The Battle For FranceEssential Question: What territory did Hitler gain in

1940?

Denmark and Norway Fall The Germans finally attacked

Denmark on April 9, 1940. In four hours, Denmark fell. Two months later, Norway

surrendered as well.

May 1940 Hitler gained control of Holland,

Belgium, and Luxembourg and began marching toward France.

By May 26, the Germans had trapped the Allied forces in the French city of Lille.

The Allies escaped to the beaches of Dunkirk, but they were trapped.

Rescue of Dunkirk In one of the most heroic acts of the

war, Great Britain set out to rescue the army.

It sent a fleet of 850 ships across the English Channel to Dunkirk.

Along with Royal Navy ships, civilian crafts (yachts, lifeboats, motorboats, paddle steamers, and fishing boats) joined the rescue effort.

From May 26 – June 4, this armada, under heavy fire from German bombers, sailed back and forth from Britain to Dunkirk.

The boats carried 338,000 soldiers to safety.

France falls On June 10, Mussolini joined forces with

Hitler and declared war on Great Britain and France.

Italy then attacked France from the south. (German troops already occupied the north)

France fell by June 14. Nazi troops triumphantly marched down

Paris’s main boulevard. France officially surrendered on June 22.

Charles de Gaulle French general who fled to London. He set up a ‘government in exile’

committed to re-conquering France. De Gaulle organized the Free French

military forces and battled the Nazis until France was liberated in 1944.