IT was now evident that the signing and breaking of the Munich Agreement was simply the latest step in a well-laid plan of political manoeuvring. By supporting General Franco in the Spanish Civil War since 1936, Hitler had ensured Spain would at least remain neutral. By supporting Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, he had isolated Austria, and gained the support of a colonial power in North Africa capable of hindering Britain’s path to India and Singapore.
Neville Chamberlain’s position weakened further when Germany eased past the Allies into Denmark and Norway in the Spring of 1940. He resigned in Churchill’s favour on May 10th, the day that Germany invaded Belgium and Holland, and just weeks before the scrambled evacuation of Dunkirk.
On June 10th, Italy officially threw in with Germany, and declared war on a defiant Greece the following October. France had already surrendered on June 22nd. From Norway to the Pyrenees, Britain faced a Europe united behind Germany.*
* It was not quite all Europe that Britain faced in 1940: Switzerland, Spain and Ireland remained neutral, and so at this point did the USSR. The entry of the USSR into ‘the Great Patriotic War’ on June 22nd, 1941, was a turning point; it is doubtful that the British Empire could have held out on her own, even with the help of the USA, which abandoned neutrality only after Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, Honolulu, on December 7th, 1941.
Précis
Germany foreign policy had been laying the ground for European expansion for several years, rallying support from Spain and Italy in order to isolate their neighbours and take the British Empire out of the equation. By the autumn of 1940, Britain was almost alone among the nations of western Europe in still opposing the German advance. (56 / 60 words)
Germany foreign policy had been laying the ground for European expansion for several years, rallying support from Spain and Italy in order to isolate their neighbours and take the British Empire out of the equation. By the autumn of 1940, Britain was almost alone among the nations of western Europe in still opposing the German advance.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, because, if, just, unless, until, whereas, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Our. Rule. Step.
2 North. Simple. Surrender.
3 Equal. Promise. Sign.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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