Treaty Of Versailles & Background Of Wwii

Growth of Dictatorship

The Final Stage  

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During 1917, French and British military leaders still hoped a successful offensive could win the war. But German leaders accepted the deadlock on the Western Front and improved their defenses. In March 1917, German troops were moved back to a strongly fortified new battle line in northern France. It was called the Siegfried Line by the Germans and the Hindenburg Line by the Allies. General Robert Nivelle's offensive opened on April 16,1917. By the end of the day, it was clear that the assault had failed, but the fighting continued into May. Petain replaced Nivelle in May 1917. Petain improved soldier's living conditions and restored order. He promised France would be on the defensive until it was ready to fight again. Meanwhile, it was up to the British to hold back any further offensives on the Western Front. General Haig was hopeful that a British offensive near Ypres would lead to victory.

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For three months, British and French troops pounded the Germans in an especially terrible campaign. Heavy Allied bombardment before the infantry attacked began had destroyed the drainage system around Ypres.  Drenching rains then turned the waterlogged land into a swamp were thousands of British soldiers drowned. Snow and ice finally halted the disastrous battle on November 10. In late November, Britain used tanks to bread through the Siegfried Line.  But the failure at Ypres had used up the troops Britain needed to follow up that success. In 1917, first France and then Britain saw their hopes of victory shattered.  Austria-Hungary drove the Italians out of its territory in the Battle of Caporetto in the fall and revolution in Russia made the Allied situation seem even more hopeless.

The United States Enter the War 

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At the start of the war, President Wilson had declared the neutrality of the United States. Most Americans opposed US involvement in the European war. But the sinking of the Lusitania and other German actions against civilians drew America sympathies to the Allies. German military leaders believed that they could still win the war by cutting off British supplies. They expected their U-boats to starve Britain into surrendering within a few months, longer before the US had fully prepared for war. Tension between the US and Germany increased after the British intercepted and decoded a message from Germany's foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, the German ambassador to Mexico. The message known as the "Zimmermann note", revealed a German plot to persuade Mexico to go to war against the United States. The British gave the message to Wilson, and it was published in the US early in March. Americans were further enraged after U-boats sank several US cargo ships.

The last campaigns 

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The end of the war on the Eastern Front boosted German hopes for victory. By early 1918 German forces outnumbered the Allies on the Western Front. In Spring, Germany staged three offensives. By March 26, British troops had retreated about 30 miles. In late March, the Germans began to bombard Paris with "Big Berthas". The enormous guns hurled shells up to 75 miles. In April, after the disaster at St-Quentin, Allied leaders appointed General Ferdinand Foch for France to the supreme commander of the Allied forces on the Western Front. A second German offensive began on April 9 along the Lys River in Belgium. British troops fought stubbornly, and Ludendorff called off the attack on April 30. Germany attacked a third time on May 27 near the Aisne River. By May 30, German troops had reached the Marne River.

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US troops drove the Germans out of Belleau Wood, a forested area near the Marne. On July 15 German troops crossed the Marne.  On July 18 Foch ordered a counterattack near the town of Soissons. The turning point in World War 1 was the Second Battle of Marne. This battle was fought from July 15 through August 6, 1918. After winning the battle, the Allies advanced steadily. On August 8, Britain and France attacked the Germans near Amiens.  By early September, Germany had lost all the territory it had gained since spring.  The last offensive of World War 1 began on September 26, 1918. Almost 900000 US troops participated in heavy fighting between the Argonne Forrest and the Meuse River. Ludendorff realized that Germany could no longer overcome the superior strength of the Allies.

The fighting ends 

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The Allies won victories on all fronts in the fall of 1918. Bulgaria forces under the command of General Edmund Allenby triumphed over the Ottoman army in Palestine and Syria. On October 30, the Ottoman Empire signed an armistice. The last major battle between Italy and AustriaHungary began in late October in Italy. Italy defeated Austria-Hungary near the town of Vittorio Veneto with the help of France and Great Britain. AustriaHungary signed an armistice on November 3. Germany teetered on the edge of collapse as the war continued through October. Britain’s naval blockade had nearly starved German people and widespread discontent led to riots and rising demands for peace.

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the early morning on November 11,1918, the Germans accepted the armistice terms demanded by the Allies.  Germany agreed to evacuate the territories it had taken during the war; to surrender larger numbers of arms; and other war materials; and to allow Allied powers to occupy German territory along the Rhine River.  Foch ordered the fighting to stop on the Western Front at 11 am. World War 1 was over.

