On Sept. 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. On September 3 England and France demanded that Germany withdraw its troops. When Germany refused England and France declared war on Germany. Within a week Great Britain was joined in the war by Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and India. Ireland (Eire) was the only member of the British Commonwealth to keep out of the war. The start of the war climaxed a series of warlike acts between 1931 and 1939 by Germany, Italy, and Japan. The acts of these aggressor nations included taking territories that did not belong to them. (See also Europe; World War I, "The Peace and Its Results.") The United States had protested the actions of these countries. England and France, however, agreed to let the German dictator Adolf Hitler and the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini take the territories they wanted. The British and French hoped this policy of appeasement would prevent another war. (See also Hitler; Mussolini; Fascism.)

Hitler Breaks Munich Pact

On Sept. 30, 1938, Britain and France agreed in Munich to let Germany have a part of Czechoslovakia. Hitler said this would be his last territorial demand in Europe. In March 1939 Hitler broke this pact, taking over Prague (see Czechoslovakia). This ended the British and French policy of appeasement. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain and Premier Edouard Daladier of France promised aid to Poland in case of a Nazi attack (see Chamberlain, Neville; France, "History"). Hitler soon demanded the return of Danzig (Polish Gdansk) to Germany and a strip of territory linking East Prussia with the rest of Germany. Poland refused to give in to these demands.

War Begins

In May 1939 Germany and Italy signed a pact pledging to support each other in war. Hitler and other German leaders believed Germany lost World War I because it had to fight on two fronts (see World War I). To prevent this in a new war Hitler and the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin signed a ten-year non-aggression pact on Aug. 23, 1939 (see Stalin). On September 1 Germany annexed Danzig and invaded Poland, and the war began. At the same time, the Soviet Union prepared to invade Poland from the East.

THE WAR DURING 1939

The Poles were easily defeated by Germany's blitzkrieg, or "lightning war." The first day the German Luftwaffe (air force) destroyed Poland's airfields and bases. Within a week it had crippled the lines of communication. At the same time German Panzer (armored and mechanized) divisions encircled the Polish armies. The Germans then concentrated their attack on the main Polish forces around Warsaw. The Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on September 17. The people of Warsaw resisted gallantly, but Poland was finally forced to surrender. On September 28 Germany and the Soviet Union signed a treaty in Moscow dividing Poland between them. Some Polish government officials, soldiers, pilots, and naval units managed to escape the swift Nazi and Soviet advances. They fled to Great Britain where they continued the fight against Germany with the Allies. (See also Warsaw; Poland.)

The "Phony War" in the West; War at Sea

On the Western Front there was little fighting. The French were confident that the Maginot Line could not be broken through. The Germans had similar fortifications on their Siegfried Line, paralleling the Maginot Line. Great Britain thought its navy could successfully blockade Germany and thus starve it out of the war (see Blockade). Because there was so little fighting, this period on the Western battlefields was referred to as the "phony war." The war at sea, however, was active. Germany launched a counterblockade against the British. Nazi submarines, mines, and depth bombs sank many Allied merchant and passenger ships. In December 1939 a dramatic sea battle took place off the coast of South America. Three British cruisers damaged the German raider Admiral Graf Spee which had been raiding Allied commerce in the South Atlantic. It was forced to take cover in the harbor of Montevideo, Uruguay. The captain of the Graf Spee sank the ship rather than risk its capture. The most sensational German naval victory during this period was a raid on Scapa Flow. On Oct. 14, 1939, a German U-boat made its way into this British naval base and torpedoed the battleship Royal Oak.

Soviet-Finnish War

The Soviet Union invaded Finland on November 30. Finland had refused to give the Soviets military bases, although the Soviets had repeatedly pressed their demands. The large Soviet army was expected to defeat tiny Finland quickly. The Finns, however, held off the Soviets for several months. Finland's Mannerheim Line of fortifications was finally broken through early in 1940. On March 12 Finland signed a peace treaty. It gave the Soviet Union important Finnish territory (see Finland).

THE WAR DURING 1940

Early in April Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. Denmark accepted the "protection" that Germany offered the two countries. Norway, however, instantly declared war. British troops landed in Norway, but they were unable to stop the German advance. In May the British forces were evacuated. On June 9 Norway fell. King Haakon VII escaped and set up a government in exile in London (see Norway). In its conquest of Norway Germany was aided by its fifth column. These were Germans and Norwegian Nazis led by Maj. Vidkun Quisling. The term fifth column came from the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. There the fascist general Emilio Mola, leading four columns of troops on Madrid, boasted that he had a fifth column of sympathizers inside the city. Another term used for such traitors was quisling, from the name of the Norwegian Nazi.

Invasion of the Low Countries

On May 10 German forces invaded Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Luxembourg was occupied without resistance (see Luxembourg). Belgium and The Netherlands declared war. Winston Churchill now replaced the aged Neville Chamberlain as prime minister of Great Britain (see Churchill). The Allies sent troops into the Low Countries. On May 14 the Dutch army had to give up the fight. The Netherlands was quickly brought under the rule of German forces of occupation. Queen Wilhelmina fled to London. There she formed a government in exile (see Netherlands, The).

