Appeasement Fails

Germany is in the midst of a miraculous recovery under the leadership of Adolph Hitler, who snatches power in 1933. By the late 1930s, Hitler has managed to free Germany from the restraints imposed on it after its defeat in WWI.

Britain and France do their best to ignore Hitler's increasingly warlike posture, as he takes progressively bolder steps to exert German power. By the time he invades Poland in late 1939, it's too late to stop him.

Hitler's attack introduces the world to a new term. 'Lightning War' or, in German, Blitzkrieg. The world is finally faced with the reality that Hitler has deceived them. Lulled into passivity, Europe is unprepared for war.
World War 2, appeasement fails, 1939 map

  Starting in Europe
Hitler starts with the invasion of Poland (right-most GREEN OVAL), and withing a year has added all the countries shown in BRIGHT GREEN, with Nazi flags. Europe is not prepared for Hitler's combination of fast-moving tanks and coordinated bombing. France lasts just six weeks. By the end of 1940, only Britain remains free of Hitler's grasp.

German-Soviet non-aggression pact, 1939 map

  Hitler's Preparations
The map above shows how Hitler maintains his deception until 1939.  The WHITE numbers above indicate the sequence of increasingly provocative steps Hitler takes before committing to outright conquest. This starts with re-militarization of the German Rhineland (#1), and progresses with annexation of Austria (#2), seizure of half of Czechoslovakia (#3 and #4) plus the port of Danzig (#5).  Step #6 is a fake non-aggression pact with the Soviets, secretly dividing Poland between them.


Hitler's rampage, 1940

  Opposition Smashed
The beginning of the war is a disaster for Britain and France. The Germans attack through an unguarded forest frontier, which is difficult terrain poorly suited for tanks. The French high command unwisely dismisses this as an unlikely attack route. The Germans continue with a lightning tank thrust right up to the English Channel, which traps the entire British army, at Dunkirk. It has to be evacuated by sea, using vessels of all types and sizes, in a desperate and dramatic rescue.