Signing the Treaty of Versailles, 1919 

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The Paris Peace Conference began on January 18, 1919, with 21 nations in attendance. The representatives of Germany and the other defeated Central Powers were not allowed to sit at the conference table. The "Big Four" - President Wilson of the United States, Prime Minister Lloyd George of Great Britain, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France and Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando of Italy dominated the conference and made the important decisions. Wilson pushed for inclusion of his Fourteen Points especially the League of Nations. Many of his proposals, however, clashed with the secret treaties and territorial rearrangements already made by the other three European powers. The three European leaders found it difficult to hide their contempt for what they saw as Wilson's naivete and superior attitude.

Treaty of Versailles, 1919 The Treaty of Versailles includes 440 articles. The principal items are:    

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Germany has to cede Alsace-Lorraine to France. Germany has to cede the coal mines in the Saar-area to France. Germany has to cede an area with Moresnet, Eupen, Malmédy and St. Vith to Belgium. Germany has to cede the main part of West-Prussia and almost the whole province of Posen to the new state of Poland. Germany has to cede all colonies: Togo en Cameroun, the territories in East- and South-West Africa, islands in the Pacific and possesions in China. All German properties in foreign countries are confiscated. Germany has to cede all war material to the allies. German compulsory military service is abolished, as well as the General Staff

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Germany is not allowed to have tanks, airplanes, submarines, large warships and poison gas. During 15 years Germany is not allowed to station troops on the left border of the river Rhine and in a 50 km strip on the right border of the Rhine. The total size of the Germany army is not to exceed 100.000 men. The German navy has a maximum of 15.000 men. Germany is allowed a total of 4.000 officers. Germany is not to take part in the League of Nations. Austria has to cede South-Tirol to Italy. Turkye has to cede all foreign possesions. England gets Iraq, Palestine and Trans-Jordan, France gets Syria and Libanon.

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Germany has to cede to the allies all seagoing ships with a carrying capacity exceeding 1600 Brt, plus half of all ships between 1000 and 1600 Brt.  Furthermore one fourth of the fishing fleet and two fifths of the inland navigation fleet has to be ceded.  Germany has to cede large amounts of machinery and building materials, trains and trucks.  Germany has to deliver certain amounts of coal, chemicals, dye and fuel for many years.  All German sub ocean telegraph cables are confiscated.  Germany has to pay 20 billion gold marks.

Before you jump to conclusions: Note 1:  The reparations were progressively reduced by the Dawes (1924) and Young (1929) Plans. In 1932 they were forgiven completely. By that time the damage had been done: 1. Destruction of the German currency and economy what was left after the war anyway -, and 2. Destruction of the nation's political stability that allowed major riots and street battles between Communists, Nazis and others, leading to the successful grab for power by Adolf Hitler. Note 2:  The terms imposed on Germany at Versailles were much more mild than those Germany had imposed on Russia (the Brest-Litovsk treaty, summer 1918), or those that Germany planned to impose on the Western Allies if she had won the war - including, among other things, the subjugation of Belgium, innocent victim of German aggression in 1914.

Note 3:  Had the Versailles Treaty been applied as envisioned Germany would not have been rearming in 1932.  The fact that Germany did rearm was not a problem brought about by the Treaty. In the end, Versailles became a dog's dinner.  It neither crushed Germany enough to stop her rise again, yet it was still able to humiliate her.

Wilson had devised a 14 point plan that he believed would bring stability to Europe    

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Open Diplomacy - There should be no secret treaties between powers Freedom of Navigation - Seas should be free in both peace and war Free Trade - The barriers to trade between countries such as custom duties should be removed Multilateral Disarmament - All countries should reduce their armed forces to the lowest possible levels Colonies - People in European colonies should have a say in their future

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Russia - Russia should be allowed to operate whatever government it wanted and that government should be accepted, supported and welcomed.  Belgium - Belgium should be evacuated and restored to the situation before the war.  France - should have Alsace-Lorraine and any lands taken away during the war restored.  Italy - The Italian border should be readjusted according to nationality  National Self -Determination - The national groups in Europe should, wherever possible, be given their independence.

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Romania, Montenegro and Serbia - Should be evacuated and Serbia should have an outlet to the sea  Turkey - The people of Turkey should have a say in their future  Poland - Poland should become an independent state with an outlet to the sea.  League of Nations - An assembly of all nations should be formed to protect world peace in the future.  Germany expected a treaty based on these fourteen points. However, negotiations between the 'big four' Lloyd George of England, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France and Woodrow Wilson of America did not go smoothly.

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Wilson believed that his fourteen points was the only way to secure everlasting peace.  The French however, wanted the defeated nations to be punished severely and believed Wilson's plan too lenient.  Privately Lloyd George sided with Wilson although he was concerned about the threat from Communism, however, the British public, like Clemenceau, wanted Germany punished severely.  Lloyd George knew that if he sided with Wilson he would lose the next election.

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prolonged discussion agreement was eventually reached. The Germans were summoned to Versailles to sign the treaty on 28th June 1919.  The final treaty bore little resemblance to Wilson's fourteen points:  Although Germany was not happy with the Treaty they had little choice but to sign. This cartoon clearly shows the situation Germany was in.

