World War II Essay, Research Paper

On September 1, 1939, a wave of German planes roared over Poland. A huge mass of smoke covered the sky with dive-bombers and disintegrated Polish planes still on the ground. Then, tracks of German tanks and footsteps of troops marched into Polish territory to clean up any unfinished business. The German blitzkrieg worked flawlessly. However, France and Britain honored their pledge to protect Poland. While Nazi armies conquered Warsaw, the Allied mobilized for war.

In the spring of 1940, Hitler took his next step to more land and power. Tanks moved into Denmark while German troops took the Danish king and ministers as hostages. During this capture, German forces rushed into Norway. The Norwegian troops fought bravely but fell in two days to the German troops. The major seaports and the capital city Oslo became territories of Germany.

Because Neville Chamberlain’s failures with appeasement, Winston Churchill took his place as Prime Minister and led Britain’s army. In the same time this transfer occurred, Hitler used the German blitzkrieg on France. He swung west around the France Maginot Line and struck through Belgium. Germans trapped the Allied troops at the Dunkirk port with a passion to kill them. Britain tried to rescue its troops from May 28 to June 4. Their fleets sailed back and forth carrying battle-weary soldiers safely to Britain.

While Hitler’s forces attacked France, Mussolini decided it was time to join the conflict. He declared war against both Britain and France. People fled out of Paris as German forces approached quickly firing at traffic. Marshall Henri Petain decided it would be best in France’s interest to surrender. Thus, on June 22, 1940, a meeting took place that gave France to the Nazis.