World War II in Europe

Introduction
German hatred oI Versailles
Lebensraum (living space): They want to make their living space clean; racially pure with only the Aryan`s;
they will colonize and possess all this land world wide

The War in the East: they want to Iocus on the East, but they also have to deal with the west. Hitler sees the
Eastern Iront as the Iocal point; that`s what is most important to Germany and Hilter

I. azi foreign policy: They claim that anywhere there is
The Annexation oI Austria (The Anschlu), March 1938
Czechoslovakia: Sudetenland: Hitler demands that Germany take it t his land; he promises that this
is his last request
Munich ConIerence and appeasement
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain: Neville just gives it to him, hoping he`ll be satisIied
Poland: Danzig Corridor in 1939, Hitler demands this corridor (which connects Poland to the Baltic
Sea)
Soviet Union: Nazi ideology: Anti-Bolshevism and desire to expand in the East.
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Treaty (22 August 1939) very Machiavelian on the Nazi`s side;
Russian just want Eastern Polands
II. The invasion of Poland
Blitzkrieg (lightening warIare): over a million soldiers go in and within 6 weeks, they`ve taken
Warsaw; the idea is to avoid trench warIare oI WWI at all costs
Einsatzgruppen (special squads): the motivated killers; the death squads that were the ethnic
cleansing branch oI the military as well; by 1943, they killed over a million
III. Reiinhard
IV. The War in the West
Rotterdam: Gets taken quickly
French Surrender, 22 June 1940; Hitler takes France
Air raids over Britain

V. The Eastern Front
Invasion oI the Soviet Union--War oI Annihilation Commissar orders 3 million Nazi`s go in
summer oI 1941
Soviet resistance: The Great Patriotic War: Stalin at Iirst can`t respond; however, Russia quickly
Iights back.
Stalingrad (Sixth German Army), Winter 1942-43: a turning point because the Nazi`s can`t get in
their last punch to knock out Russia, so the 6
th
German Army gets stuck out in the middle oI
nowhere
Most oI the Jew killing happens in Poland; mostly due to brutal occupation policies

VI. Turning the tide against Germany
A. West
Italy: Anzio: Allied Iorces work their way up; we are slamming them on the West
D-Day and the Normandy invasions: we get lots and lots oI people on the ground Irom Operation Overlord
B. Soviet advances
Soviets are on their way back West
C. Destruction of Germany
Every city with more than 100,000 people gets bombs Irom American and British Iorces
Dresden: 200,000 dead, but this was not really a very important strategic point,
German capitulation: May 7& 8, 1945: they can`t hold up to the war, so they start to give up this 1,000 year
reign ideaSSS