9.3A: Europe at War: Blitzkrieg-TEACH-

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• Leerjaar 3

AGE 9. The Time of World Wars

9.3A. Europe at War: Blitzkrieg

Four questions you must answer when you analyze a cartoon:

1. What do you see? (elements & labels)
   
2. What do the elements symbolise?
3. What is the artist's message?
4. What is the artist's POV (point of view)?

• There is a lot of symbolism in this cartoon. 
• You see something (an element of the cartoon), but it symbolises something different.

• Let's look at some elements.
• One answer per group please.

You see a bird with a branch in its beak.
What does this symbolise?

one word

You see a long line of soldiers, standing straight.

What does this symbolise?

You see Hitler's face. Lines and a cloud are
coming out of his mouth.
What do the lines mean?

You see the barrel of a cannon.
What does the cannon symbolise?

one word

What is the artist's message?

What is the artist's POV (point of view)?

1. pro Hitler / Nazis
2. anti Hitler / Nazis

  Oct. 1938: Munich Conference

Britain

France

Germany

Italy

Why?

• Hitler's lebensraum
• Annexation of the Sudetenland (part of modern day Czechoslovakia
• Lebensraum? 

  Chamberlain: "Peace in our time"

 March 1939: German army occupies 

 the rest of Czechoslovakia.

  no more Appeasement 

Homework for next week:

Read the text 'The start of World War 2' and 'Blitzkrieg in the West'

Explain in max. 200 words what a blitzkrieg is.

What is a Blitzkrieg?

 Hitler's next target: Poland

 What is the political situation on the eve of World War 2?

Chamberlain

• knows appeasement did not work
• does not trust Hitler anymore
• has assured Poland that Britain will help if Hitler attacks
• does not trust Stalin either, but considers an alliance with the S.U. to weaken Hitler

Stalin

• does not trust Hitler
  
• does not trust Britain and France either
  
• is not ready for a war (purged his own generals)
• does not have allies

Hitler

• believes Britain and France won't stop him, but is not sure about the USSR (Stalin)
• wants to take over Poland
• but wants to avoid a two front war

Aug 1939

• Hitler and Stalin make a DEAL:
• the NAZI-SOVIET Pact

(a non-agression pact)

• The world is shocked.

WHY?

Stalin:

• Needs time to reorganise his army.
• Does not trust Britain and France.

Hitler:

• Wants to avoid a two front war.
• Now he has his hands free to invade Poland.

 a secret clause of the Pact: 

Germany and the S.U. will divide Poland between them.

 1939

Sept 1

German invasion Poland

Sept 3

Britain and France declare war on Germany

Start WW2

Sept 17

Soviet Union occupies eastern Poland

Aug 23

Nazi-Soviet pact

Blitzkrieg in the West

• Hitler wanted to conquer Western Europe first to force England and France into a peace and he was successful > A new type of warfare
• A Blitzkrieg (lightning war) relied on mobility and powerful, surprise attacks.
• They used tanks and armoured trucks, supported by aircrafts, were used to break through enemy defence lines > opponents could not respond to the German pace

• France’s strategy was defensive and relied on the Maginot Line: a ‘supertrench’ to defend its border. As a result, France was unable to attack Hitler.

The Maginot Line today: a monument, museum and tourist attraction.

0

April 12th: invasion of Denmark and Norway

May 10th: invasion of Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg

Hitler was now able to concentrate completely on France. Unlike the First World War, the French were unable to resist the German Blitzkrieg. 

June 1940: France capitulates 

After the French capitulation Hitler visited Paris. Here he poses in front of the Eifel Tower.

Left: Albert Speer, Hitler's architect. Note the film cameraman (bottom right), filming for the propaganda newsreel.

Victory parade: German troops march along the Arc the Triomph in Paris.

 1940

(German blitzkrieg)

May 10

Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France

Jun 22

France capitulates

Apr 12

Denmark and Norway

Span of 3 months

Homework for tomorrow:

Read the text 'Britain takes a stand'

Britain takes a stand

In May 1940, Winston Churchill succeeded Chamberlain as Prime Minister. Churchill had opposed appeasement from the start and refused every offer of peace from the Germans. To prepare for war, conscription had been introduced in 1939.

In Britain, many people, especially children and women, were evacuated to the countryside, because bombing of cities was anticipated. Gas masks were distributed and at night there was total blackout: windows had to be covered so no light came from houses to prevent enemy aircraft locating cities or industrial centres to bomb.

Hitler wanted to invade Britain, but knew that the British navy was strong. This is why he wanted to force Britain to surrender by bombing its cities; to do this, he needed to destroy the British Royal Air Force (RAF), so German bombers could operate unopposed. In the summer of 1940, the air war called the Battle of Britain started. 

Londoners sheltering on a station on the underground railway during ‘the Blitz’. London was bombed on 76 consecutive nights between July 1940 and May 1941.

World War 2

Summer 1940 

• Battle of Britain 

The Battle of Britain

At first the German Luftwaffe dominated: hundreds of RAF planes were shot down and it was hard for the British to train enough new pilots to replace those killed in air fights. But the RAF held out and Britain survived. British aircraft then bombed Germany until the end of the war.

modern painting of British spitfires.

The British airforce was known as the RAF (Royal Air Force) while the German airforce is known as the "Luftwaffe".

London was hit hard by German bombs during what the British call: "The Blitz"

RAF pilots posing for the camera before going on a mission

The Germans used special typewriters called enigma machines to send code messages. They did not know however, that the British were able to decipher their codes. Because of this, British cities could sometimes be evacuated in time if the Germans planned to bomb them.

Source C

In the car: Hitler and his cronies. The roadsign: CCCP is the Soviet Union.

Source B

The Battle of Britain

At first the German Luftwaffe dominated: hundreds of RAF planes were shot down and it was hard for the British to train enough new pilots to replace those killed in air fights. But the RAF held out and Britain survived. British aircraft then bombed Germany until the end of the war.

modern painting of British spitfires.

The British airforce was known as the RAF (Royal Air Force) while the German airforce is known as the "Luftwaffe".

London was hit hard by German bombs during what the British call: "The Blitz"

RAF pilots posing for the camera before going on a mission

The Germans used special typewriters called enigma machines to send code messages. They did not know however, that the British were able to decipher their codes. Because of this, British cities could sometimes be evacuated in time if the Germans planned to bomb them.

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