Chapter 16.2 Notes: War In Europe

1. What happened to Austria to end its independence?

• 1937: Hitler announced intention to take Austria and Czechoslovakia as Germany needed the land to grow and prosper
• Mar 12, 1938: Germany annexed Austria
• Anschluss (union)
• The German army marched into Vienna to cheering crowds.

2.  How did Czechoslovakia cease to exist and how were the frenchand British involved?

• Hitler charged Czechs with abusing the Germans living in the Sudetenland
• False stories of murder filled the German press.
• France & Britain promised to defend Czechs
• Both invited to meet w/ Hitler at Munich Conference
• Hitler proclaimed it to be his last demand
• Chamberlain & Daladier agree to give up Sudetenland to achieve peace in our time
• appeasement
• Signed Munich Pact
• Winston Churchill called it appeasement
• German troops rolled through Sudetenland and captured all of Czechoslovakia

3.  How did Hitler begin World War II and why didn't the Soviet Union block their advance?
Hitler began to scream that Germans in Poland were being abused.

• Nobody believed he'd invade; he would wind up in a 2 front war: USSR & France, Britain
• Aug 1939 Stalin & Hitler signed a non-aggression pact
• They agreed to divide up Poland between them
• Sept 1, 1939 WWII began with the invasion of Poland
• Blitzkrieg (lightening warfare) - Luftwaffe flew in first and bombed enemy
• tanks second
• Spt 3, 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany
• By Oct, Poland ceased to exist

4.  What was the phony war and how did it end in a surprise victory for Germany?

• French and British troops sat behind the Maginot Line
• wall French built to keep out Germans
• Germans stared back from the Sigfried Line (German front lines)
• In east, Stalin had captured eastern Poland
• Now he took Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
• He invaded Finland
• Germans waited till April 1940 to attack first North then west: Denmar, Norwar, Netherlands, Belgium, Lux, France.. all in 4 weeks

5.  What was the Battle of Britain and why was it significant?

• Summer 1940, Germany planned a sea-air invasion of England
• Step #1: destroy Britain's air force (RAF)
• 2 months of nightly bombing (Blitz)
• RAF fought back with radar, shot down many planes, headed off invasion
• Hitler called off the invasion mid Sept
• Churchill:Never was so much owed by so many to so few.