Chapter 1

allies of French after World War 1- Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Romania,

Yugoslavia
Hitler’s chief of staff- Marshall Walther Von Brantchitsch
Germany Foreign Minister- Ribbentrop
Russian Foreign Minister- Molotov
German Protectorate in Poland- Cracov
Nazi police chief- heinrich Himmler
Polish Govt. in exile- under premiership of General Sikorski- 1 st in Angers France
Then in- London
Russian Seizure of Baltic states- forced Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania to grant naval
and air bases and admit Russian troops
Russo-Finnish War
Mannerheim Line- Finland
Commander of Finland- Marshall Mannerheim

German Westwall- aka Siegfried line

Parallel- French Maginot line
French commander- General Maurice Gamelin (later- Maxime Weygand)
British destroyed german battleship ‘Graf Spee’ near Uruguay
British PM- Neville Chamberlaine [Succeeded by Winston Churchil (descendent
of Duke of Marlborough)]
French PM- Eduard Daladier (later replaced by Paul Reynoud and Daladier
remained cabinet minister of war)

German seizure of Norway and Denmark-

Denmark King- Christian X
Traitor in Norway- Major Vidkum Quisling(headed puppet regime)
Norweign King- Haakon VII- set govt. in exile in England

Chapter 2
German conquest of low countries-
Luxemberg- Grand-duchess and govt. fled to France and then to US
Holland- Queen Wilhemina and govt. took refuge in England
-Germans installed Seys Inquart as Governor
Belgium- King Leopold III- unconditional surrender (against Cabinet will)
-Cabinet escaped to London
Germans broke in France at Sedan- beyond west end of Maginot Line

British evacuated (225k- own and 110k-others) soldiers

French Defeat and Italian Attack

French command transferred from Gamelin to Maxime Weygand
De Gaulle- under-secretary of war
Germans occupied Marne and then Paris
French Govt.- first moved to Tours and then to Bordeaux
French president replaced Paul Reynoud with Marshal Henry Petain(known as
defender of Verdun in World War I)(84 years old)
Armistice of June 1940- signed at forests of Compiegne
Germans occupied north of Loire river and Atlantic Coast
Italy occupied a strip along South-eastern border
Remaining part- autonomous but had to pay heavy cost of ocuupation
Petain established dictatorial powers as ‘chief of French state’
Principal Leutinent- Pierre Laval
Petain replaced ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ with ‘labor, family and
fatherland’
Remains of ‘Napoleon II’ brought from Vienna to Paris

De Gaulle escaped to England and formed ‘Free French’

Free French won- French equatorial Africa, and some scattered islands
Vichy French retained- French North Africa, Madagascar and Indo-china

Britain installed its bases in Danish dependencies of Iceland and Greenland

Britain disabled all French warships except dismantled fleet on protected harbor
of Toulon

Battle of Britain- City of Coventry almost oblitered

Italian attack on Greece

Italy overran British Somaliland and penetrated into Kenya and Sudan (from
Ethiopia)
Marshal Graziani- starting from Tripoli, invaded Northern Egypt and drove back
Australians and Poles commanded by British Wavell
Greek govt. headed by George II
Italy attacked Greece from army based in Albania
Later- Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie restored with capital at Adis Ababa
- Greeks under Genral Metaxas drove Italy back to Albania

Communist Russian aggression

Russia forcefully annexed Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Rumanian King- Carol II- Surrendered
-abdicted in favor son Michael
-General Ion Antonescu
Further partition of Rumania by Hungary and Belgium

Japanese premier- Prince Konoye

Japan brought Siam under its influence
Now Axis included- Italy, Germany, Russia, Japan, Hungry, Romania, Slovakia and
Spain(Spain- General Franco)
US aid to Britain
‘two-ocean navy bill’
‘pan American conference’
US gave naval destroyers in return of Newfoundland, Bermuda and West Indies
bases
‘Selective Service Act’

Marshal Graziani of Italy was replaced by Hitler’s Erwin Rommel

He pushed british out Tripoli and Libya

German conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece

Bulgaria readily acceded to German
Yugolavia- Regent Paul- army deposed him for King Peter II
Yugolavia partitioned into two- Croatia- puppet ruler
- Serbia- Italian Prince
Mikhailovich started guerrilla fight

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