Lightning War

Question 10Sept 1939: Hitler launched a

surprise attack on Poland.0Using fast moving

airplanes & tanks and massive infantry, Hitler attempted to crush the opposition with overwhelming force.0This strategy is known as

blitzkrieg, or lightning war.

Question 20Shortly after the start of Hitler’s invasion,

Britain & France declared war on Germany.0However, Poland fell before either country

was able to muster a military response.0France & Britain prepared for a war,

mobilizing their troops and set up at the Maginot Line (a system of defenses along the French/German border.)

Maginot Line

Question 30On April 9, 1940,

Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway, ending the “phony war.”0Denmark fell four

hours after the attack began. Norway surrendered two months later.

German infantry attacking through a burning Norwegian village, April 1940.

Question 40In May of 1940, Hitler swept through

Holland, Belgium, & Luxembourg.0Hitler then traveled through the Ardennes

forest, bypassing the Maginot Line.0The Germans quickly reached France’s

northern coast, then continued north, meeting up with German troops in Belgium.0The British and French troops were

surrounded. They fled to Dunkirk.

Question 5

0The British spearheaded a massive rescue mission.0British civilians and navy

personnel crossed the English channel under heavy German fire to help those stranded at Dunkirk.0 338, 000 men were rescued,

including 123,000 French soldiers.

Question 60Italy joined the

war in June of 1940 (after Dunkirk).0They joined at

this time because they believed victory would be quick.

Question 70France fell in June of

1940, shortly after Dunkirk. 0The Germans took

control of the North and left Marshall Henri Philippe Petain to rule the South.0Petain’s headquarters

were in in Vichy.

Question 80Charles de Gaulle is a

French general who fled to London where he set up a government in exile. 0He organized the Free

French military forces that battled the Nazis until France was liberated in 1944.

Combatants