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The Austrian Anschluss
“In late 1937 Hitler again called for the unification of all German speaking people including those in Austria and Czechoslovakia...In February 1938 Hitler threatened to invade German-speaking Austria unless Austrian Nazis were given important government posts...Hitler sent troops into Austra in March and announced the Anschluss,” says The American Vision. This quote is showing when Hitler wanted to expand Germany's territory so he called for a unification and then invaded. -
The Munich Conference
Hitler wanted to claim Sudetenland so France threatened to fight Germany if they attack, and the Soviet Union promised aid. To ease Hitler's demands, Britain and France gave him appeasements to keep the peace and avoid war. Eventually, Hitler kept wanting more, so in March 1939, Germany sent troops and divided Czechoslovakia. The Czech lands became a German protectorate. -
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
Germany created a treaty with the Soviet Union to avoid war with the USSR. This surprised many people because of the Germany and the USSR signed the nonagression pact, disregrading how communism and nazism are supposed to hate each other. Hitler also didn't know that did not know that contained a secret deal to divide Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union. -
The Invasion of Poland
Germany had invaded Poland which then caused Britain and France to declare war on Germany. This was the bginning of World War II. Poland had a very outdated army, while Germany used a new type of warfare called blitzkrieg, or lightning war. On September 27, 1939, Germany finally captured the Polish capital. On October 5, 1939, the Germans defeated the Polish military. -
Hitler Demands Danzig
Hitler demanded the city of Danzig be returned to German control. He also requested railroad and highway across the Polish Corridor. Britain and France believed that war was inevitable, so they announced that they'll help Poland defend if Hitler declared war. In May 1939, Hitler ordered the German army to prepare to invade Poland & tried to negotiate with the USSR, because Hitler didn't want to have to fights Soviets too. -
The Fall of France
Britain and France were ready and waiting for Hitler to attack, but Hitler decided to wait three days so that more infantry could arrive. Eventually, Hitler decided to attack by going around the Maginot Line, a defenseive wall put up by the French. Due to the fact that the Germans sent lots of tanks through the Ardennes Mountains, they defeated the French and trapped the British and French in Belgium. -
The Evacuation of Dunkirk
The French and British, trapped in Belgium, decided to try to get out through the only port remaining, Dunkirk. Hitler gave the troops a three day delay, hoping this would make it easy for him to get a peace treaty. British hoped to rescue about 45,000 troops but ended up saving around 338,000 French and British troops by the time evacuation ended. -
The Battle of Britain
Churchill believed that Britain would never surrender even though the French did. Hitler ordered the German airforce to attack British shipping in the English Channel. Hitler then ordered the airforce to destroy the British Royal Airforce. The British had an advantage because they had invented radar. On October 12, 1940, Hitler canceled the invasion of Britain, therefor the British basically won.