General Clauses  The establishment of the League of Nations War Guilt clause - Germany to accept blame for starting the war. Financial Clauses  Reparations - Germany was to pay for the damage caused by the war. The figure of £6,600 million was set some time after the signing of the treaty. Military Clauses  Army - was to be reduced to 100,000 men and no tanks were allowed Navy - Germany was only allowed 6 ships and no submarines Air force - Germany was not allowed an air force Rhineland - The Rhineland area was to be kept free of German military personnel and weapons Territorial Clauses  Anschluss - Germany was not allowed to unite with Austria. Land - Germany lost land to a number of other countries. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France, Eupen and Malmedy were given to Belgium, North Schleswig was given to Denmark. Land was also taken from Germany and given to Czechoslovakia and Poland. The League of Nations took control of Germany's colonies

World War II 

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The failure to force the German General Staff to admit defeat would have a huge impact on the future of Germany. Although the army was later reduced in size, its impact would be felt after the war as a political force dedicated to German nationalism, not democracy. The German General Staff also would support the false idea that the army had not been defeated on the battlefield, but could have fought on to victory, except for being betrayed at home, the infamous 'Stab in the Back' theory. This 'Stab in the Back' theory would become hugely popular among many Germans who found it impossible to swallow defeat. During the war, Adolf Hitler became obsessed with this idea, especially laying blame on Jews and Marxists in Germany for undermining the war effort. To Hitler, and so many others, the German politicians who signed the armistice on November 11, 1918, would become known as the 'November Criminals.'

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The terms of the Treaty of Versailles imposed upon Germany at the end World War I sowed the seeds of World War 2 by stripping Germany of territory and requiring her to pay huge reparations to the victorious powers.  The demands in Germany for vengeance were given added stimulus when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in January 1933.  By early 1939 Germany had thrown off the shackles of the Versailles treaty, remilitarized the Rhineland introduced conscription, annexed Austria and occupied Czechoslovakia. The seeds of war were almost ripe!

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Germany was now a republic, a form of government (democracy) the Germans historically had little experience or interest in. With the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm and the collapse of the Hohenzollern Monarchy, the German Empire founded by Bismarck in 1871 (The Second Reich) had come to an end.  But Germany was also a nation in political and social chaos. In Berlin and Munich, left-wing Marxist groups proclaimed Russian-like revolutions, only to meet violent opposition from right-wing nationalist Freikorps (small armies of ex-soldiers for hire) along with regular Army troops.

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Amid this political turmoil, on June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed by the victorious Allies and was then dutifully ratified by the German democratic government. Under the terms of the treaty, Germany alone was forced to accept responsibility for causing the war and had to pay huge war reparations for all the damage. Germany also had to give up land to France and Poland. The German Army was limited to 100,000 men and was forbidden to have submarines or military aircraft. The treaty had the effect of humiliating the German nation before the world. This would lead to a passionate desire in many Germans, including Adolf Hitler, to see their nation throw off the "shackles" of the treaty and once again take its place in the world - the "rebirth" of Germany through a strong nationalist government. In years to come, Hitler would speak out endlessly against the treaty and gain much support. In addition, he would rail against the 'November Criminals' and 'Jewish Marxists.'

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In the summer of 1919, Adolf Hitler was still in the army and was stationed in Munich where he had become an informer. Corporal Hitler had named soldiers in his barracks that supported the Marxist uprisings in Munich, resulting in their arrest and executions. Hitler then became one of many undercover agents in the German Army weeding out Marxist influence within the ranks and investigating subversive political organizations. Hitler's anti-Semitic outbursts impressed his superiors including his mentor, Captain Karl Mayr (who later died in Buchenwald). In August 1919, Hitler was given the job of lecturing returning German prisoners of war on the dangers of Communism and pacifism, as well as democracy and disobedience. He also delivered tirades against the Jews that were well received by the weary soldiers who were looking for someone to blame for all their misfortunes. An Army report on Hitler referred to him as "a born orator."

Nazi Party is Formed 

Please write an 300 words essay on how the Nazi party was formed and how Hitler became it’s Leader.

The Locarno Treaties 

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The Locarno Treaties were signed in December 1925. The major politicians of Europe met in neutral Switzerland. The following was agreed to : France, Germany and Belgium agreed to accept their borders as were stated in the Treaty of Versailles. France and Belgium would never repeat an invasion of the Ruhr and Germany would never attack Belgium or France again. Britain and Italy agreed to police this part of the treaties. Germany also accepted that the Rhineland must remain demilitarised. In other treaties, France promised to protect Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia if Germany attacked any one of them. Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia all agreed that they would never fight if they had an argument between themselves - they would allow the League to sort out the problem.

