This video runs a long at a quick pace, but that's how this new war began. It was a blitzkrieg, a "lightning war," a swift, all encompassing, utterly devastating assault. 1 September 1939 was the bringing of the Polish-German War, but with the week it would become the Second World War.
World War 2 Begins
Terms from this video:
1) Einsatzgruppen, translated as action groups; Death's Head Units or Regiments: the sole purpose of this group (separate from the German military) was to deal with the civilian element of the invaded population-- Soviet Jews, Roma, political dissidents, etc. They lotted, confiscated property, vandalized and destroyed property, and eliminated the "undesirables" in mass shootings.
2) fifth column: a group within a country at war who are sympathetic to or working for the enemies; e.g. Poles retaliated against the Germans living in Poland because of the invasion; that would make the Germans living in Poland the fifth column, because they were German and it was Germany that invaded.
Once the Poles capitulated in surrender to Germany, Hitler turned his eyes to the West, using the blitzkrieg tactics to swiftly take down the countries of Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. In the interim war years, France built up the mighty Maginot line, a series of highly fortified defenses along the German border. This video, The Maginot Line, explains how it was created, how it held up, and how it failed in the long run.
10 May, 1940, saw the fall of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. In England on that day, Neville Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister after a vote of no confidence was taken in the House of Commons. His "peach in our time" speech and appeasement policies saw him in a political fallout. In the days of his optimism of peace, Winston Churchill adamantly spoke out on Chamberlain's inaction and false sense of peace. As a result, Winston Churchill became the replacement for the disgraced Prime Minister Chamberlain.
12 May, 1940, France fell. In the readings for today, there was a blurb on the French Resistance. We will speak more on the Resistance efforts in the war throughout the semester. This video expands on the reading: French Resistance.
26 May, 1940, began the harrowing evacuation of troops at Dunkirk. This video, Remember Dunkirk, aptly describes and illustrates the moments that lead up to the British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) and the French military being closed off at Dunkirk, unable to retreat any further.
There is a fantastic couple of movies that dramatize these events. In this first clip from the movie "Dunkirk", Dunkirk Rescue Civilian Boats, shows the civilian owned vessels of England crossing the Channel to aid the evacuation, amidst the bombings from land and air. The second movie is called "The Darkest Hour," and is the backstory of politics in London that was going on as Churchill became Prime Minister and the evacuation was taking place. I found a clip that married footage from both movies, overlapping in areas, to produce the visual of the BEF and the now famous speech made by Winstone Churchill. Dunkirk Darkest Hour: We Shall Fight
For the audio of the original speech of Winston Churchill, use this video: We Shall Fight on the Beaches.
10 June, 1940, Italy declared war on France and Britain.
22 June, 1940, France signs an armistice with Germany, in the exact location, in the same train car as the armistice of World War One, on 11 November, 1918, a German enacted revenge for how the first world war ended.
Hitler was in Paris just a few hours after this Armistice, where he toured the city and made his way through the Arc de Triomphe. This video details the fall of Paris and Hitler's visit to the city: 1940: Hitler in Paris. Random fact: Hitler wanted to go up the Eiffel Tower, but the operators told him the elevators were not working at the time. Once he left he city, the elevators were once again
running smoothly. Coincidence?
No comments:
Post a Comment