1940 - Axis gains momentum in World War II

Where we left off in the last video, World War II had begun. In September of 1939 Germany invades Poland. Followed shortly by France and Great Britain declaring war on Germany Followed shortly by the Soviet Union themselves under Stalin's leadership, also invading Poland and laying claim to their sphere of influence. And so now we are going to enter into 1940. And were going to see that in 1940 and 1941 things only start to accelerate in the Nazis', and, as we'll soon call them, the Axis Powers' favor. So in April, you have the Germans invade Denmark and Norway ...Denmark and Norway... ...let me make sure that I spell that right... So Germany invades Denmark and Norway. This is April of 1940. and then you have May of 1940 Germany invades the Netherlands and Belgum. So Netherlands.... let me just write...let me write... The Low Countries it's sometimes called because this place, the land in the Netherlands, right over here, is very close to sea level or sometimes even below sea level. Low Countries So invades Netherlands, invades Belgium. Kind of, kind of very similar to what happened in World War I, where that's kind of how Germany gets to France. And then in June, in June, Italy enters the fray. Italy, which we've seen before, Italy declares war. Italy in the war, Benito Mousselini in the run-up to World War II is getting closer and closer to Adolf Hitler. And so, in June, Italy declares war on the Allies, on Great Britain and France. And so now Italy, so now Italy is formally in World War II. And as soon as Italy joins World War II, you start having all these skirmishes out here between Italy's colonies, and it's kind of where they're ruling colonially, in Libya, and in Egypt where the British are essentially in control. So you start having all of these skirmishes across the border, the Egyptian and Libyan border. So that was, that was June, and actually June, Italy is into the war. And then shortly thereafter France falls to Germany. So this wasn't like World War I where we get kind of embroiled in all this trench warfare, that lasts over the duration of most of the war; very quickly, think about it, this is only what... eight, nine months into the war. France falls, a major power, France falls to Germany. And they install Vichy France, which at first is in control for the part of France roughly the part of France that I'm highlighting. This the town of Vichy, which was the capitol of Vichy France. Which is why it's called that. And then later the rest of what's called Free France falls to Germany, later in the war in 1942. But things are really, really not looking good for the Allies. So France falls, falls to Germany, the establishment of Vichy France, which is essentially controlled by the Germans, and then in July, Germany begins bombing Britain. So bombing... bombing Britain. The famous Battle of Britain, which was actually called The Battle of Britain even before it began. Winston Churchill said, hey, we have to prepare for the upcoming Battle of Britain. And Germany starts bombing Great Britain. And then thing get only worse from there. So in September, in September the Axis forms with Japan, Japan joining. Japan signs the Tripartite Pact, and so becomes... ...the Axis forms between Japan Italy and Germany. ...signs Tripartite Pact.... So Japan is in the mix, and since France is already fallen to Germany. So Japan is now formally part of the Axis with Italy and Germany And since France has fallen to Germany, Japan says, hey, maybe we can go after some of France's colonies, and in particular French-Indochina, which we now refer to as Vietnam and Cambodia. And so, shortly thereafter, Japan attacks French Indo-China. so things are not really looking good at all. and it only gets worse from there. In November... so once again we're a little over a year into the war now, we're entering the end of 1940, in November, Hungary and Romania are pressured to join the Axis So Hungary and Romania join the Axis So as we see as we kind of are leaving 1940, things are not looking good at all for the Allied powers. You see this map, and I apologize for my messiness, it's looking more and more and more red. The only slightly, kind of, saving grace for the Allied Powers is what's happening over here in North Africa, is that eventually the end of 1940, the British are able to drive the Italians back into Libya. So let me do this in a different color, I'll do blue for the Allies So the British are able to drive the Italian forces back into Libya. And they are essentially able to defeat the Italians in Libya, and, but that's only going to take us into 1941, which I'll talk about in the next video, where the Germans send reinforcements under the command of Rommel, and they're able to drive the British back again into Egypt, and we'll see in 1941 Germany and the Axis Powers only become more and more and more aggressive. And as we enter the end of 1941 we'll see the entry of the US into World War II.