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The other major treaty which seemed to herald in an era of world peace was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928. This pact was signed by 65 countries. All 65 nations agreed never to use war again as a way of solving disputes. Therefore, Europe was effectively lulled into a false sense of security by 1929 as the politicians of Europe had made it plain that war was no longer an option in solving disputes and that previous enemies were now friends. This new Europe relied on nations being at peace and harmony with one another. The stability of Germany was shattered by the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and the nationalists who had spent 1925 to 1929 in relative obscurity, rose to the political surface once again. They had no intention of accepting either Versailles or the Locarno treaties and the League’s weaknesses in this decade had also become apparent. The League could only function successfully, if the politicians of Europe allowed it to do so. Hitler and the Nazis were never going to give the League a chance once they had gained power.

The Road to War The actual war in Europe itself began with a series of events:  Germany took Austria (1938) and the Sudtenland (1938)  The Munich Pact was created (1938) with England and France agreeing to allow Hitler to keep the Sudtenland as long as no further expansion occurred.  Hitler and Mussolini created the Rome-Berlin Axis military alliance to last 10 years (1939)  Japan entered an alliance with Germany and Italy (1939)  The Moscow-Berlin Pact occurred promising nonaggression between the two powers (1939)  Hitler invaded Poland (1939)  England and France declared war on Germany (September 30, 1939).

The Outbreak of War 

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During March 1938 German troops had occupied Austria, incorporating it into the Reich. In September Hitler announced that the "oppression" of ethnic Germans living in Czechoslovakia was intolerable and that war was near. England and France met with Hitler (the Munich Pact) and compelled Czechoslovakia to cede its frontier districts to Germany in order to secure "peace in our time." Peace, however, was only an illusion. During March 1939 Hitler seized the rest of Czechoslovakia by force of arms and then turned his attention to Poland. Although Britain and France had guaranteed the integrity of Poland, Hitler and Josef Stalin, dictator of the Soviet Union, signed a secret, mutual nonaggression pact in August 1939. With the pact Stalin bought time to build up his strength at the expense of Britain and France, and Hitler gained a free hand to deal with Poland. When Hitler's army invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, World War II began.

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While German forces overran western Poland, Soviet troops entered from the east to claim their portion of that country. France and Britain declared war on Germany and mobilized their forces. The subsequent period of deceptive inactivity, lasting until spring, became known as the Phony War. Nothing happened to indicate that World War II would differ significantly in style or tempo from World War I. The Phoney War had far reaching political consequences for Britain.

Neville Chamberlain had returned a hero as the man who had averted war at the last minute. Now in 1939, with war declared, his star shone less brightly.

Chamberlain after the Munich Conference  On

September 28th 1939, Chamberlain gave a speech on the war that was considered dull, boring and full of platitudes. It was greeted with apathy.  Then Winston Churchill rose to give a speech. As he had joined the government three weeks earlier, this was done with Chamberlain's knowledge and blessing.

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am entitled to say that so far as they go these figures need not cause any undue despondency or alarm....we have in fact got more supplies in this country this afternoon than we would have if no war had been declared and no U-boats had come into action. It is not going beyond the limits of prudent statement to say that at any rate it will take a long time to starve us out."

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September 1st:Germany invaded Poland. First use of Blitzkrieg. Britain and France gave Germany an ultimatum to get out. Blackout and evacuation plans were put in place in Britain. September 2ndChamberlain sent Hitler an ultimatum: withdraw German troops from Poland or war will be declared. The Luftwaffe gained air superiority over the Polish air force. September 3rdGermany ignored the ultimatum and Britain and France declared war on Germany. British troops (the BEF) were sent to France. The passenger liner "Athenia" was sunk by U-30 off of Ireland. 112 of the passengers were killed. September 4thThe RAF raided German warships based in the Heligoland Bight.

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September 6thSouth Africa declared war on Germany; Egypt broke off relations with Germany, September 9thThe IV Panzer Division reached Warsaw.September 17thRussia's Red Army attacked Poland from the east. September 24th1,150 German aircraft bombed WarsawSeptember 26thThe Luftwaffe attacked the Royal Navy at Scapa Flow. September 27thPoland surrendered to Germany. October 6thLast Polish troops ceased fighting. Hitler launched his "Peace Offensive" but this was rejected by Neville ChamberlainOctober 14th'HMS Royal Oak' is torpedoed at Scapa Flow by U-47 November 30thRussia's Red Army invaded Finland the Winter War December 13thThe Battle of the River Plate was fought. December 14thRussia expelled from the League of Nation

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In the spring of 1940 their theories were put to the test as German forces struck against Norway and Denmark in April; invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg in May; and late in the same month broke through a hilly, wooded district in France. Their columns sliced through to the English Channel, cutting off British and French troops in northern France and Belgium. The French Army, plagued by low morale, divided command, and primitive communications, fell apart. The British evacuated their forces from Dunkerque with the loss of most of their equipment. The Germans entered Paris on 14 June, and the French government, defeatist and deeply divided politically, sued for an armistice. The success of the German Blitzkrieg forced the remaining combatants to rethink their doctrine and restructure their armies.

