Social Studies 10 Lessons 📖

By: Gen L

In partnership with Hyperion University, 2023

Lesson 3: The War in Europe (Part I)

The Cause

  • Sept, 1938: British PM Chamberlain made a deal with Hitler
  • Germany was allowed to take the Sudetenland
  • Hitler promised it was the last territory he sought.
  • March, 1939: Hitler took the rest of Czechoslovakia
  • Britain warned Germany against invading Poland, but Hitler did on 1 Sept.
  • 3 Sept, 1939: Britain & France declare war on Germany

The Divide

  • The Axis Powers
    • Germany
    • Italy
    • Japan (important for later)
  • The Allied Powers
    • France
    • Britain (& Commonwealth)

Blitzkrieg

  • A new military strategy, created by the Germans.
  • Consisted of Aerial Attacks, Mechanized Armour (tanks) and Infantry
  • Attacks were fast and overwhelming, preventing creation of fronts
  • Left opposing forces confused & defeated
  • Germany moved swiftly through Poland

Fall of France (1940)

  • Allied troops gathered, waiting
  • Nothing happened for 7 months, known as the "Phony War"
  • Germany moved North, taking 2 hours to occupy Denmark, 1 month to conquer Norway, next move was West.
  • France built the Maginot Line, strong fortifications on the German border.
  • Unfortunately, "History repeats itself".

1940: France's Downfall

  • Germany fought through the Netherlands & Belgium
  • Allies pushed to English Channel within days
  • Allies surrounded at Dunkirk, a massive evacuation started on 26 May.
  • 28 May, Germans begin bombing Dunkirk.
  • 4 June, Evacuation ended, 340k men escaped to Br.
  • 22 June, France Surrenders (insert joke here)
  • North & West fell to outright control to Nazis
  • Southeast France governed by collaborators (Vichy France)

Part II, 1940

  • Charles DeGaulle (CDG) fled to Britain to lead the resistance (Free French)
  • May, Winston Churchill replaces Chamberlain as British PM

Next Lesson