HIS CH 16-2 WAR IN EUROPE

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Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Austria and Czechoslovakia Fall

On November 5, 1937, Hitler met with his most trusted military advisers for a top-secret briefing. The Third Reich's future, he told them, depended on solving the need for lebensraum . Where would new living space come from? Not from overseas colonies, he declared, but from those nations nearest Germany- Austria and Czechoslovakia . When someone protested that annexing those countries could provoke war, Hitler replied, "Germany's problems can be solved only by means of force, and this is never without risk.

Why was Hitler willing to risk war in 1937?

a.	Germany needed a place to imprison the Jews	c.	Germany needed a buffer zone to protect against Russia
b.	Germany needed more living space	d.	Germany wanted revenge (lebensraum) against its old enemies from World War I

UNION WITH AUSTRIA

Berchtesgaden - Hitler’s Villa	Hitler invited Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg to meet with him at his villa at Berchtesgaden, high in the Bavarian Alps. Austrian chancellor began making polite conversation about the view and the lovely day, For the next few hours, Hitler demanded that Schuschnigg appoint Austrian Nazis to key government posts .

By the end of the meeting, Hitler had bullied Schuschnigg into signing an agreement to bring Austrian Nazis into his government. On returning home, Schuschnigg had second thoughts about the agreement and informed Hitler . Hitler was furious. On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria unopposed, to cheering Austrian people, forcing Schuschnigg to resign . Two days later, Germany announced that its Anschluss, or "union," with Austria was complete . The United States and the rest of the world did nothing.

Hitler was able to annex Austria with ease because most of the Austrian people wanted union with Germany. When Hitler marched into Austria, what did the rest of the world do to oppose him?

a.	they did nothing	c.	appealed to the League of Nations
b.	they protested the action	d.	they threatened Germany with an embargo

Hitler was born in Austria and fought in World War I for Germany. We can infer that Hitler considered Austria to be

a.	a neutral state	c.	a part of Germany
b.	an enemy state	d.	a buffer between Serbia and Germany

BARGAINING FOR THE SUDETENLAND

Hitler enters Czechoslovakia

Hitler then turned to Czechoslovakia . When the Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up at the end of World War I, the Sudetenland, a mountainous region inhabited by 3 million German-speaking people, had been joined to Czechoslovakia . In the spring of 1938, Hitler charged that the Czechs were abusing the Sudeten Germans, and he began massing troops on the Czech border. The American correspondent William Shirer, then stationed in Berlin, wrote in his diary: "The Nazi press [is] full of hysterical headlines. All lies. Some examples : `Women and Children Mowed Down by Czech Armored Cars,' or `Bloody Regime-New Czech Murders of Germans ."'

Early in the crisis, both France and Great Britain promised to protect Czechoslovakia. Then, just when war seemed inevitable, Hitler invited French premier Edouard Daladier and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain to meet with him in Munich. When they arrived, the Fuhrer declared that the Sudetenland would be his "last territorial demand." In their eagerness to avoid war, Daladier and Chamberlain chose to believe him. On September 30, 1938, they signed the Munich Pact, which turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without a shot being fired.

Chamberlain fooled by Hitler

Chamberlain returned home to wildly cheering crowds . Waving a copy of the Munich agreement, he proclaimed: "My friends . . . . there has come back from Germany peace with honor. I believe it is peace in our time." The crowd joyously responded by chanting "Good old Neville" and singing "For he's a jolly good fellow."

These sentiments were not shared by Winston Churchill, Chamberlain's political rival for the leadership of Great Britain. In Churchill's view, by signing the Munich Pact, Daladier and Chamberlain had adopted a shameful policy of appeasement, or giving up principles to pacify an aggressor

As Churchill bluntly put it, "Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They will have war." Nonetheless, the House of Commons approved Chamberlain's policy toward Germany by a vote of 366 to 144. Churchill responded with a warning.

Why were the Germans upset about the Sudetenland situation.

a.	former German territory was given to the country of Czechoslovakia by the Versailles treaty	c.	the Nazi’s thought all German speaking people should be part of Germany
b.	the Germans in the Sudetenland claimed they were being mistreated	d.	all of these are true

What did England and France do about Hitler’s demands regarding Czechoslovakia?

a.	They told Hitler they would go to war if he invaded	c.	They asked Hitler to wait a year before invading
b.	They gave in to Hitler demands. (appeased him)	d.	They told Hitler the Germans in Czechoslovakia should learn to speak Czech.

