Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was caused when Germany had captured almost every country in Europe; Britain was the only country that had a big enough force to stand a chance of still resisting them. Germany’s plan was to try and destroy the Britain Air Force by bombing.  At first, Germany tried destroying small towns on the southern coast, and they found out that the British Air Force was very strong.  So they turned their attention to the Air Force by destroying runways and radar stations, but the British kept fighting back at Germany.  Hitler was furious that it was taking too long to conquer Britain, so Germans started bombing important cities like London.

On Sept.15, 1940, Germany thought they were close to victory, so they planned a large bombing attack on London, but Britain fought back.  The British Royal Air Force scattered the German bombers and shot down a number of planes.  It was clear that Germany was not close to victory. After more raids and attacks, Germany realized that they couldn’t destroy the British Air Force.  So they retreated, and Britain won, signaling the first defeat for Germany.

Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain

After the Nazis invaded Norway, PM Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill became Britain’s new PM.  He promised to refuse defeat or surrender. One of the major contributions made by Churchill during the war was making public broadcasts to the British people.  He was a brilliant speaker and his speeches gave hope to his people who were suffering from the Blitz (continuous bombings of Britain by Germany).

Churchill held important meetings with U.S. President Roosevelt and President Stalin of the Soviet Union. During the meetings, they discussed and planned about strategies for upcoming battles in order to defeat the Axis Powers.  Churchill led Britain throughout the war and was instrumental in helping lead the Allied countries to victory.

Germany starts invading Europe

After the battle of Poland ended on April 9, 1940, German forces invaded Norway and Denmark. 
On May 10, 1940, Germany began its assault on Western Europe by invading the Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg), each having took neutral positions in the war, as well as France. On June 22, 1940, France signed a contract with Germany, which provided Germany to occupy the northern half of the country.

Italy, a member of the Axis team (countries allied with Germany), joined the war on June 10, 1940.