Blitzkrieg 

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what is it ?

Blitzkrieg means "lightening war". Blitzkrieg was first used by the Germans in World War Two and was a tactic based on speed and surprise and needed a military force to be based around light tank units supported by planes and infantry (foot soldiers). The tactic was developed in Germany by an army officer called Hans Guderian. He had written a military pamphlet called "Achtung Panzer" which got into the hands of Hitler. As a tactic it was used to devastating effect in the first years of World War Two and resulted in the British and French armies being pushed back in just a few weeks to the beaches of Dunkirk and the Russian army being devastated in the attack on Russia in June 1941.

A British view on Blitzkrieg

A British view on Blitzkrieg

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Blitzkrieg was based on speed, co-ordination and movement. It was designed to hit hard and move on instantly. Its aim was to create panic amongst the civilian population. A civil population on the move can be absolute havoc for a defending army trying to get its forces to the war front. Doubt, confusion and rumour were sure to paralyse both the government and the defending military. Once a strategic target had been selected, Stuka dive bombers were sent in to ‘soften’ up the enemy, destroy all rail lines, communication centres and major rail links. This was done as the German tanks were approaching and the planes withdrew only at the last minute so that the enemy did not have time to recover their senses when the tanks attacked supported by infantry.

How effective was Blitzkrieg? 

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In 1941, a diary kept by an unknown French soldier was found. In it are some interesting comments that help us understand why this tactic was so successful:

"When the dive-bombers come down, they (the French) stood it for two hours and then ran with their hands over their ears." "Sedan fell as a result of a bombardment……….it was a superb example of military surprise." "The pace is too fast……it’s the co-operation between the divebombers and the tanks that is winning the war for Germany." "News that the Germans are in Amiens………this is like some ridiculous nightmare.“ 

All the above were written in a period of just 5 days : May 15th 1940 to May 19th 1940.

Why were the armies of Europe caught so badly prepared by this tactic?  

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Hitler had given his full backing to Guderian. Ironically, he had got his idea for Blitzkrieg from two officers - one from France and one from Britain and he had copied and broadened what they had put on paper. In Britain and France, the cavalry regiments ruled supreme and they were adamant that the tanks would not get any influence in their armies. The High Commands of both countries were dominated by the old traditional cavalry regiments and their political pull was great. These were the type of officers despised by Hitler and he took to his Panzer officer, Guderian, over the old officers that were in the German Army (the Wehrmacht).

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In 1940, Britain and France still had a World War One mentality. What tanks they had were poor compared to the German Panzers.  British and French tactics were outdated and Britain still had the mentality that as an island we were safe as our navy would protect us. Nazi Germany, if it was to fulfill Hitler's wishes, had to have a modern military tactic if it was to conquer Europe and give to Germany the 'living space' that Hitler deemed was necessary for the Third Reich.  It was used to devastating effect in Poland, western Europe where the Allies were pushed back to the beaches of Dunkirk and in the attack on Russia - Operation Barbarossa.

The Attack on Poland

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Poland was attacked by Germany on September 1st 1939. The German attack was code-named Operation White (Fall Weiss). The attack on Poland started at 04.45 hours when blitzkrieg tore through the Polish military and by the end of the month Poland had surrendered to the Germans and the country was occupied.

How did Germany achieve such an overwhelming victory? 

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While the German Army had been developing new tactics and building new fighting vehicles to implement these tactics, the Polish Army, like many others in Europe, had stayed with a World War One mentality. A comparison of both armed forces clearly indicates the problems faced by Poland. Germany had 11 tank divisions compared to Poland’s 1; Germany had 40 infantry divisions compared to Poland’s 30; Germany four motorised divisions compared to none in Poland; Germany had one cavalry brigade compared to Poland’s eleven, some of who can be seen below.

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In terms of air power, the Germans had 850 bombers and dive-bombers (the JU-87) and 400 fighters. The Polish Air Force numbered 210 bombers and 150 fighters – though many of these were obsolete and clearly no match for the modern Luftwaffe that destroyed the Polish Air Force within two days of the first attack. The Polish Navy consisted of four destroyers, five submarines, two gunboats, a mine-layer and six mine sweepers – which meant that any German attack from the sea could not be repulsed. Despite the terms of Versailles, Germany had built a modern navy that totally outclassed the Polish Navy. Such a massive superiority of modern weaponry could only lead to one result – a swift and decisive victory for the Germans. General von Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, said so.

