Conflict in Europe Flashcards
Invasion of Abyssinia
Mussolini invaded Abyssinia in October 1935
Half a million soldiers + aircraft + poison gas = Italy prevails
Brutal pursuit for Italy; they did not take the capital, Addis Ababa, until May 1936
Mussolini was condemned by the League of Nations and came to despise them
This led to Mussolini seeking out a closer relationship with Hitler and Germany, contributing to tension because of the rise in fascism
Spanish Civil War
Spanish population divided into two groups: Republicans Versus Nationalists
Started in July 1936 when a group of military officers in Spanish Morocco revolted against the government
Significant because it consolidated the divisions that would play out in WW2
Germany and Italy gave solid backing to Nationalists
Russia sided with the Republicans
Britain and France did not intervene
Showcased the incapability of LoN
Evans on Spanish Civil War
“It cemented the alliance between Mussolini and Hitler.”
Policy of appeasement
The policy adopted by Britain and France in the interwar period; give Hitler what he wants so that he does not wage war against them
Chamberlain’s policy; many perspectives on the approach
Allowed Hitler to grow stronger and build up german military
Made Britain appear as a weak power, however, they were able to buy themselves time to build up forces before the imminent war
Churchill on appeasement
“I have always held the view that the maintenance of peace depends upon the accumulation of deterrents against the aggressor.”
Cato on appeasement
“Of resistance and confrontation rather than conciliation - had they but the vision of intelligence and competence to do so: the essence of their culpability lies in the fact that they could and should have acted differently.”
Anthony Eden, British Foreign Minister in 1938, on appeasement
“I do not believe that we can make progress in European appeasement if we allow the impression to gain currency abroad that we yield to constant pressure.”
Significance of the Nazi-Soviet non-Aggression Pact
Hitler signed the Pact because he wanted to defeat Poland using the Soviet Union, then deal with Russia later
While it made little ideological sense for either leader, each power needed the other in order to succeed
Stalin knew signing the Pact would buy him time to consolidate his forces before the war
Each knew it would not be a lasting alliance but helpful for the short-term
Ended Britain and France’s hopes of aligning with Russia to defeat Hitler
Made Hitler confident he could attack Poland and therefore can be seen as a trigger/immediate cause of the war
S Calkin on the Pact
“It was a marriage of convenience”
The fall of Poland
Germans invaded on 1 September, 1939
Polish were vastly unprepared
Blitzkrieg strategy was very effective in this instance
Polish forces destroyed in 2 days, German forces made it to Warsaw in 8
The Low Countries and France
10 May 1940 - 22 June 1940
France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg were all invaded on the same day by different divisions of the German army
The invasion of the Low Countries gave Germany an entry into France
Attacked through the Ardennes to blindside the French troops
French were not prepared for Blitzkrieg warfare
Maginot Line was their only defence and this was ineffective
Clark on Blitzkrieg
“It was the benchmark of maneuver warfare.”
The air war and its effects
Started in August-September 1940 with German attacks on British waterways and docks
Goring was Luftwaffe commander
In September 1940 Goring directed the Luftwaffe to bomb British airfields and radar installations; this significantly damaged British capacity for war
Britain bombed Berlin and Germany changed their tactic; the Blitz began
Britain was bombing industrial cities that were highly populated; very effective
Significance of air war
- Significantly reduced German capacity for war
- Wore down German morale
- Strengthened British morale; “keep calm and carry on”
Operation Barbarossa
- German invasion of Soviet Union
- operation Uranus: Russian counter offensive
- Russian tactics and strategies were brutal and successful
- scorched earth policy meant approaching Germans had no resources to use to defend themselves
- one on one fighting: civilians involved making homemade bombs and weapons
- Germans were ill-prepared: lack of resources and not enough oil and not acclimatised to the cold: many died of frostbite and hyperthermia
