The start of World War Two

September 1939 to Spring 1940

Aims of the lesson

In this lesson you will

• Understand what we mean by the term phoney war and describe the events of 1939 and the spring of 1940

• Evaluate the importance of the defeat of France and the invasion of Norway on the course of the war

The phoney war 1939

• By the end of September 1939 Poland had been defeated and ceased to exist

• Britain and France were able to give the Poles no help

• From September 1939 to April 1940 little action in the west – “The phoney war”

• Hitler was aiming to push Britain and France to the negotiating table and did not have the resources to attack them in this period

Britain and France prepare

• Britain and France prepared for war – Britain sent a small force to support the French – the BEF

• Half hearted – French felt protected by the Maginot Line – a line of fortifications on the German border stretching from Belgium to Switzerland

• Dangerous way of thinking – defeatist

The Maginot Line

Norway 1940

• April 1940 – Germany attacked Norway in order to get her hands on her iron ore

• Britain considered invading Norway before but decided against it

• Germany launched a Blitzkrieg against Norway and she was defeated quickly

• This debacle led to the resignation of Chamberlain on the 10th May 1940 and was replaced by Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

The invasion of France 1940

• Blitzkrieg – lightening war – relied on speed and surprise to defeat the opposition

• Used a big attack on a small area in order to overwhelm the French

• Germans simple went around the Maginot line – British and French could not respond to this – spread their forces too thinly

The fall of France 1940

• 10th may 1940 – Germans attacked through the Ardennes forest in Belgium

• Holland fell by the 28th May 1940

• British and French taken by surprise and were in full retreat

• The British got cut off and got trapped in a small pocket near the town of Dunkirk and faced being wiped out