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One of the main concerns of those in charge, other than whether a mechanised attack would work, was that the German army was attacking in the north and south of Poland – but with very little in the middle to oppose any Polish counter-attack. There was a 185 mile gap between the German VIII Army based in the south in Silesia and the German IV Army in the north based in Pomerania. To ease this problem, the Germans put all their faith in a lightening attack that would a) militarily hammer the Poles and b) create such chaos in Poland that any form of a unified Polish attack simply would not occur. For the Germans, speed and success went together. By rolling back the Poles, the Germans assumed that they would always be advancing and any Polish unit would simply fall back in disarray even if it was not directly involved in a battle – such was the chaos and breakdown in command the Germans hoped to achieve.

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If the Poles were going to counter an attack, this has to be done before either German army group had advanced far into Poland. Both army groups had Warsaw as their target. As they both advanced, the 185 mile gap between them got smaller and smaller; the nearer both army groups got to each other, the more formidable they became. The Poles had placed great value on the River Vistula to act as a natural barrier to any form of military advance. The Germans crossed the river on Day 5 of the attack. By this time, the Polish air force had been defeated and this had stripped the Polish Army of any form of air cover – it also meant that the Poles were easy targets for the Luftwaffe which was free to operate in Poland after September 2nd.

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When the Russians invaded eastern Poland on September 17th, the defeat of Poland was sealed. On September 24th, Warsaw was bombed by 1,150 German aircraft. On September 27th, Warsaw surrendered. The last Polish troops to surrender did so on October 6th.  No-one doubts that the Polish military put up a brave fight but they were the first army to feel the full might of blitzkrieg – a tactic that was to push the British and French armies back to Dunkirk in 1940. Tanks versus a primarily nonmechanised army could only lead to one result.

According to the man credited with developing Germany’s blitzkrieg, Heinz Guderian, even Hitler was taken aback by its success. 

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“On September 5th our corps had a surprise visit from Adolf Hitler. I met him near Plevno on the Tuchel-Schwetz road, got into his car, and drove with him along the line of our previous advance. We passed the destroyed Polish artillery, went through the Schwetz, and then, following closely behind our encircling troops, drove to Graudenz, where he stopped and gazed for some time at the blown bridges over the Vistula. At the sight of the smashed artillery regiment, Hitler had asked me: “Our dive-bombers did that?” When I replied, “No, our Panzers!”, he was clearly astonished.” Heinz Guderian

The invasion of Norway 1940  Norway

was invaded by Nazi Germany on April 9th 1940. Hitler had issued the order for the invasion of Norway on March 1st under the code word “Weserübung”. The order also included the invasion and occupation of Denmark. It was the start of war in Western Europe and an end to the 'Phoney War'.

Why was Hitler interested in Norway?  Control

of Norway’s extensive coastline would have been very important in the battle for control of the North Sea and easing the passage of German warships and submarines into the Atlantic.  The control of Norway would also aid Germany’s ability to import iron ore from Sweden.

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the start of the war, Germany imported about 10 million tons of iron ore from Sweden. Therefore it was important for Germany’s war effort.  Nine million tons of this came from north Sweden via the port of Luleå. However, this port freezes over for the winter months and the Norwegian port of Narvik does not.  Therefore control of Narvik, in the north of Norway, would have been very important to the Germans in easing the movement of iron ore to Germany

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Once the invasion of Poland had ended, senior German military commanders turned their thoughts to Scandinavia and the rest of Western Europe.  Senior Wehrmacht officers believed the same as Raeder – that the men needed for an invasion of Norway simply were not available.  However, on October 10th, Canaris, head of military intelligence, had informed Raeder of Britain’s interest in Norway.  Raeder passed this information to Hitler who on the same day issued his order for an early attack on Western Europe.

In mid-February 1940, the ‘Altmark’ incident occurred. The ‘Altmark’ was a supply ship for the scuttled pocket-battleship ‘Graf Spee’, sunk at the River Plate in December 1939.  The ‘Altmark’ was returning to Germany and as a naval auxiliary ship she could legally claim freedom from search by foreign forces.  However, she also had a large number of British merchant sailors on board from ships sunk by the ‘Graf Spee’. Once these men were in Germany, they would have been excellent propaganda fodder for the Nazi government at such an early stage in the war. 

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the destroyer ‘Cossack’ tried to pull alongside the much larger ‘Altmark’, the supply ship attempted to ram the ‘Cossack’.  In doing so, all the ‘Altmark’ succeeded in doing was to run aground. British sailors rushed aboard her and freed the 299 merchant sailors who had been held on board.  The ‘Altmark’ was re-floated at high tide and continued to Germany – minus her prize.

