Description
In the first stages of World War II Germany sought to avoid a long and drawn out war. They tried to do so by using a new military tactic known as the blitzkrieg or "lightning war." If executed successfully, blitzkrieg, can result in short military campaigns which ultimately lessens the amount of casualties in war and limits the expenditure of artillery. It involves using fast moving airplanes and tanks, along with massive infantry forces in hopes of taking the enemy by surprise. Then blitzkrieg forces will crush all opposition with overwhelming force. The German forces tried out the new blitzkrieg tactic on Poland in 1939 and the strategy proved to be successful. Henceforth they were able to invade Polish airspace, mercilessly raining bombs and terror on the Poles. The city finally crumbled under the assault and that unleashed World War II.
Articles
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/invasion_poland_01.shtml
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/german-soviet-nonaggression-pact
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-invades-poland
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/sept-1-1939-nazi-germany-invades-poland-startingworld-war-ii/?_php=true&_&_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/25/opinion/l-poland-s-1920-soviet-invasion-planted-seeds-of-hitler-stalin-pact-332590.html?gwh=C78A0D5EF09291E422EB93172D42BB37
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/01/opinion/essay-the-phony-war.html
http://www.history.com/topics/british-history/winston-churchill
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-britain
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/kent/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8754000/8754023.stm
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005679
Primary Source Documents
Maps
Here is a map of the invasion of Poland during 1939. Due to the non aggression pact, Germany and the Soviet Union divided up Poland between themselves. The beige arrows are showing where Germany went in Poland, and the brown arrows show where the Soviet Union went.
The Phony War ended in 1940 when Hitler decided to invade Denmark and Norway in order to be able to attack Britain. The red arrows represent German movement.
The map shows German advancements during 1939-1941. The dark purple land is the Axis nations, the light purple is Axis controlled land, the green land is the Allies, the beige land is neutral, and the red lines are German advancements. This includes advancements such as the invasion of Poland in 1939, the invasion of Norway in 1940, the invasion of France in 1940, etc.
Operation Sea Lion took place in 1940. This was Hitlers plan to invade and bomb Britain. The map shows the route the planes took and where they bombed.
Here is Operation Barbarossa in 1941. This was the beginning of the blitzkrieg invasion. Hitler used Tanks and aircraft to invade the Soviet Union. The blue arrows show Germany's advancements from Poland into Soviet territory.
Videos
Here is an explanation of the Atlantic Charter created by British prime minister and the US president.
This video explains Hitlers Lightning War.
Here is a cool video that shows the first encounter of the British Prime Minister Churchill and the American President Roosevelt and talks about the Atlantic Charter.