This person has become a symbol for appeasing dictators because he returned from Germany waving the Munich Agreement signed by Hitler and claimed, “there will be peace in our time”

a.	Edouard Daladier	c.	Winston Churchill
b.	Rudolf Hess	d.	Neville Chamberlain

What was the name of the agreement signed by Hitler, Daladier of France, and Chamberlain of England that allowed Hitler to take the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia?

a.	The white Paper	c.	The Munich Pact
b.	The Treaty of Versailles	d.	The Sudetenland Treaty

What did Winston Churchill have to say about he agreement between Hitler and Chamberlain?

a.	Chamberlain did the right thing.	c.	England should stay out of European affairs because it could lead to war
b.	England will have to go to war because Chamberlain did not stand up to Hitler	d.	Hitler can be trusted but Chamberlain can not

German Offensive Begins

Contrary to his promise at Munich, Hitler was not finished expanding the Third Reich. As dawn broke on March 15, 1939, German troops poured into what remained of Czechoslovakia. At nightfall Hitler gloated, "Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist." After that, the German dictator turned his land-hungry gaze toward Germany's eastern neighbor, Poland.

The Soviet Union paves the way for Germany to invade Poland

Like Czechoslovakia, Poland had a sizable German-speaking population. In the spring of 1939, Hitler began his familiar routine, charging that Germans in Poland were mistreated by the Poles and needed his protection. Some people thought that this time Hitler must be bluffing . After all, an attack on Poland might bring Germany into conflict with the Soviet Union, Poland's eastern neighbor. At the same time, such an attack would most likely provoke a declaration of war from France and Britain-both of whom had promised military aid to Poland . The result would be a two-front war. Fighting on two fronts had exhausted Germany in World War I. Surely, many thought, Hitler would not be foolish enough to repeat that mistake.

Hitler took the chance, though, and his luck held. As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin, despite his deep dislike and distrust of the Nazis, decided he had more to lose than to gain in a war against Germany. On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed a nonaggression pact, in which they agreed not to fight each other. They also signed a second, secret pact, agreeing to divide Poland between them. With the danger of a two-front war eliminated, the fate of Poland was sealed. In this way, the Soviet Union allowed Hitler to invade Poland.

Why was Germany afraid of fighting a two front war in Western and Eastern Europe

a.	Germany was afraid of Poland	c.	Germany had the bad experience of fighting a two front war in World War I
b.	Germany had no air force	d.	Germany had never fought a two front war before

10.

Why did Germany want to invade Poland?

a.	there were many Germans living in Poland because the Versailles treaty took territory away from Germany and gave it to Poland	c.	most of Germany’s concentration camps were in Poland
b.	Poland was a Jewish country	d.	France and England had a treaty with Poland

11.

What event made Germany feel comfortable that it could invade Poland without having to worry about a two front war?

a.	the non-aggression pact with Russia	c.	the non-aggression pact with England
b.	the non-aggression pact with France	d.	the pacifist attitude of the United States

12.

When Germany invaded Poland from the west, what did the Soviet Union do?

a.	nothing	c.	sided with the Poles and threatened Germany
b.	invaded Poland from the east	d.	protested to the League of Nations

13.

What is a two front war?

a.	a war in which you are fighting two different enemies, at different places at the same time	c.	a war that you fight with maps and strategy instead of troops
b.	a war in which you try to keep your enemies in front of you	d.	a war that you fight on land and at sea

BLITZKRIEG IN POLAND

As day broke on September 1, 1939, German warplanes roared over Poland, raining bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities . At the same time, German tanks rumbled across the Polish countryside, spreading terror and confusion. This invasion was the first test of Germany's newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg, or lightning war. The new tactics enabled the Germans to take the enemy by surprise and then quickly crush all opposition with overwhelming force . Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3.

14.

What was the new German military strategy called

a.	lebensraum	c.	tank warfare
b.	blitzkrieg	d.	chemical warfare

15.

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. What did England and France do?

a.	protested to the League of Nations on September 3	c.	declared war on Germany on Sept. 3 1939
b.	requested a peace conference with Hitler	d.	nothing

THE PHONY WAR

For the next few months, an eerie calm settled over Europe . Bored French and British troops on the Maginot Line, a system of fortifications along France's eastern border, sat staring into Germany, waiting for something to happen. Equally bored German troops sitting on the Siegfried Line a few miles away stared back. The blitzkrieg had given way to what the Germans called the sitzkrieg ("sitting war"), and the English called the phony war. To fight the tedium, French officer Denis Barlone made sure that his men were well fed

This deceptive peace was first broken not by Germany but by the Soviet Union. After occupying eastern Poland, Stalin began annexing other regions that the Soviet Union had lost at the end of World War I. The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania fell with little struggle . However, Finland-a country that journalist William Shirer admired as "the most decent and workable little democracy in Europe"-resisted. Late in 1939, Stalin sent his Soviet army into Finland. After three months of fierce winter fighting, the outnumbered Finns surrendered. Shirer wrote in his diary, "Stalin reveals himself of the same stamp as Hitler."

On April 7, 1940, a leading German newspaper announced, "Germany is ready. Eighty million pairs of [German] eyes are turned upon the Fuhrer." Two days later, the rest of the world stared, unbelieving, as Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway. Germany said this action was necessary in order "to protect [those countries] freedom and independence ." Next, the German blitzkrieg was turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. The phony war had suddenly become painfully real.

