Read Part I before reading this!
Though France and Britain have declared war on Germany as a result of its invasion of Poland, nothing much happens since the Allies do not want to invade Germany and Germany cannot invade the Allies. The reason the Allies are so hesitant to invade Germany is that they want to avoid a repeat of the First World War. This period is known as the Phony War, the phase of the war in which neither side does anything of significance.
Instead of fighting a war directly, France and Britain look north, to Norway and Sweden. Neutral Sweden is exporting iron ore, a material critical in the making of tanks, to Germany via neutral Norway. The Allies ask Norway to stop exporting iron ore to Germany, which Norway refuses. Britain responds by promptly mining all the waters around Norway. Germany sees what’s happening and launches an invasion through Denmark and into Norway. The British rush to send troops, but Germany takes control of all the major airfields, which drives them out.
Germany now turns its full attention to the West. Germany wants to invade the Benelux region (The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg) in order to attack France from the North. But France and Britain are expecting this and rushed their troops into Belgium as soon as Germany invades. What France is not expecting is that Germany will smash its tanks through the Ardennes, a heavily forested region previously deemed impenetrable. This strategy is known as Blitzkrieg, The Germans manage to corner the Allied forces at Dunkirk where the British display an act of bravery and valor by sailing away to England. The French forces are left stranded and are destroyed by the German tanks.
Now with the best of the French Army gone, France falls within a few weeks. This is a massive blow, and Germany hopes Britain will sue for peace after this. But oddly enough, they don’t, Hitler tries many tactics to discourage them from continuing the war. The first is that he doesn’t occupy all of France, he only occupies to Atlantic and northern coasts for defense. While the rest of France exists as a puppet state to The Axis powers, this makes it seem like Britain's former ally has abandoned them and joined the other side. Secondly, Italy also declares war on France, further darkening the situation for Britain. Germany also commences frequent bombing raids on civilian targets in London and other populated areas. Hitler also uses submarine warfare to sink all ships, even if they carry civilians, near British waters to starve them of resources and supplies.
The reason The U.K. stayed in the war is partly that the peace terms require Germany’s former colonies to be returned to them. But it is mainly because of the wartime leadership of their newly elected Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
Germany will persist in its bombing of the U.K as it invades the Soviet Union. Japan will also sign an alliance and start expanding, it will also launch a raid on Pearl Harbor. This series of events will bring two monumental allies into the war, The United States and The Soviet Union.
