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Germany: |
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Germany, under the control of Adolf Hitler in 1941, is considered to be the main aggressor in Europe during World War II. Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, following a rigorous propaganda campaign led by Joseph Goebbels. Hitler quickly consolidated all power of the government to his control and banned all political parties except for the Nazi party. The persecution of Jews in Germany began soon after, and events such as Kristallnaught, which means "The Night of the Broken Glass", when almost 100 Jews were killed at random, and countless Jewish businesses were destroyed, became procedural for the Gestapo. Jews were often sent to concentration camps, first set up in 1933. In these camps they would work as forced laborers until the government found them useless and executed them. Jews in occupied territories suffered similar fates; nearly all were killed in camps. Hitler used his military to threaten European opposition. As they were largely unprepared for another war, most European nations were afraid to challenge Hitler. Few nations were willing to deny Hitler his initial demands in fear of war. As a result, Hitler rearmed the Rhineland, annexed Austria, and took control of all of Czechoslovakia without opposition. However, when he tried to invade Poland in 1939, Great Britain and France declared war on Hitler, and the European war had officially begun. Earlier in 1939, Germany had signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR that had a secret clause that described the partition of Poland. Thus, Hitler met no resistance on the eastern front from the USSR at this time. In 1940, using blitzkrieg tactics, Hitler attacked and defeated Denmark, Belgium, and France. He forced the British and French forces at Dunkerque to retreat to England, which he promptly attempted to blockade and bombard from the air. However, the British air force proved to be superior, and foiled Hitler's attempt to invade England. From that point on, Hitler's campaign started to collapse. Hitler increased demands on the resources of occupied countries as he simultaneously stepped up the systematic extermination of their peoples. By 1943, Hitler was fighting a losing battle. By this time Axis forces had been defeated in Africa, Italy had been defeated, and Germany itself was being bombed by the Allies. Hitler, refusing to give up, ordered his armies to continue to fight. In 1944 the Allies launched an invasion of Normandy, and pushed east toward Germany. Simultaneously the USSR advanced from the west. As Allied occupation forces neared Berlin in April of 1945, Hitler committed suicide. On May 2, Germany agreed to an unconditional surrender. The nation was divided into four occupation zones under Great Britain, France, the United States, and the USSR. Berlin was similarly divided, even though the city lied totally within Soviet occupied territory. This division was made permanent in 1949 when the creation of two separate German nations marked the beginnings of the Cold War. |
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