Illia+Dichev

Poland

Poland in Mourning Ex-Leader’s Twin Declares Run in Poland

Chapter 29 Section 1 page 929 1. As Hitler took over the rest of Czechoslovakia, Europe knew Poland was next. A. Hitler made a nonaggression pact with Stalin, the soviet leader. Both actually wanted to invade Poland and divide it up between them. B. On September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. France and Britain responded by declaring war on Germany 2 days later.

Chapter 29 Section 2 page 930 and 936 1. Hitler’s invasion revealed his blitzkrieg, or lightning war. A. Hitler used advanced tank and air power to strike first against Poland in the west. First, he sent in the Luftwaffe, the German air force to bomb airfields, factories and cities. Next came Hitler’s tanks and transports quickly forced the Polish army to surrender. B. In the east, Soviet forces quickly took over the land, which Stalin was promised in the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Before the month was over, Poland was now completely under the control of The Soviet Union and Germany. 2. In Poland, Hitler began forcing the Jews to live in ghettos where they were confined. Many died from starvation and other causes. But before long, Hitler had come up with a plan for the Jews; a genocide. A. Hitler built 6 death camps in Poland where all Jews and other kinds of people the Nazis hater were sent to and executed. B. As people reached the camps, they were separated from each other and the young and elderly were first to be executed. The rest were sent to “shower” rooms and gassed. By 1945, nearly 3 million Jews had been killed. This became known as the Holocaust.

Chapter 29 Section 5 page 954, Chapter 30 section 1 page 967 and Section 5 page 1003-1004 1. After WWII, Stalin took control over Eastern Europe and turned the countries there, including Poland into communist countries. A. When the Western forces created NATO, the Soviet Union responded by creating their own union, the Warsaw Pact. This was a union between the Soviet Union and their seven satellites, or the seven countries or regions ruled by the Soviets. B. In 1956, the Poles revolted against the Soviets because the Soviets were arresting non-communist leaders and seizing private land and industries. They challenged the Soviets through economic reform. C. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the new Russian leader and gave new freedoms to the communist countries. Countries such as Poland began breaking away from Soviet Satellite Empire. D. In the 1980s, Polish reforms brought down the Soviet satellite empire. Because of the bad economy, the polish shipyard workers went on strike and created their own independent workers union called Solidarity. Lech Walesa led Solidarity, which called for changes in the economy and politics. E. The Soviet Union forced the Polish government to outlaw Solidarity and arrest Lech Walesa. He became a symbol for Poland. He was later released from prison. Pope John Paul II, originally from Poland, came to Poland and met with Solidarity, criticizing the communists.