fought back brilliantly.

17. “Their finest hour…” Listen to Churchill’s speech (a segment of it)
Choose two of the following perspectives and explain how you might have felt as….
A British citizen
A British soldier or pilot
A German soldier or pilot
A German citizen
An American citizen

18. Victory
Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) shot down 185 German planes and lost only 26 of their own.
A frustrated Hitler called off his invasion of Britain indefinitely – but still conducted air strikes.
“Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few.” – Winston Churchill

19. The Holocaust
Hitler was influenced by the Eugenics movement and the writings of Henry Ford – these beliefs led to the systematic murder of 6 million people (mostly Jews).
*Number is on final
Hitler’s “Solution”
Sent Jews/non-Aryans to “ghettos” in Poland
Sent them to concentration camps to work, starve, and conduct torturous scientific experiments
Mass murder through firing squads, gas chambers, starvation, injecting of diseases, furnaces, and other methods.
-Talk about “refugees” and how countries took in some people but then refused to take more in
-talk about refugees sent to Palestine and how this leads to the modern day Israeli conflict