Key event summary Flashcards
Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
German-Soviet non-aggression pact.
Few days before the start of the war.
Divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.
Stalin fired his Jewish foreign minister and replaced him with Ribbentrop.
Invasion of Poland
Marked the start of WWII.
Invasion lasted from 1st September to 5th October 1939.
Declaration of war on Germany on the 3rd September (did nothing to help the Poles).
USSR occupies Poland
17th September- Molotov claimed Polish govt ceased to exist.
Soviets invaded in the east where the Poles were trying to regroup after German invasion of west.
Operation Weserubung
Denmark and Norway.
Denmark lasted hours (9th April 1940).
Norway surrendered on 9th June 1940.
France and Britain forced to withdraw from Norway after they were attacked.
Denmark and Norway neutral but it was thought Norway would be occupied by Britain and France.
Invasion of Netherlands and Belgium
Germany invaded Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France on 10th May 1940.
GB withdrew its support.
Luxembourg occupied immediately, Netherlands on the 15th, Belgium on the 28th.
Battle of France
10th May 1940- 25th June 1940.
German invasion of Low Countries and France.
British had gone from Dunkirk.
French front along the Weygand Line.
French collapse.
Capture of Paris.
Greece and the Balkans
While Barbarossa was being planned, Hitler concerned to extend German influence in Balkans.
Romania requested German military mission.
Mussolini sent 7 divisions from Albania into Greece.
Hitler managed to draw Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia into the Axis in November 1940.
Both Yugoslav and Greek royal govts went into exile on their armies’ collapse.
Operation Barbarossa
22nd June 1941.
Failure of Germany signalled turning point.
largest and most powerful invasion force in human history.
Soviet counter.
Red Army experienced greater losses despite win.
Operation Baytown
September 1943.
Invasion of Italy.
British 8th Army.
Crossed the Strait of Messina from Sicily to the south.
Armistice of Cassibile
Signed on 3rd September 1943.
Armistice between Italy, US, and UK.
Germany responded by attacking Italian forces in Italy, southern France and the Balkans.
Germans freed Mussolini.
Operation Overlord
D-Day.
6th June 1944-9th July 1944.
Allied invasion of Western Europe.
By the end of August 1944, all of northern France was liberated.
Invading forces reorganised for the drive into Germany, where they would meet with Soviet forces in the east.
Warsaw Uprising
1st August 1944- 2nd October 1944.
Insurrection in Warsaw where Poles unsuccessfully tried to oust the German army and seize control of the city before the Soviets occupied it.
Failure of the Uprising allowed for a pro-Soviet Polish administration.
Liberation of Paris
19th August 1944- 25th August 1944.
De Gaulle arrived after the Germans surrendered to Paris to assume the role of head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic.
Germany surrenders
7th May 1945.
Representatives of the 4 allied powers were present.
General Alfred Jodl, Chief of Staff of the German Army, signed the surrender of the Third Reich in Reims.
Jodl signed 3 other surrender documents at the same time, one for GB, Russia, and France.