Dunkirk Evacuation; Italy Enters War

King Leopold of Belgium surrendered his army on May 28. The Allies had no choice but to attempt an escape by sea. From May 29 to June 4 the Allies evacuated 360,000 men from Dunkirk. (See also Belgium; Dunkirk.) The battle of France began June 5. The Germans attacked along a 100-mile front from near Laon to the English Channel. They smashed through the French forces and headed for Paris. At this point Italy declared war on Great Britain and France.

Fall of France

On June 11 the French government moved to Tours and later to Bordeaux. Paris was occupied by the Germans June 14. The French cabinet voted in favor of an armistice on June 16. Marshal Henri Petain, the 84-year-old hero of World War I, became premier. He asked the German government to state its terms. The Franco-German armistice was signed June 22 in the forest of Compiegne. It was signed in the same railway car in which France had dictated its terms to a beaten Germany 22 years before. The Franco-Italian armistice was signed on June 24. More than half of France was now occupied by German troops. This included France's entire Atlantic coast and its northern area from Geneva almost to Tours.

Vichy Government and Free French

Marshal Petain built a fascist state with headquarters at Vichy in unoccupied France. The Vichy government worked with the Germans. This was called collaboration. Two important Vichy collaborators were Adm. Francois Darlan and Pierre Laval. Some of the French fighting forces escaped to England. They carried on the fight against Germany under the leadership of the French general Charles de Gaulle. These Free French were secretly supported in France by loyal Frenchmen called partisans. A number of French ships joined the British, and others were interned in British harbors. Some ships which resisted were destroyed by the British fleet at Oran, Algeria. The official French government then broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain.

The Battle of Britain

Hitler expected that the fall of France would cause Great Britain to surrender. In July he urged England to make peace with Germany. Churchill refused even to consider the offer. At the start of the war Hitler had threatened mass air attacks against England. His threat was finally carried out in August of 1940. Almost daily hundreds of German planes swarmed across the English Channel from bases in occupied France. They bombed England from end to end. The German air attack was to be followed by the invasion of England. Hermann Goering, World War I air ace and commander of the German Luftwaffe, had told Hitler his planes could drive the Royal Air Force (RAF) out of the skies. The Luftwaffe failed. The RAF destroyed the German bombers at a crippling rate. The battle of Britain, as the Royal Air Force defense of the English island fortress was called, was one of the most important battles in the history of the world. Never after September 1940 did Hitler seriously consider invading Great Britain.

Japan Threatens in Far East

Germany's conquest of The Netherlands and France left undefended the rich Netherlands Indies and French Indo-China. In September Japan threatened to invade French Indo-China. By this threat it got air bases there to use in its war against China, which had been going on for three years. The Chinese, led by Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, were isolated by Japan's seizure of their ports, roads, and railroads. (See also Chiang Kai-shek; China.) On September 27 Japan signed a pact with Germany and Italy. The pact joined the three nations in an effort to create a new order. Under this agreement Germany and Italy would control Europe and Japan would control Greater East Asia. To check Japanese expansion the United States kept its fleet in the Pacific. It also placed economic restraints on Japan. These were called sanctions. Japan depended upon the United States for scrap iron, oil, cotton, and metals. In September 1940 the United States banned shipments of many of these materials to Japan. It also threatened to stop giving foreign credits which Japan used to trade abroad. Great Britain also helped to control Japan in the Far East because Britain held strategically located Singapore. This was the key to power in southeastern Asia. (See also Pacific Ocean; Singapore.)

How the United States Helped the Allies

The fall of France left Great Britain and its empire fighting alone. On September 3 the United States transferred 50 overage destroyers to Great Britain. In return the United States got 99-year leases on sites for air and naval bases in the British possessions of Newfoundland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Antigua, Trinidad, and British Guiana. The United States also went to work speeding up its rearmament. A two-ocean navy was planned. An air force of 50,000 airplanes was started. In October the nation adopted peacetime compulsory military service for the first time in its history. (See also Army; Conscription; Navy.)

The War in the Mediterranean and Near East

In the winter of 1940-41 Germany and Italy started a campaign against British power in the Mediterranean region. The British position in the Mediterranean was based on control of the two bottleneck passages to the sea Gilbraltar at the western end and the Suez Canal in the east. The Axis campaign was launched against Suez. An Italian attack in North Africa was coupled with a German drive through southeastern Europe. The object was to drive the British from the eastern Mediterranean. The Italian offensive was a failure. By early 1941 almost all Mussolini's East African empire was in British hands. Germany, however, had more success in the Balkans. It overran Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece. It was then able to come to Italy's aid. The British forces were driven out of Libya, and a campaign began for the rich oil fields of Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

THE WAR DURING 1941

Early in 1941 Britain announced that it soon would be unable to pay for the war materials it had been buying from the United States. The United States Congress in March gave the president authority to lend or lease arms and supplies to countries whose defense he thought important to the security of the United States. Under the Lend-Lease Act a steady stream of planes, tanks, guns, and other war goods rolled off American assembly lines to be sent to Britain. To get these supplies across the Atlantic into the hands of British soldiers became a major problem. The president announced he would take any measures necessary to insure their delivery. On April 9 the United States took Greenland under its protection for the rest of the war. On July 7 the United States landed naval forces in Iceland. American troops later replaced British soldiers stationed there.