16.

What did Stalin do after he invaded Russia?

a.	He took over many of the smaller countries on the Soviet border	c.	He turned on Hitler and invaded Germany
b.	He made peace with his neighbors	d.	nothing

17.

What small country held off the entire Soviet army for three months?

a.	Poland	c.	Lithuania
b.	Latvia	d.	Finland

18.

After taking control of Poland, what new country did Hitler attack in 1940?

a.	Denmark	c.	Belgium
b.	Norway	d.	all of these

19.

The French thought that the Maginot Line would protect them from a German invasion such as the invision that happened in World War I. What was the Maginot Line?

a.	An imaginary line between France and Germany that France warned Germany not to cross	c.	A series of forts between England, France and Germany
b.	An earthquake fault between Germany, England and France	d.	A series of forts and fortifications along the border between Germany and France

Britain Fights On While France Surrenders

The Maginot Line

Before the war, France had built the massive fortifications of the Maginot Line on its border with Germany. With the invasion of Belgium, however, Germany threatened to bypass the line. French and British troops were sent north into Belgium . Hitler's generals had anticipated this reaction and sent their tanks slicing through the Ardennes, a region of wooded ravines in northeast France that the Allies thought was impassable.

THE FALL OF FRANCE
Suddenly, the Allied forces in the north were cut off. Outnumbered, outgunned, and pounded from the air, they fled to the beaches of Dunkirk, on the English Channel. In less than a week, a makeshift fleet of fishing trawlers, tugboats, river barges, pleasure craft, and almost anything else that would float ferried about 340,000 Allied troops to safety across the Channel.

Marshal Petain

A few days later, Italy entered the war on the side of Germany and invaded France from the south as the Germans closed in on Paris from the north. On June 17, 1940, Marshal Henri Petain, an aged military commander and World War I hero, told his country, "We must stop fighting." Four days later, at Compiegne, as William Shirer and the rest of the world watched, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender. Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Petain, would be set up at Vichy, in southern France

After France fell, a French general named Charles de Gaulle fled to England, where he set up a government-in-exile . De Gaulle proclaimed defiantly, "France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war."

20.

France built a long line of fortifications that it believed would protect it against a German invasion. What was it called.

a.	the Siegfried Line	c.	the Normandy Beach Fortifications
b.	the Maginot Line	d.	the White Cliffs of Dover

21.

The German generals outflanked the British and French armies and the British found themselves stranded on the beaches of

a.	Norway	c.	Dunkirk
b.	Ardienne	d.	Compiegne

22.

France surrendered to Germany and the French Vichy government became allies of Germany. Who was head of the Vichy government?

a.	Marshall Petain	c.	Winston Churchill
b.	Charles DeGaulle	d.	Adolf Hitler

23.

Which country joined Germany in occupying France

a.	Austria	c.	Finland
b.	Italy	d.	Soviet Union

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

"The final German victory over England is only a matter of time," wrote a German general after the fall of France. In the summer of 1940, the Germans began to assemble an invasion fleet along the French coast. Because its naval power could not compete with that of Britain, however, Germany launched an air war at the same time. The Luftwaffe, or German air force, began making bombing runs over Britain . Its goal was to gain total control of the skies by destroying Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) . Hitler had 2,600 planes at his disposal. On a single day-August 15-1,000 of his planes ranged over Britain . Every night for two solid months, bombers pounded London. The Battle of Britain raged on through the summer and the fall. Night after night, up to a thousand German planes pounded British targets . At first the Luftwaffe concentrated on airfields and aircraft factories. Next it targeted cities .

The RAF fought back brilliantly. With the help of a new technological device called radar-which accurately plotted the flight paths of German planes, even in darkness-British pilots unleashed deadly air strikes against the enemy. On September 15, the RAF shot down 56 German planes. They lost only 26 aircraft . Two days later, the Fuehrer called off the invasion of Britain indefinitely. "Never in the field of human conflict," said Churchill in praise of the RAF pilots, `was so much owed by so many to so few."

24.

What was the British air force called.

a.	Luftwaffe	c.	USAF
b.	RAF	d.	Royal Air

25.

What new technological device helped the British Air Force to hold off the German Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain?

a.	radar	c.	radio
b.	television	d.	code breaking machines

26.

By the end of 1940 all of Europe and North Africa was controlled by the Axis powers. Only one country stood between Germany and total domination of the continent. What was it.

a.	Russia	c.	France
b.	England	d.	Norway

27.

What famous city was bombed in 1940 in the Battle of Britain?

a.	Paris	c.	Moscow
b.	Berlin	d.	London

28.

Most historians agree that war with Germany became inevitable because England and France ________ Hitler and did not stand up to him when he started invading the countries of Europe..

a.	opposed	c.	appeased
b.	overestimated	d.	liked