Category Archives: World War II

This week in the War, 29 Jan–4 Feb 1940: Soviet-Finnish war

Posted on February 1, 2012 by secondbysecond

On 30 January 1940, Hitler made a bellicose speech at the Berlin Sportpalast declaring that the first phase of the war was over with the conquest of Poland. At this time, much of the fighting was outside of the ‘official’ … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 22–28 January 1940: De Gaulle’s memo

Posted on January 24, 2012 by secondbysecond

With France supposedly secure behind its Maginot Line, most French people believed there was cause for optimism. Having the largest army in Europe, they reasoned that their country would surely prevail. This view was not shared by a certain French colonel, named Charles de … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 15–21 January 1940: Hitler’s intentions

Posted on January 17, 2012 by secondbysecond

Poland had fallen and battle was well underway on the Finnish-Soviet front, but, as far as the British and French were concerned, this was the period of ‘phoney war’ or ‘drole de Guerre.’ A huge French army had manned the forts of the … Continue reading →

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