World War II

Appeasement

• What was the part of Czechoslovakia where most German speakers lived called?– Sudentenland

• Which four countries were at the Munich conference?– Britain, France, Germany and Italy– Which other countries should have been

invited?

Appeasement• What was agreed to at the

Munich Conference– Germany would occupy the

Sudetenland– Other parts of Czechoslovakia

would go to Poland and Hungary

– Czechoslovakia had to agree or face Germany alone

– Hitler promised to take no more land

• Why did many people feel giving into Germany at Munich was a good idea?– It would avoid war

Appeasement

• Why were the countries of Europe so keen to avoid war?– Because of the horrors of World War I– They were not ready to fight another war

• What did Hitler claim when he united the countries of Austria and Germany?– He was uniting German speaking people into

a greater Germany

Why were the early months of World War II

referred to as the “phony war”? • Hitler attacks Poland on September 1,

1939 – Blitzkrieg • France and Britain have promised to

defend Poland (no more appeasement)• Britain and France declare war on Sept 3• Both countries mobilize their armies along

the Maginot Line – Germany along the Siegfried Line

• Nothing happened – Phony war

Maginot Line

Siegfried Line

4. Why was Egypt of strategic importance in WWII?

• The Suez Canal was the route to the oil of the Middle East.

• It would also allow the Axis Powers to link up

Why did President Roosevelt want to offer help to the Allies?

• He feared an Allied defeat would pull the United States into the War.

• He did not want a world in which Nazi Germany dominated Europe

Why did Stalin want the US and Britain to launch a second front in the west?

• To relieve pressure on the Soviets.

• Until the second front, Germany could focus its forces on the east

How did the Allies try to conceal the true location of the D-Day Landings?

• Operation Fortitude– Prepared a dummy

army to attack Calais

– This would lead the Germans to believe the attack would come at a different location