WW2: In The Beginning
In WW2, Warfare has been revolutionized. they've realized that speed of movement is now the key. So you create these armored formations to move fast. Now, They use new techniques like radio technology and the sport of the Luftwaffe(a Germany fighter plane) This is Blitz. blitzkrieg means speed, maneuver warfare, a campaign which is focused on a very quick decisive battle.
After the defeat in World War, the Germans felt humiliated by the punishing terms of the Treaty of Versailles. They were barn from having an army of more than 100,000 men and they lose of territory territory.and there was huge financial Crises.The Germans are suffering a great deal of political and economic insecurities.
The Germans feel very put upon the Treaty of Versailles because it essentially says that the Germans are guilty of starting the first world war. The territorial losses are quite significant. They lose territory in the east to the poles into the Czechs and they've they're forced to demilitarize the islands and they can't use it as a launchpad for a renewed invasion of Belgium and France.
With a grieving heart, Adolphe Hitler and his Nazi Party start to build a mess.
German people see him as a Savior, the man to restore their once great nation. Germans felt the ww1 was everybody's fault as it was theirs. in violation of the treaty, Hitler builds up his army, testing the tolerance of the allies, gambling, that no one wants to start a second war.
He introduces compulsory military service in 1935. and soon he marches with over 30,000 troops. On the 12th of March 1939, the Germans marched into Austria and they are greeted with open arms by the Austrian people. The Western Allies pretty much stood by and let it happen. And one of the reasons they did that is because they felt that the Austrians probably wanted to join with the Germans therefore, they weren't actually being forced.
In September 1938, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flies to Germany three times to attempt to dissuade Hitler from invading Czechoslovakia. If at first he don't succeed, he joins French Prime Minister Edward de la da and Benito Mussolini at what becomes known as the Munich conference.
They agree with Hitler, that Germany should not make an attempt to invade Czechoslovakia.
The following morning, Chamberlain signs a separate agreement with Hitler, a peace deal between Britain and Germany. Chamberlain is greeted as a hero. In 1939, Hitler ignores the treaty signed and invades the rest of Czechoslovakia. It is clear that his plan isn't just to regain territory, but to expand Germany's borders. His intention, ultimately is to create a huge German Empire in Central and Eastern Europe.
This calls for war, but If Hitler invades Poland, they definitely will declare war.
August 1939, Hitler declares a non aggression pact with his ideological enemy in which they agree not to attack each other. While the Western Allies struggle to understand this unlikely Alliance. On September the first, the two countries reveal their hands when Hitler invades Western Poland. The Polish Army on their horses are no match for the German Lance's but they put up a valiant fight. 16 days later, the Soviet Union invaded. 16 days later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. It's a very cynical deal. What the Russians are going to get out of it is a free hand and a lot of the East including the recovery of some of the territories that they lost at the end of the First World War.
true to their word, on the third of September 1939, Britain and France declare war on Germany. It's a move Hitler didn't see coming. Troops from the British Expeditionary Force set sail for France, to join forces with the world's most powerful army. They move up to the Belgian border, where they prepare for any German attack. In fact, Hitler is far from ready to fight the combined British and French armies. It takes his army over 20 days to defeat the Pols.
The Polish resistance has given Hitler's armed forces a major battery, and they have lost a substantial number of their armored vehicles. The French army has a formidable artillery, and over 3000 tactics on the Northeast front 800 more than the Germans. Despite facing a weakened German Army and holding an overwhelming military advantage, the Allies choose not to attack. While the Allies Wait, Hitler assesses how to respond. insights have been set on the east. Now he had to deal with an unexpected threat from the west. Herman Goering leads the generals in the campaign to convince him not to start a war with France. So they present him with a plan destined to fail. All the generals were against it,
The original plan drawn up by Hitler's conservative Germany follows the playbook from the First World War to invade Holland and Belgium from the north, as well as northern France. is a plan that plays to the strength of the Allies deliberately designed to end in disaster? The German superiors didn't want the fight to continue.so the kept presenting tactics that are bond to fail. But one ambitious general depression errors to correct Erich von man stein falls out of step, he suggests to plan with a far greater chance of success. The Conservative generals move quickly to shut him down. Germany forces invade Denmark and southern Norway, the British Germany decided to invade Norway and Denmark on the 9th of April 1940. And the rich in particular responded by trying to land troops in Norway is going to give a lot of valuable resources iron ore and other resources in Norway, to the Germans and they need to forestall this. It will prepare to respond to the attack the Allies land troops in Norway, but their operation is half hearted and incompetent.
The Germans deploy their powerful new force, the Luftwaffe are to great effect.
A terrible humiliation for the Western allies. And by the beginning of May 1940. All Allied troops have left Norway and it's firmly in German hands. Meanwhile, the Assistant General Manager finds a moment to unveil his plan. He knows he will only get one shot. On the 10th of May, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is forced to resign over the Norway debark. He is replaced by Winston Churchill. Churchill is a maverick. He's got a checkered political career. But he was the one right the way through the 1930s he was insisting that we shouldn't appease Hitler, we needed to stand up against him. And now finally, Churchill is given this chance to lead the British in war. On the day Churchill becomes Prime Minister, Germany launches a devastating attack on Belgium and Holland. The allies are well prepared for this move and respond quickly pushing their best forces into Belgium to meet the attack. At this point, reconnaissance planes sent back confusing news from the south. They report a huge military traffic jam along the road to the den stretching all the way back across the German border. The Germans, infantry, tanks and artillery show incredible levels of speed. They reach Sudan in three days, many German soldiers haven't slept since the start of the campaign.
The German tanks rolled into Sudan without opposition. The French defenses are unexpectedly confronted by 60,000 rampaging Germans in 22,000 vehicles and 850 tanks. After three days on the March, the Germans have no intention of stopping, they prepare to cross the river in three places.
In Germany, A new man is introduced- Heinz Guderian. A general who knows how to combine new technology with the traditional German approach to warfare, attacking the enemy with overwhelming force and encircling them before they can react. Darian is very good at doing is harnessing new methods, the Luftwaffe or as aerial artillery, new mobile equipment, trucks, mobile artillery And of course Panzer tanks, but also radio technology too. The first attack in sudan.
Wave after wave of dive bombers pummeled the French defensive positions. Hardly a single bunker suffers a direct and only 56 casualties are taken. But the psychological effect of the screaming bombers and the whistling bomb is devastating. By the evening of the 13th of May, although set number of Germans have got across the river, they are very vulnerable. No tanks have actually got across at this point. And this is an opportunity for the French to actually counter attack. shell shocked the French tank drivers are slow to react. By the time they finally sorted themselves out the attack is put in.