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The incident was greeted with joy in Britain and the legality of it was never questioned. The Norwegians were angered by what they saw as a blatant infringement of their neutrality as the ‘Altmark’ was in Norwegian waters at the time of the boarding.  Hitler was furious.  What should have been a propaganda coup for Germany turned out to be the opposite. Within days on February 19th, he had ordered planning for the invasion of Norway.  After this, events moved relatively swiftly.

The British Expeditionary Force 

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The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) stationed in France in the spring of 1940 was commanded by Lord Gort. The BEF was considered to be a formidable fighting unit but against blitzkrieg, it had little to offer. Against the onslaught of blitzkrieg, the BEF withdrew, along with remnants of the French army, to Dunkirk. When the BEF was deployed to France at the start of the war, it was based from Bailleul to Maulde, northeast of Douai. On May 9th, one day before the German attack, it comprised of 9 infantry divisions with one other division (the 51st Highland) having been sent to the Maginot Line to bolster the defences in the Saar region.

Between arriving in France and the German attack, the BEF had spent its time building defences and undertaking training programmes with territorial divisions. By the standards of the time, the BEF was highly regarded but it could do little to stem the flow of the Germans after their blitzkrieg attack of May 10th 1940. Forced back with little opportunity to counter-attack, the BEF was pushed on to the beaches at Dunkirk.

Dunkirk &Battle of Britain 1940 

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Dunkirk, and the evacuation associated with the troops trapped on Dunkirk, was called a "miracle" by Winston Churchill. As the Wehrmacht swept through western Europe in the spring of 1940, using Blitzkrieg, both the French and British armies could not stop the onslaught. For the people in western Europe, World War Two was about to start for real. The "Phoney War" was now over. The Battle of Dunkirk lasted from around May 25 to June 3, 1940. After the Phony War, the Battle of France began in earnest in mid-May 1940. German armour burst through the Ardennes region and advanced rapidly. The combined British, French and Belgium forces were rapidly split around Armentieres.

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The German forces then swept north to capture Calais, holding a large body of Allied soldiers trapped against the coast on the FrancoBelgian border. It became clear the battle was lost and the question now became how many Allied soldiers could be removed to the relative safety of England before their resistance was crushed. From May 22 preparations for the evacuation began, codenamed Operation Dynamo, commanded from Dover by Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay. He called for as many naval vessels as possible as well as every ship capable of carrying 1,000 men within reach. It initially was intended to recover around 45,000 men of the British Expeditionary Force over two days, this was soon stretched to 120,000 men over five days. On May 27 a request was placed to civilians to provide all shallow draught vessels of 30 to 100 feet for the operation, that night was the first rescue attempt. A large number of craft including fishing boats and recreational vessels, together with Merchant Marine and Royal Navy vessels, were gathered at Sheerness and sent to Dunkirk and the surrounding beaches to recover Allied troops. Due to heavy German fire only 8,000 soldiers were recovered.

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Despite attacks from German fighter and bomber planes, the Wehrmacht never launched a full-scale attack on the beaches of Dunkirk. Panzer tank crews awaited the order from Hitler but it never came. In his memoirs, Field Marshall Rundstadt, the German commander-in-chief in France during the 1940 campaign, called Hitler's failure to order a full-scale attack on the troops on Dunkirk his first fatal mistake of the war. That 338,000 soldiers were evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk would seem to uphold this view. On May 29 there was an unexpected reprieve, the German armour stopped its advance on Dunkirk leaving the operation to the slower infantry, but due to problems only 14,000 men were evacuated that day. On the evening of May 30 another major group of smaller vessels was dispatched and returned with around 30,000 men.

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One of the reasons put forward for Hitler not ordering an attack was that he believed that Britain had suffered from the might of the Wehrmacht once and that this experience would be sufficient for Britain to come to peace terms with Hitler.  The total destruction of the British Expeditionary Force might have created such a climate of revenge in Britain that our involvement would be prolonged.  That is one idea put forward for why Hitler did not order a full-scale attack on the beaches of Dunkirk - however, we will never know the true reason.

The tiny boats used help Rescue the civilian and soldiers

Britain's Home Front Gas Masks 

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Gas masks were issued to all British civilians at the start of World War Two. There was a very real fear in Britain that Nazi German bombers would drop poison gas bombs. Therefore, all civilians were issued with gas masks. The bombing of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War had shown what could happen when bombers got through. The government had planned for tens of thousands of deaths in London alone. An advisor to the government - Liddell Hart - told the government to expect 250,000 deaths in the first week of the war alone.

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At the start of the war some citizens had not been issued with a gas mask.  In a government document " If war should come" (issued to people in July 1939), the explanation for this was that district leaders might have decided to keep gas masks in storage until they decided that an emergency situation had developed.  However, the public was told to tell their local Air Raid Warden if they had not been issued with a gas mask and neighbours had.  It was the responsibility of air raid wardens to ensure that everybody had been issued with a gas mask.