Germany Invades the Soviet Union

Both Germany and the Soviet Union thought of their nonaggression pact of 1939 as temporary. It gave the Soviets time to build defenses against German attack. It gave Germany peace along its eastern frontiers during the war in the west. Throughout the spring of 1941, however, there were signs that the pact might be broken. Suddenly, at the break of dawn on June 22, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Other nations quickly took sides in the ensuing conflict. Italy, Hungary, Finland, and Romania declared war on the Soviet Union. Britain pledged aid to the Soviet Union. The United States promised war goods.

The New Conflict

Germany's war on the Soviet Union locked in battle the two largest armies in the world. The front extended for 2,000 miles from the White Sea to the Black. Germany struck its heaviest blows on three sectors of this long front: (1) from East Prussia through the Baltic States toward Leningrad; (2) from the northern part of German Poland through White Russia toward Moscow; and (3) from the southern part of German Poland through the Ukraine toward Kiev. Strong resistance by the Red army and guerrilla warfare behind the German lines slowed the German drive. In addition wherever the Soviets retreated they destroyed crops, factories, railways, utility plants, and everything else that would be of value to the advancing Nazis.

German Advance in the Soviet Union Stopped

By the end of November the German assault on the Soviet Union had passed its peak of effectiveness. In December the Germans officially admitted that snow and cold weather had stopped their Soviet offensive for the winter. The Soviets immediately launched a counteroffensive. This drove the Germans back from the outskirts of Moscow and Leningrad. While Germany was attacking the Soviet Union, British armies in Egypt struck at the Axis forces in Libya. They hoped to remove the Axis threat to the Suez Canal. They also wanted to draw off some of the German military forces from the Soviet Union. The attack relieved a besieged British garrison at Tobruk on December 11. It drove the Axis from Bengasi on Christmas Day. The British reached the limits of their supply lines at Bengasi and ceased pressing their advantage.

Japan Moves Toward War

The Nazi attack on the Soviets had led the Japanese to believe that German victory was certain. They immediately tried to profit by it. In July 1941 the Vichy government in France responding to pressure gave Japan bases in French Indo-China. Japan moved in and massed troops against Thailand (Siam). Other aggressive moves by Japan brought strong protests from the United States and Great Britain. The Japanese declared that they wanted peace, but they continued their warlike acts. General Hideki Tojo became premier of Japan in October. In November he sent a special envoy, Saburo Kurusu, to seek peace with the United States. This was a trick to throw the United States off guard. Japan was playing for time in which to get its armed forces into position for attack. On November 26 American Secretary of State Cordell Hull announced that the United States would give full economic cooperation to Japan. In return, however, he asked that Japan withdraw from China and stop collaborating with the Axis. On December 6 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appealed directly to the Japanese emperor to work for peace.

The Attack on Pearl Harbor

Early the following afternoon Kurusu and the Japanese ambassador presented Japan's reply to the American proposal. It accused the United States of standing in the way of the "new order in East Asia." It ended by saying that further negotiations were useless. Secretary Hull said the statement was filled with "falsehoods and distortions." Even as he spoke Japanese forces were attacking Americans at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, in the Philippines, and elsewhere in the Pacific Ocean area. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941. The attack came without warning very early in the morning. It was made by Japanese submarines and carrier-launched bombing planes. The United States Navy and Army forces were completely surprised. More than 2,800 Americans were killed in the two-hour attack. Eight battleships were sunk or damaged. Many cruisers and destroyers were hit. Six air bases were heavily damaged. Most of the United States planes were destroyed on the ground. Japanese losses were 55 men, 3 submarines, and 29 of the 353 airplanes that had made the attack. The Japanese also attacked Midway Island, the Philippines, British Malaya, Hong Kong, and the islands of Guam and Wake. Japanese troops occupied Siam with the consent of that government.

Declaration of War

Two and a half hours after the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor the Japanese declared war on the United States and Great Britain. Britain declared war on December 8. The United States Congress declared that a state of war had existed since December 7. On December 9 China issued a formal war declaration against Japan, Germany, and Italy. On December 11 Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, and the United States Congress voted declarations in return. During the same week nine Latin American nations entered the war against the Axis powers Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Panama. Bolivia declared war against Japan. Most other Latin American nations either broke off diplomatic relations with the Axis countries or supported the United States. Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania declared war on the United States. Japan and the Soviet Union carefully avoided war with one another. On Jan. 1, 1942, the 26 nations then at war with the Axis powers joined in a declaration in which they pledged united efforts and no separate peace until victory was gained.

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