RISE OF FORTRESS EUROPE17 May 2010

THE AXIS FORMS

• 1936: Japan and Germany conclude the Anti-Comintern Pact– Later expanded to include Italy

• 1940: Anti-Comintern Pact replaced with full-scale political and military alliance– Officially called the Tripartite Pact, referred in

short as the Axis Pact

German Military Actions

• 1934: German militarism– Producing tanks and aircraft– Proposed 500,000 man army– Institute draft

• 1936: Reoccupy Rhineland• 1938: Austrian Anschluss• 1938: Sudetenland

– Appeasement

Military Actions (cont’d)

• 1939: Invade Czechoslovakia• 1939 (August): Non-Aggression Pact

– Signed between Soviet Union and Germany– Pledge not to attack one another– Form a secret pact: split Poland

• 1939 (Sept. 1): Blitzkrieg of Poland begins• 1939 (Sept. 3): Great Britain and France

declare war on Germany

FALL OF FRANCE

• Early Tactics of the French– Remain of defensive while mobilizing military and

industry– Offensive after 2 – 3 years– Rely on Maginot Line

• Hitler’s Plan– Defeat Poland then quickly attack west– Held up: bad weather and plane crash

“Thank God for the French Army” – Winston Churchill

Defeat of France

• Maginot Line too defensible for direct attack– Primary Attack: through Ardennes

Forest– Secondary Attack: Belgium and Holland

• Fall of France

Evacuation of Dunkirk

• 340,000 Allied troops evacuated between May 28 and June 4 after all other escape routes had been cut off

Legacy of French Defeat

• Puppet gov’t established– In collaboration with Germany

• De Gaulle forms army and gov’t while in exile

• Britain now stands alone

Hitler/ Effiel Tower