Thread: Events leading up to World War II in Europe

A Summary of World War II in Europe

From: The Battle of Britain

These videos take a while to download however they are quite interesting.

The first more so as it explains how WW2 started.

Below is a 4-part documentary video which gives a good summary of the events leading up to World War II in Europe and also summarizes the events of the war itself. It starts with World War I and its aftermath and ends with the defeat of the Nazis in 1945.

• Part 1: The political and economic chaos in Germany following World War I allow Hitler to slowly rise to power during the 1920s and to become German chancellor in the early 1930s -- (88.5 MB wmv file)
• Part 2: Throughout the 1930s Hitler solidifies his hold on Germany and his aggressive foreign adventurism leads Europe to the brink of war -- (81.2 MB wmv file)
• Part 3: Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939 to begin World War II, and then occupies most of Europe by June of 1940. Unable to occupy Britain during the 'Battle of Britain' in the summer of 1940, Germany then invades the Soviet Union -- (82.5 MB wmv file)
• Part 4: Germany is repelled by the Soviet Union after lengthy battles and the D-day invasion of occupied France pushes Germany back in the west; Germany finally surrenders and the full horror of the Nazi concentration camps is discovered by the outside world -- (89.7 MB wmv file)

In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming bolder. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria, again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began making claims on the Sudetenland; France and Britain conceded these for a promise of no further territorial demands. Germany soon reneged. In March 1939 Germany and Hungary fully occupied Czechoslovakia..Alarmed, and with Hitler making further demands on Danzig, France and Britain guaranteed their support for Polish independence; when Italy conquered Albania in April, the same guarantee was extended to Romania and Greece.The Soviet Union also attempted to ally with France and Britain, but was rebuffed due to western suspicions about Soviet motives and capability. Shortly after the Franco-British pledges to Poland, Germany and Italy formalized their own alliance with the Pact of Steel.The Soviet Union, knowing that France and Britain were unwilling to create a formal military alliance with the USSR and apprehensive that it might mean war with Hitler while the Western powers remained neutral or tacitly favorable to Hitler, signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, including a secret agreement to split Poland and Eastern Europe between them.
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james wilkins

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