The German War Machine

Chapter Summary: Chapter 6

The German War Machine

              By 1939 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party had an iron grip on the German people.  So far Hitler has only known success after annexing Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia.  Germany now turned its attention to Poland, the nation that had been created by the Allies at the end of World War I, giving much of German land to that nation.  Hitler knew he needed a good reason to invade Poland, and also knew that if he invaded Great Britain would more than likely declare war on Germany.  On August 31, 1939, a few SS soldiers dressed as Polish soldiers launched a fake attack on a German radio station.  Using this as an excuse, Hitler launched a full invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.  Adolf Hitler also made an agreement with the Soviet Union (Russia) to divide Poland between them after the invasion, which made sure that Germany would not have to fight a two front war like they did in World War I.  On September 3, 1939 Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, and mobilized their military.  Poland was defeated within a few weeks.

Immediately Germany began evicting Polish families from their homes, giving them to German families.  Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, or outright murdered.  Priests, teachers, and other leaders were also executed.  Back in Germany members of the Hitler Youth helped the war effort by collecting scrap metal and other resources, enforcing German laws and regulations, and putting together supplies for soldiers in the front.  Germany then turned it's attention to France and began their invasion on May 10, 1940.  Within six weeks, the nation of France was defeated.  Great Britain stood alone against Hitler, and by August of 1940 the Germans began what was called the Battle of Britain.  For many months German planes bombed British cities to rubble hoping to convince them to surrender to the German military machine.  After the British Air force emerged as superior, the Germans gave up the attack.  Adolf Hitler quickly betrayed the Soviet Union and launched an attack against Russia, hoping to defeat the large nation and control its vast supply of raw materials.  For the first couple of years, World War II went very well for Germany.

Everything changed when Hitler's ally, Japan, bombed the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  With the United States in the war American factories hummed to life and became the Arsenal for Democracy, producing millions of tons of war materials such as planes, tanks, ships, ammunition, and other supplies.  By 1942, the United States was bombing German cities and factories throughout Germany.   While the war waged on, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi government had begun the systematic murder of millions of Jews throughout the lands conquered by the Germans.

Defeat of France