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Babies had special gas masks made for them which would only be issued if an emergency situation arose - see above photo. Children were issued with what became known as "Mickey Mouse" gas masks - the nickname was an attempt by the government to make the gas masks seem less scary.

The Ministry of Home Safety issued advice on how to put on a gas mask :     

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Hold your breath Hold mask in front of face with thumbs inside straps Thrust chin well forward into mask, pull straps over head as far as they will go Run finger round face piece taking care head straps are not twisted. If out of doors people were advised to turn up their jacket collar to stop gas drifting down their necks and to put on gloves or put hands in pockets to stop open skin being hit b gas. After the Blitz had ended, carrying around a gas mask became less and less important in the mind of the public.

Evacuation WW2

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Evacuation took place during the first months of World War Two. Evacuation was a potentially traumatic occurrence and the government tried to lessen its impact by issuing advice to all of those impacted by evacuation. This advice was delivered to what the government referred to as "evacuable" areas - the advice is clearly biased towards the government's viewpoint - that evacuation was for the best and pushed home hard the potential consequences of what might happen if children were not evacuated from danger areas.

Why evacuation? 

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There are still a number of people who ask “What is the need for all this business about evacuation? Surely if war comes it would be better for families to stick together and not go breaking up their homes?” It is quite easy to understand this feeling, because it is difficult for us in this country to realise what war in these days might mean. If we were involved in war, our big cities might be subjected to determined attacks from the air – at any rate in the early stages – and although our defences are strong and are rapidly growing stronger, some bombers would undoubtedly get through. We must see to it then that the enemy does not secure his chief objects – the creation of anything like panic, or the crippling dislocation of our civil life. One of the first measures we can take to prevent this is the removal of the children from the more dangerous areas.

The Government Evacuation Scheme 

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The government have accordingly made plans for the removal from what are called “evacuable” areas to safer places called “reception” areas, of school children, children below school age if accompanied by their mothers or other responsible persons, and expectant mothers and blind persons. The scheme is entirely a voluntary one, but clearly the children will be much safer and happier away from the big cities where the dangers will be greatest. There is room in the safer areas for these children; householders have volunteered to provide it. They have offered homes where the children will be made welcome. The children will have their school teachers and other helpers with them and their schooling will be continued.

Weapons of the Home Guard Lee Enfield Rifle: 

The Lee Enfield was first produced in 1907; it had been designed by an American called James Lee and built at the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield - hence the rifle's name. The Lee Enfield enjoyed a good reputation with those who were issued with it. It had a ten-bullet magazine and its rate of fire in the hands of welltrained men was high. At the Battle of Mons, the advancing Germans believed that they were under fire from British machine guns. In fact, it was the well drilled infantry of the BEF using their standard issue Lee Enfield. A good infantryman would expect to shoot off about twelve well-aimed bullets in a minute.

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If the Lee Enfield had one weakness, it was that the firing mechanism was susceptible to dirt and grit. Therefore, keeping your rifle clean in the muddy environment of the trenches was of paramount importance. When not in battle, many men simply covered the firing mechanism with cloth in an effort to keep out dirt which would clog up the rifle. The butt of the Lee Enfield had a space inside it where cleaning material could be kept.

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The Lee Enfield was so highly thought of that it was the standard issue rifle to infantrymen in the British Army in World War Two, some twenty years after World War One. I Its robust nature meant that it was issued to the Home Guard. The Home Guard manual had a 28-page section on the Lee Enfield that covered how to fire it, how to keep the rifle clean, how to load the rifle, judging distance and overall rifle maintenance.

Bren Gun  

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The Bren Gun was eventually issued to the Home Guard in World War Two. The Bren Gun was a light machine gun that was robust and could maintain short, sharp bursts of gun fire. The Bren Gun used the same size ammunition as the Lee Enfield rifle (.303 inch) and this compatability was obviously useful. The Bren weighed 21 lbs and had a length of 45 inches. It was capable of firing either single shots or a burst of fire. The Bren was capable of firing 500 rounds a minute - though this was a theoretical figure as the rate of firing was dictated by the speed with which a fully loaded magazine could be changed. Each magazine held just 30 rounds. Hence when in use the firer used short bursts of fire.

Lewis Gun 

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The Lewis Gun was issued to units of the Home Guard in World War Two. The Lewis Gun was a light machine gun that used .303 ammunition - the same as the Lee Enfield rifle and the Bren gun. This ammunition compatibility was very useful during live firing exercises. The Lewis gun was air-cooled and could produce a high rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute. However, as this depended on the speed with which its circular magazine (called a pan magazine) could be changed (the magazine held 47 rounds), those who fired the gun used short bursts that tended to limit its rate of fire to 120 rounds a minute. The Lewis machine gun weighed 26 lbs and was designed so that it could be fired by either a lefthanded or right-handed firer.