Topic+A-9+Summarize+events+leading+to+all+out+war+in+Europe

=1. A Futile Attempt at Peace = toc  Adolf Hitler was rising to power in Germany, and had ambitions to annex large amounts of territory to redeem Germany’s humiliating experience during and after World War I. The Nazis were efficient and effective, and the other European nations were rather intimidated. They reacted differently to the threat that Germany posed: some nations, such as Italy or Russia, allied themselves with Germany to prevent such a powerful force from turning against them, while other nations such as Britain and France attempted to prevent military action. The Munich Conference was held in 1938 to consider a peaceful way to assuage Germany’s thirst for dominance. Delegates from Britain, France, Italy, and Germany met to discuss a policy of appeasement that would allow Germany to erase the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, as well as annex Sudetenland. However, this was not enough for Hitler. He invaded and annexed Czechoslovakia in 1939, and then demanded that Poland join him after Mussolini and the Italians took Albania. The Poles refused and turned to the Britain and France for aid. Unfortunately the Western forces did not respond quickly enough; Hitler was utilizing a military method known as lightning warfare, and Poland succumbed quickly.



= **2. Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact** = The world thought that Germany and Russia, the two major powers in Eastern Europe, would not form an alliance. However, Hitler and Stalin created a [|nonaggression pact] that publicly announced peace between the two nations and secretly outlined protocols to split up the territory gained from the annexation of Poland. The treaty was signed on August 23, 1939 by Ribbentrop, a German delegate, and Molotov, the Russian delegate, in Moscow in the presence of Stalin. Stalin had chosen to ignore Great Britain and France's invitations to join forces against the Nazis because he was offended that the Soviet Union had been excluded from the Munich Conference and since he wished to keep peace with the Nazis in his country's best wishes. The USSR military was weak from the purge of the Red Army, and needed time to strengthen. It was not ready to defend Russia from the power of the mighty, disciplined Nazis. Hitler, on the other hand, was more than happy to form an alliance with Russia because it meant that the annexation of many Eastern nations such as Poland would go unobstructed.

= 3. Blitzkrieg and the Soviets = Blitzkrieg, or lightning warfare, was successfully applied in Hitler's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. It utilized planes, tanks, and artillery to launch surprise attacks on the enemy to quickly defeat them. Ironically, Hitler had been introduced to the concept by two British and French officers. He had studied Hans Guderian's pamphlet on Blitzkrieg, "Achtung Panzer", and used it as a foundation on which he broadened Guderian's, the British, and the French ideas to form a successful military strategy that rendered Poland helpless. British and French troops were unable to aid Poland simply because they were too slow. After the annexation of Poland, Stalin made his move. He too desired land, and so the Soviet military captured Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, but struggled with Finland. In 1940, the Finnish winter was brutal, and the Soviets struggled with supplies and Finnish nationalism. Despite these setbacks, the Russians succeeded and Finland finally agreed to Stalin's surrender terms.

= **4. The Phony War** = As tension rose, both sides felt the need to initiate military action. The German attack on the British civilian ship, //the Athenia//, provided the spark that was necessary. A Nazi U-Boat attacked //the Athenia//, claiming that they believed it was a naval vessel because of its zig-zag path, poor lighting, and the information from German intelligence that there were explosives smuggled on board. Britain denied this and Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany. The conflict that followed was disappointingly bland: very little occured, and politicians around the world jested about the lack of action, calling it the "Sitting War", or "Sitzkrieg", a play-on-words on the Nazis' famous "Blitzkrieg", or "Lightning War". However, conflict would slowly escalate. First, the British began performing bomb raids, although the name was not to be taken literally because propaganda pamphlets, not explosives, were ejected from the planes. Sir Kingsley Wood, the British Secretary of War, called them "Truth Raids". The pamphlets had two purposes: to inform the German people of the cruelty of their Nazi government, and to show that their nation was very vulnerable attack. In response to this, the Nazis prepared for battle.

= 5. Works Cited = "The Munich Conference." Web. 06 May 2011. .

Tan, Paige J. "Ideologies." //UNCW Faculty and Staff//. 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 06 May 2011. .

Beck, Roger B. //Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction//. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2006. Print.

"German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact." //Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online//. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 06 May. 2011. < [] >.

"German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (Germany-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [1939]) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." //Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia//. 6 Jan. 2011. Web. 06 May 2011. .

"Phony War." //Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online//. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 06 May. 2011. < [] >.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">"The Phoney War." //History Learning Site//. 2010. Web. 06 May 2011. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/phoney_war.htm>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">"General Logon Page." //Gale Error Page//. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Truman, Chris. "Blitzkrieg." //History Learning Site//. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/blitzkrieg.htm>.

= **6. Picture Citations** = **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'times new roman',times,fantasy; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: normal;">"Munich Comference." //Los Angeles Times//. Web. 13 May 2011. <www.latimesblogs.com/mirror/2008/09/nazis-britain-c.html>. **

"Signing of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Treaty (August 23, 1939)." //GHDI//. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_imglist.cfm?startrow=21⊂_id=196§ion_id=13>.

**<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'times new roman',times,fantasy; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: normal;">"Blitzkrieg." //DesktopRating.com//. Web. 12 May 2011. ** **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'times new roman',times,fantasy; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: normal;"><http://www.desktoprating.com/wallpapers/blitzkrieg-wallpaper.htm>. **

**<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'times new roman',times,fantasy; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: normal;">"The German Army Blitzkrieg." //CyberHobby,com//. Web.12 May 2011. ** **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'times new roman',times,fantasy; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: normal;"><http://www.cyber-hobby.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=389>. **

**<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'times new roman',times,fantasy; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: normal;">"The Phony War." //Gates of Vienna//. Web. 13 May 2011. ** **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'times new roman',times,fantasy; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: normal;">http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2006/05/new-year-comes-with-bombs.html **