1060 Ch. 26 • World War II

Map 26.2 The German and Italian Advance, 1939-1942 The opening of the

war included advances by the Germans into Poland, the U.S.S.R., the Scandina­

vian countries, the Balkans, and North Africa. The Italians sent troops into Alba­

nia, and from there into Greece. The British unsuccessfully attempted to take a

stand against the Germans in Norway, and British and French troops were evacu­

ated from the continent at Dunkirk.

The War in the Frozen North

While the “phony war” continued in the west, fighting began in northern
Europe. The Russian border with Finland, independent since the Russian
Revolution, lay only fourteen miles from Leningrad. Stalin demanded that
the Finnish government cede strategically important territories to the Sovi­
ets. When the Finnish government refused in November 1939, the Red