1. Hitler’s Lightning War
Chapter 16-1
Spinrad/World History

2. Blitzkrieg
After signing the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, Hitler surprised Poland September 1, 1939 with an attack using artillery, infantry in trucks, planes and tanks
Warsaw was bombed by the Luftwaffe
Notice the dynamism, movement of these new military tactics. The static defensive lines of WWI no longer work

3. Blitzkrieg

4. The Jews in Poland
Most of the Jews of Europe lived in Poland, 300,000 in Warsaw alone
The Jews could not leave as the world (including the US) closed their borders
They were doomed

5. Soviet Response
The Soviets took advantage of their peace treaty with Germany to mount an aggressive campaign of their own
At the same time as the Nazi invasion, the Soviets sent troops to occupy the eastern half of Poland
Stalin then took over Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia
Stalin encountered resistance from Finland

6. Soviets Attack Finland
The Soviets fought poorly against the Finns. Hitler noticed this.
However, one million Soviet troops forced, through force of numbers, a Finn surrender

7. Fall of France
The British and French mobilized their armies and waited
Suddenly, in April, 1940, the calm ended. Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway. Bases from there could be used to launch an attack of Great Britain
In May 1940, Hitler swept through the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and attacked France, squeezing between the French defenses

8. Maginot Line
The Germans went through the Ardennes forest, around the French defensive position, the Maginot line

9. Fall of France
Outnumbered, outgunned, and pounded from the air, the Allies (French and British troops) retreated to the beaches of Dunkirk
The Allies were trapped with their backs to the sea
338,000 of these troops were rescued by the British navy and civilian boats
France surrendered in June, 1940

10. Dunkirk Rescue

11. Battle of Britain
Great Britain now stood alone against Germany, and Hitler now planned an invasion of Great Britain
His plan was to destroy Britain's air force, the RAF
Two technological achievements helped turn the tide in the RAF’s favor: development of radar and cracking the German code

12. Battle of Britain The attacks continued until May, 1941
Germany was not able to destroy the RAF
Without the cover of air power, Hitler’s planned invasion could not work
Hitler called off his planned invasion of Britain

13. North Africa and Barbarossa
Nazis’ Afrika Korps under Rommel takes Tobruk, Libya from the British in 1942
The German goal was conquering Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, and middle eastern oil fields
Hitler invades Yugoslavia and Greece and then attacks the Soviet Union in June 1941
By December 1941 the Germans had advanced to the outskirts of Moscow

14. Barbarossa
The Germans were freezing, still in their summer uniforms in an early Russian winter
The Soviets counterattacked, stopping the German advance

15. Atlantic Charter
Roosevelt and Churchill met secretly in August, 1941 and issued a joint declaration
Upheld free trade and the right of peoples to choose their own government