1. World War II

2. On to war!
 March 1939 – Br and Fr agree to help Poland if
invaded
 Aug 1939 – Hitler and Stalin agree to a ten year
Non-Aggression Pact (secret document attached
about how to divide up E. Europe)
 Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
 Sept. 1, 1939, Germany invades Poland
 Blitzkrieg, Poland down in a month, Holocaust begins
in Poland
 Stalin seizes E. half of Poland
 Sept. 3, 1939, Br and Fr declare war on
Germany

3. Taking over Poland
 September 1, 1939
 Falls very quickly (3 wks)
 Poland split between
Nazis and Soviets
 Soviets – imprison many
people
 Nazis –
 Goal to turn Poles into
unskilled workers
 Begin arresting and
imprisoning Poland’s large
Jewish population

4. Blitzkrieg
 “Lightning War”
 Three pronged attack
 Luftwaffe
 Tanks
 Infantry troops

5. Britain and France Declare War on
Germany
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/rams/worldwar2audioclipslibrary_
 Sept. 3, 1939
 Neville Chamberlain
(Britain’s PM)

6. Evacuation of
the Children
 Britain immediately begins
evacuating children from their
cities
 1.5 Million relied on gvt for
evacuation
 2 Million made independent
arrangements

7. Princess Elizabeth’s
 Message from
the future
Queen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/rams/worldwar2au

8. Gas Mask Precaution

9. 1940 - A Year of Success for
Germany
 April 9th – Invades and Occupied Denmark and
Norway
 Denmark offers little resistance
 Norway puts up a fight
 May 10th – France, Belgium, Netherlands,
Luxembourg
 France is attacked and invaded
 So much for the Maginot Line
 Belgium receives a fullscale Blitzkrieg attack
 Netherlands attacked by air

10. Battle of the Atlantic
 1939 – 1945
 Germany’s fight against the Allies
 U-boats and armed merchants
 Wolf pack attacks
 Try to block supply routes and convoys

14. Miracle at
Dunkirk
 British and French forces
become trapped at Dunkirk
 Number of men rescued (in
chronological order):
 27 May (7669 men)
 28 May (17,804 men)
 29 May (47,310 men)
 30–31 May (120,927 men)
 1 June (64,229 men)
 2–4 June (up to 54,000
men)

15. Paris Falls With the Rest of France
 Paris falls June 14
 Occupation divided between Germany and Italy
 Germany can now focus efforts on Britain

18. Battle of Britain

19. German Luftwaffe v. Britain’s RAF
If we can stand up to him, all Europe
may be freed and the life of the world
may move forward into broad, sunlit
uplands. But if we fail, then the whole
world, including the United States,
including all that we have known and
cared for, will sink into the abyss of a
new Dark Age made more sinister,
and perhaps more protracted, by the
lights of perverted science. Let us
therefore brace ourselves to our duty
and so bear ourselves that, if the
British Empire and its Commonwealth
last for a thousand years, men will still
say: "This was their finest hour" '
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/rams/worldwar2audioclipslibrary_clip08.ram

20. Spotter on London Rooftop

23. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/rams/worldwar2audioclipslibrary_clip02.ram