Lightning War: When the Blitzkrieg Fell on Us Quiz

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, beginning World War II. The Germans used a combined arms assault involving tanks, infantry, artillery and aircraft, punching holes in the Polish defenses and advancing into the rear areas. The Soviet Union also attacked Poland on September 17. Organized resistance was over by October 6, 1939, and the country was divided by the two powers.

While Denmark held no real strategic value for Germany, the country was invaded and occupied by the Germans on April 9, 1940, to help protect Norway, which was invaded on the same day. The Danish forces resisted for a few hours before surrendering.

Germany's invasion of Norway was to secure the port of Narvik and guarantee iron ore shipments to German industry. While this was a seaborne invasion, the tactics of Blitzkrieg were used once German troops were landed on April 9, 1940. British and French forces landed to assist the small Norwegian army, and the German Navy lost many ships to Royal Navy actions, but the country was overrun by June, 1940.

The small country of Luxembourg, with an army of only 425 soldiers, offered little resistance to the Germans when the invasion began on May 10, 1940. While some French cavalry troops skirmished with the Germans in Luxembourg, the country was occupied by the end of the day.

Lacking tanks and other modern weapons, the Dutch resistance to the May 10, 1940 German invasion was doomed to fail. The Dutch High Command surrendered on May 14, 1940.

As in World War I, the Germans invaded Belgium as part of the attack on France. Lacking tanks and effective anti-tank weapons, the Belgian Army held out for eighteen days, from May 10, 1940 until May 28, 1940.

At the outset of the war, the French Army was regarded as the strongest in the world. The combined French and British forces had more tanks than the Germans and had almost parity in the air, but outdated tactics and equipment meant defeat for the Allies. The Germans invaded on May 10, 1940, and an armistice was signed by the French on June 22, 1940.

Following the overthrow of the pro-Axis Yugoslav government, the Germans invaded on April 6, 1941. Italian and Hungarian forces aided the Germans, and the country was occupied by April 18, 1941.

Italian forces from Albania had attacked Greece in October, 1940, but the Greeks repelled the invasion and chased the Italians back into Albania. German forces attacked Greece on April 6, 1941, and, despite assistance from British and Commonwealth troops, the Greeks could not hold out. The Greek campaign ended with the German airborne assault and occupation of Crete by June 1, 1941.

The Soviet Union was never defeated and occupied by the Germans during World War II. The initial phase of the German Blitzkrieg on Russia lasted from June 22, 1941 until December 5, 1941, when a Soviet counter-attack drove the Germans back from just west of Moscow.

While the Germans still held the initiative in the East until 1943, their failure to capture Moscow and knock the Soviets out of the war in 1941 was a critical factor in the eventual Allied victory.