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On January 30, 1933 Hitler had been named chancellor
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Hitler initiated a new German society that became known as the Third Reich; he proclaimed it would last 1,000 years. Not content to rule Germany, he followed a policy of Lebensraum (living room) to seize lands outside Germany to allow the German people to expand their living space.
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Blame fell on a young Dutch communist, but it may have been a Nazi plot. Hitler seized the opportunity to convince members of the Reich stag to approve an emergency decree that that legalized Nazi thuggery.
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German troops invaded Poland. This time, Britain and France declared war. In far-off Asia, Japan and China were already at war. The invasion of Poland is often called the beginning of World War II.
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Hitler made perhaps his biggest gamble—the invasion of the Soviet Union
