essential question: why did poland collapse so fast?

Invasion of Poland and Phony War

Essential Question: Why did Poland collapse so fast?

September 1, 1939 Hitler led a surprise attack at dawn

on Poland. Planes invaded Polish airspace,

raining bombs and terror. German tanks and 1.5 million troops

invaded the Polish border. Warsaw (the capital of Poland)

crumbled. This was the first act of WWII in

Europe.

Blitzkrieg Hitler’s new style of military warfare

became known as ‘Blitzkrieg’. It involved fast moving airplanes and

tanks, followed by massive infantry, to take the enemy by surprise.

Blitzkrieg forces swiftly crushed all opposition with overwhelming force.

Great Britain and France back Poland

France and Great Britain declared war on Germany on September 3.

Poland fell three weeks before France or Great Britain could mobilize for war.

Hitler took the western half of Poland. Stalin took the eastern half of Poland.

After Poland fell, Stalin took control of Eastern Poland.

Stalin also annexed Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia without any struggle.

However, Finland resisted.

The Phony War Great Britain and France set up a

series of forts along the ‘Maginot’ line in France.

Allied forces stared eastward toward the enemy but nothing happened.

The Allies waited for the Germans to attack for almost seven months.