Second World War

Learning Objectives: We will be able to

identify the reason behind the World War II
 When Was the Second World War?
It is 80 years ago since the Second World War began in 1939. The war lasted for
six years and finished in 1945.

It was the last worldwide war, which involved many different countries fighting in
many different parts of the world, and caused the death of over 40 million people.

Is there anyone in your family who can remember the war? Perhaps they were a
soldier or a civilian. Do they have any stories to tell you?
 The Global War
The Second World War was
fought on the continents of
Europe, Africa and Asia, as well
as in the air and on Asia
the sea. Europe

The main Allied powers were the North

Africa
British Empire, France, America
and the USSR (Russia). The
Allies fought against Nazi
Germany, Italy and Japan. Nazi
Germany was led by Adolf
Hitler.

How many people do you think would have been involved in the war? Would
anywhere in the world have been safe from fighting in the war?
 How Did the Second World War Start?
The origins of the Second World War were in the First
World War. The First World War ended with an
agreement called the Treaty of Versailles which was
signed in 1919. The terms of the treaty stated that
Germany had to totally disarm and pay reparations to
some of the countries they had fought against. These
reparations came to billions of pounds. Germany had
to give away its colonies to France and the United
Kingdom.

Do you think the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were fair?

Talk About It
How do you think German people felt about it?
 How Did the Second World War Start?

Paying reparations caused lots of financial

problems in Germany. At one point, a loaf of
bread cost so much money, you had to carry the
money in a suitcase!
 How Did the Second World War Start?
These beliefs started to become very popular in Germany.

In 1933, Hitler and the Nazi Party won the general

election. Hitler began to rearm Germany. Over the
next few years, the Nazis continued to implement
their ideas, including invading land they’d had to
give up.
.
In the 1920s, a man named Adolf Hitler started a group
called the National Socialist Party (also known as the
Nazi Party). The group’s main beliefs were:
• Germany needed more land;
• all people who spoke German should live in one
country and be ruled by one strong leader;
• the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were unfair to
Germany and should be broken;
The glossary
• that certain groups of people has explained
were better what ‘disarm’ means. Use your
than others.
Talk About It
knowledge of prefixes to explain what ‘rearm’ means.
 How Did the Second World War Start?
Other European countries became worried
about what was happening in Germany.
Britain and France felt the best way to deal
with the problem and avoid another war was
to allow Hitler to carry on what he was
doing. In 1938, the British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain visited Hitler. He came
away from the meeting and made a speech
saying he had done a deal which would
cause ‘peace for our time’.

Do you think the countries were right to try to avoid war? Or

Talk About It should they have started the war earlier in order to stop Hitler from
doing more bad things?
 How Did the Second World War Start?
On 1st September 1939, Germany invaded
Poland. The United Kingdom had done a
deal with Poland and other countries to
protect them.

Neville Chamberlain made a speech

announcing that the United Kingdom was at United Kingdom
war with Germany on 3rd September.
Poland

Germany
 The British Empire and
Commonwealth
The British Empire and Commonwealth was an
enormous community of land and people. It
included many countries which had been a part of
the British Empire.

When Britain needed help in the Second World War,

it called upon the Commonwealth and British Empire
to support its fight.

Can you list all 53 countries of the Commonwealth?

 The British Empire in the Second World War
By the end of the war, over 3.5 million men and women from Britain and over 8
million people from the Commonwealth had contributed to winning the war. This
included people working in the armed forces and civilians. Many of these people
were not from Britain, but felt a need to fight for the
British Empire.

Great
Britain

Jamaica India

Australia
New Zealand

Click on the dots to find out which areas of the British Empire contributed to the
war.
 The Start of the War
September 1939, the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, declared war on
Germany.

The British army was sent to mainland Europe

to help prepare the fight against the Germans,
and at home many preparations were made.
Children were evacuated from towns and
cities, and air raid shelters were built in
back gardens.
 Britain Stands Alone
In May 1940, the German army struck Western Europe with its tactic of ‘Blitzkrieg’.
This meant ‘lightning war’ and involved a surprise and brutal attack from the air. This
involved the air force to begin the attack followed by the army who would occupy the
land with soldiers.

The “Blitzkrieg” was very effective and by May 1940, the Netherlands, Norway,
Belgium and France had surrendered to Germany.

The British army had to be evacuated from the beaches

of Dunkirk and lost most of its equipment.

Winston Churchill became the new prime minister and

vowed to fight to the end, despite Britain standing alone.

How important do you think the British Commonwealth would have been to the
war effort in 1940?
 The Battle of Britain
After defeating France in 1940, Hitler’s next target was to invade Britain. In order
to do this, Germany had to make sure she had control of the British skies.
Germany had to beat Britain’s air force, the RAF.

The Battle of Britain began in

July 1940. Hitler was very
confident of winning the battle
as he controlled most of
Europe and outnumbered
British aircraft.
 The Battle of Britain
The battle was fought in the skies, in dogfights, which could be
seen by the people on the ground.

Despite having fewer pilots and aircraft, the RAF seemed to

be winning. The Germans, therefore, changed their tactics
from targeting aircraft to bombing the towns
and cities.

The RAF used pilots from Britain, the Commonwealth, Belgium,

Did You
Czechoslovakia, Poland, France Know…?
and the United States of America in the Battle
of Britain!
 The Blitz
The Blitz was the bombing of British towns and cities. It made being a civilian in
Britain as dangerous as being a soldier overseas. Hitler’s plan was to make British
civilians demoralised so that they would
demand peace.

On 7th September 1940, the

first bombing raids began. The
bombing attacks were very
dangerous and frightening, but
the people of Britain were
determined to carry on as
normal. London was bombed
every night for 57 days.
 The Blitz

Nearly every city was bombed.

When the Blitz ended in the summer

of 1941, over 43,000 people had
been killed and many were made
homeless.

How do you think people felt during the Blitz?

 The Home Front
Life for civilians during the Second World War was very difficult. Children were
evacuated away from towns and cities to go and live in the countryside. Many men
were asked to join the army. Women were needed to work in factories and on
farms to support the war effort.

Britain imports a lot of its food from

abroad and during the war this meant
food had to be rationed so that the
country wouldn’t starve.
Each person would receive a ration book
to buy food and clothes from shops.
Petrol was strictly rationed, as was hot
water and coal.

Queen Elizabeth II served in the army during the war as a driver

Did You Know…?
and mechanic.
 Timeline of Events

Put these events leading up to the events of

2. The Treaty of Versailles is signed.
the Second World War in order.
5. Financial problems in Germany.
1. Germany invades Poland.
6. Adolf Hitler starts the Nationalist
2. The Treaty of Versailles is signed.
Socialist Party (Nazi Party).
3. Britain declares war on Germany.
4. The Nazi Party wins the General
4. The Nazi Party wins the general
Election.
election.
7. Neville Chamberlain meets with
5. Germany have financial problems.
Hitler and declares ‘Peace for our
6. Adolf Hitler starts the Nationalist
time’.
Socialist Party (Nazi Party).
1. Germany invades Poland.
7. Neville Chamberlain meets with Hitler
3. Britain declares war on Germany.
and declares ‘Peace for our time’.
 Glossary

colonies – Countries that are ruled by another country.

disarm – To give up all weapons.

financial – To do with the management of money.

reparations – The paying of money for damage caused during

a war.