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[[File:looking at map eastern fron october 1941.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|Adolph Hitler studying a map of the Eastern Front, 1941.]]

There were a plethora of factors that went into deciding the outcome of World War II. Political ideologies and national opinions were vastly different for the combatants, even amongst allied countries such as the United States and the Soviet Union. The industrial might of the United States was unmatched and Russia was the largest state in the world. Germany boasted brilliant generals and early in the conflict made great use of their innovative Lightning War, the Blitzkrieg.

[[File:anschluss 1938.jpg|thumbnail|300px|German troops marching into Austria after annexation, 1938.]]

He first targeted Austria. Through a series of threats on Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schluschnigg and terrorist activities by the SA, the Anschluss was completed on March 12, 1938 and Austria was officially annexed by Germany. Next on Hitler’s agenda was the Sudetenland along the Czechoslovakian border. Germany’s land grabs did not go unnoticed by formidable European powers. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain organized a conference in Munich that included representatives from France, Germany, and Italy. Employing a policy of appeasement, Chamberlain agreed not to interfere with Germany’s annexation of the Sudetenland if in turn, Hitler guaranteed that there would be no war. The Munich Pact was signed on September 29, 1938, after which time Chamberlain returned to England with the announcement, “There will be peace in our time.” With that piece of business complete, Hitler then turned his aims toward Poland.<ref>Toth, October 25, 2011.</ref>

The German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, [[The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact- Stalin’s greatest mistake?|the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]], was signed August 23, 1939. This agreement was a guarantee by both nations that neither would turn hostile toward the other. The “secret clause” that was incorporated into the agreement stated that Poland was to be split between the two conquering countries.<ref>Michael J. Lyons, ''World War II: A Short History'', 5th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010), 57-58.</ref>This strategically brilliant move by Hitler guaranteed that Germany could invade Poland without interference from the Soviet Union and, perhaps more importantly, assured Hitler that once he waged his campaign to the west, he would not have to be concerned with a two-front war. With the efficiency of the Blitzkrieg, Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Per the Non-Aggression Pact, the eastern portion of the conquered nation belonged to the Soviet Union. With the threat of an attack by Stalin eliminated, Hitler turned west.

[[File:dunkirkmap.gif|thumbnail|250px|Positions at Dunkirk.]]

After the invasion of Poland, both Britain and France declared war on Germany. The French military had constructed a defensive barrier during the interwar years known as the Maginot Line; so named after the French Minister of War, Andre Maginot. This line consisted of steel and concrete forts that housed large guns, casements and pill boxes for smaller guns, and an underground network of tunnels and facilities. [[Why was France defeated in 1940?|The line, however, was greatly flawed]]. Although the southern end terminated at the Swiss border, the line continued north only to the point where France, Luxembourg, and Belgium converged. Enemy penetration of the line was possible through the gap to the north.

By opting for this slower moving tactic, the Allies were afforded the precious gift of time and were able to begin evacuation maneuvers. With the aid of ordinary British citizens from all walks of life and in all types of water crafts, between May 27 and June 4, 1940, 338,000 Allied soldiers managed to escape Dunkirk, 224,000 of which were British.<ref>Lyons, 81.</ref>This was a tremendous morale boost for Allied soldiers and citizens alike. Additionally, the men who escaped were reincorporated into the British fighting forces. If Hitler had pursued his attack and decimated the troops at Dunkirk, he may have been able to force Churchill into peace negotiations in the early summer of 1940 while the Non-Aggression Pact was still in effect; at the same time that Paris fell to Germany, and before the U.S. entered the war. He instead fought an air war (The Battle of Britain) over England from July through October 1940 and the following year turned his attentions toward the east.

[[File:barbarossa map.jpg|thumbnail|320px|Map of Operation Barbarossa.]]

June 22, 1941 marked the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. For this intricate attack, German troops were split into three divisions: Army Group North, under von Leeb; Army Group South, commanded by von Rundstedt; and Army Group Center, led by von Bock. Army Group North was destined for Leningrad, the troops under von Rundstedt in the south were to proceed through Ukraine to secure the plentiful natural resources of that country, and von Bock’s men in the Center Group were ordered through the Soviet portion of Poland to Belorussia and on to Moscow.<ref>Lyons, 107. For two excellent, in-depth accounts of the invasion, see John Erickson and David Dilks, eds., ''Barbarossa: The Axis and the Allies'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1994) and David Glanz, ''Barbarossa: Hitler’s Invasion of Russia, 1941'' (Charleston, SC: Tempus, 2004).</ref>