Chapter 31: World War II Begins
When did World war II begin?
 European History starts it with the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939
Poland:
•	Hitler wanted the Polish Corridor they had lost in WWI
•	Made non-aggression pact with Soviet Union in August 1939;
* also secretly agreed to divide eastern Europe
* avoided a two-front war
•	Blitzkrieg: sudden, massive, lightning attack with pale & tank
•	take control in 2 days
•	Britain and France mobilize for war as they realize appeasement policy cannot possibly hold out 
Baltic Countries
•	Soviet Union demands and receives treaties from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
•	Finland refuses, but 4 months of battle force them to accept Stalin's terms

Scandanavia
•	On April 9, 1940 Hitler sends forces into Denmark; they surender in 24 hours
•	On the same day, attack Norway; capital falls in 2 days
France
•	Expecting attack, from the Maginot Line
* 2,000,000 and fortifications along northern border
•	As in WWI, swing around defenses, attacking Luxembourg, Holland and Belgium on May 10, 1940
* Luxembourg falls in 2 hours
* Holland falls by May 14
* Belgium falls by May 15, 2001
•	German troops move into northern France, driving Allied forces back to Dunkirk on the English Channel
* Heroic 8-day sea rescue by English and their new leade, Winston Churchill, moving 338,000 soldiers across the English Channel to Britain
•	June 10: Mussolini joins the battle, declaring war on France & Britain
•	
France surrenders June 22, 1940
* split into 2 parts
	Germans control norther two-thirds
	Allow french, under their president to set oversee the south. 
	They move their government to the city of Vichy
Great Britain
•	July 1940: Battle of Britain 
* Hitler attacks Great Britain
•	Although British airforce outnumbered 3 to 1 by Hitler, they possess radar and Ultra [a decoding machine] which lets them have enough time to get their planes in the air to resist Nazi attacks
•	British planes even attack germany in August 1940
•	By the end of 1940, Hitler realizes he cannot wipe out the British airforce or the British spirit

Soviet Union
•	After first war failure with overcoming Britain, Hitler turns east
•	First attacks the Balkans in April 1941 
* Yugoslavia falls in 11 days
* Greece: falls in 24 days 
[by the end of the year, Bulgaria, Rumania and Hungary allie with Germany]
•	June 22, 1941, Hitler mounts surprise attack
•	5 months later, Leningrad surrounded
* Hitler tries to starve them out [500,000 die during the winter]
•	Still, USSR refuses to surrender; German troops dig in for the winter