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B5: The World at War, 193845

Appeasement, 19389: the role of Neville Chamberlain the outbreak of the Second World
War

On September 12 1938 Hitler demanded selfgovernment for the German speaking Czechs in the
Sudetenland.

The British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, had been expecting Hitler to try to seize…

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In March 1939 Hitler occupied the rest of western Czechoslovakia.

Britain now formed alliances with Poland and Romania.

In August Hitler formed the NaziSoviet Pact. This guaranteed that the Soviet Union would
not oppose a German invasion of Poland and gave Germany a free hand in the West. In…

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The French government had pinned its hopes on a massive line of fortifications along the
FrancoGerman border. It was called the Maginot Line after the general who designed it. It was
believed to be impregnable, and it probably was, but it ended at the Belgian border.

In 1936 the…

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The Red Army had lost most of its officers in the Purges of 1937 and 1938. In 1941 it was
being commanded by junior officers, with very little experience.

Stalin was taken by surprise. He did not believe reports that Germany was about to invade.

The Red Army was…

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The German army attempted to capture the town of Kursk, which was in a salient that
projected into the frontline. The attack began at 3.30 a.m. on 5 July and ended in the defeat of the
German forces.

Why was Kursk important?

Kursk marked the end of the German…

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In 1931 the Japanese army had invaded Manchuria, which was part of China, and set up a
puppet government. There was international condemnation, but little else was done. The Japanese
began a period of territorial expansion on the mainland.

In July 1937 the Japanese army invaded northern China. Shanghai…

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2. Hitler stopped attacks on Fighter Command on 7 September.
3. Hitler held back production of Uboats in 1939 and 1940, so that when the Battle of the
Atlantic began in 1941 the German Navy only had 37 submarines.

The determination of the British people in holding on alone…

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At Midway in June 1942 four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk.

The British and Indian forces stopped the advance into India.

The US forces used islandhopping as a way of isolating Japanese units.

President Truman decided to use the Atomic Bomb as a means of bringing the war to…