(UTFPR) In 1935, Germany had restarted armaments production and re-established compulsory military service, contrary to the Treaty of Versailles. In 1938, it annexed Austria; soon after, it incorporated the Sudetenland region, which was home to German minorities in Czechoslovakia, and signed a non-aggression and neutrality agreement with the Soviet Union. The seed of the Second World War was planted, which broke out on September 1, 1939, with (a):
a) effective participation of Nazi troops in the Spanish Civil War, through the invasion of Madrid.
b) invasion of Poland by Nazi troops and the action of England and France in aid of their allies, declaring war on the Third Reich.
c) breaking of the German-Soviet Pact with the invasion of Russian territory by Nazi troops.
d) departure of the German invaders from the Sudetenland, in Czechoslovakia, to invade Hungary.
e) takeover of the “Polish corridor”, which led to the free city of Danzig, by Nazi allies, mainly Italians.
question 2The Wehrmacht was much better armed and armored than their enemies. Poland was a poor country with only a few thousand military and civilian trucks; its national budget was smaller than that of the city of Berlin.
HASTINGS, Max. The world at war 1939-1945. Rio de Janeiro:Intrinsic, 2012, p. 27.
The passage mentions the unpreparedness of the Polish army during the invasion of its territory by German troops in September 1939. In addition, there was another fundamental factor, in tactical terms, to understand the German victory, which was:
a) the Russian invasion of eastern Poland, which was instrumental in demobilizing the forces that would be sent to fight the Germans.
b) the war tactic employed by the Germans, which consisted of coordinating simultaneous attacks by the various forces, the blitzkrieg.
c) the population's little engagement with the struggle, since there were a large number of ethnic Germans in the Polish army.
d) there was no other decisive element for the conflict besides this one.
e) the use of cavalry, which ensured better locomotion for German troops in battles against the Poles.
question 3For Hitler, the conquest of Poland was an important part of the construction of the lebensraum . This concept was developed by him in his book “Minha Luta”, written between 1924 and 1925, in prison. Define what lebensraum was :
a) institution of German as the official language of the whole of Europe.
b) annexation of Polish troops to the German army to increase the Nazi ranks.
c) foundation of a Nazi branch in Eastern Europe that would be fundamental for the propagation of Nazi ideals as opposed to Bolshevism.
d) construction of the so-called “living space”, where the new German Reich would be developed.
e) cooperation project with the Soviet Union in which both committed to persecute Jews in Eastern Europe.
question 4In March 1939, the British and French governments gave guarantees, formalized in subsequent treaties, that they would fight if there was German aggression against Poland. If the worst happened, France promised the military leadership in Warsaw that its army would attack Hitler's Siegfried line within thirteen days of mobilization. Britain promised an immediate offensive with bombers against Germany. The guarantees offered by the powers reflected cynicism, as none of them had the slightest intention of fulfilling them:they were intended to deter Hitler rather than provide genuine military assistance to Poland.
HASTINGS, Max. The world at war 1939-1945. Rio de Janeiro:Intrinsic, 2012, p. 16.
The promised help from the United Kingdom and France was limited to a small movement of the French army for eight kilometers in German territory. As mentioned in the above excerpt, both nations had no intention of helping the Poles, and the declaration of war against Germany was not issued until September 3, 1939. If these nations had no real intention of fighting Germany , what, then, was the real strategy with the declaration of war?
a) The Anglo-French declaration of war was a kind of bluff with which they hoped to force Hitler's retreat for fear of a conflict between the two nations.
b) Forcing the US into the war to secure the military cooperation agreements signed between the UK and US in 1938.
c) Force the entry of the Soviet Union into the conflict by demonstrating commitment to the defense of the Slavic people.
d) Promote popular dissatisfaction in Germany, since it was well known at the time that the German population was against the war.
e) The declaration of war was used by Neville and Chamberlain for the purpose of self-promotion, as the elections for prime minister were approaching in both countries.
answers Question 1Letter B
The war officially started with the Nazi invasion of Poland, on September 1, 1939. Two days later, on the 3rd, France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany as a way of guaranteeing the agreements. defense that they had signed with the Poles. However, no troops were sent to defend Poland. This country had to deal alone with the German invasion and, in less than a month, it had already been dominated. The country was also invaded by the Soviets on September 17, 1939.
question 2Letter B
The blitzkrieg was instrumental in the victory, not only in Poland, but in almost all German conquests in the first phase of the Second World War. The tactic consisted of using coordinated attacks between aviation, armor and infantry. The purpose of aviation was to cut off opposing communications to prevent defense against air attacks. In addition to attacking weak points of enemy lines, the armored and infantry took turns attacking a point in the Polish army and, with that, they broke the enemy's lines and infiltrated from the ruptures. In contrast, the Polish army was obsolete and had chosen inadequate defense tactics, which also contributed to its defeat.
Question 3Letter D
Lebensraum consisted in the creation of Germany's “living space” from the construction of a new Reich. This idea was developed by Hitler in his book Mein Kampf and was based on the territorial expansion of the German people into Eastern Europe in order to colonize these lands and exploit the material resources they offered. Furthermore, in lebensraum , included the idea of recovering former German territories that were lost after the Treaty of Versailles, signed at the end of the First World War.
Question 4Letter A
United Kingdom and France were not willing to fight Germany, so the declaration of war was a kind of bluff aimed at forcing a retreat from Hitler to avoid a confrontation against these two nations. . During the late 1930s, the condescending way in which the British and French prime ministers had acted on the Nazi project of territorial expansion ended up motivating the German invasion of Poland. The only demonstration of aid to Poland was a small march made by French troops on German territory, which, however, did not generate fighting. Poland, isolated, resisted for a few days, and its capital, Warsaw, surrendered on September 28, 1939.