WORLD WAR II
CHY 4UW
Miss Blom
The Countdown to War—Monday August
28, 1939
1. Read the newspaper article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/countdown_390828_mon_01.shtml
a)
What did Hitler demand in the
weeks leading up to the outbreak of war?
How does this impact
b)
How did the revelation of the Nazi-Soviet
Pact complicated matters? How did
c)
What wass
the response in
2. Read http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/countdown_390828_mon_03.shtml and http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/countdown_390828_mon_04.shtml
a) What provisions were put in place
for the defence of
b) What did these actions indicate about the British perception of events?
3. Listen to some of the speeches played on the BBC Radio at the time (if possible—you may have to try this at home.) Describe the mood of the King and Prime Minister.
Events in the Outbreak
4.
Use http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwtwo/ff1_declaration_war.shtml
and http://worldwar2database.com/html/poland.htm
to create a timeline of the events which
culminate with the British declaration of war on
Circumstances in
5. Read the first two sections of http://www.kasprzyk.demon.co.uk/www/history/WW2.html and http://worldwar2database.com/html/poland.htm
a.
Describe the German invasion of
b. Identify some of the myths that emerged about the Polish defence.
c.
Assess some of the more
tangible reasons
d.
Describe the immediate repercussions
to
The Phoney War
6. Go to the site http://worldwar2database.com/html/phonywar.htm to answer the following questions.
a.
What did the Allies expect
after the invasion of
b. What was “sitzkrieg”?
c. In what way was the war continuing during this time? Note the key events of the war taking place from October 1939 to April 1940.
d. What key errors did the Allies make during this time?