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Hitler Meets with His Advisers
Hitler met with his top military advisers and declared his idea of expanding Germany by the land of its neighbors. His plan was to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich. -
Union with Austria
German troops marched into Austria without any problem. The next day, Germany announced that its "Anschluss" with Austria was complete. -
Hitler Takes Sudetenland
Hitler wanted to take Sudetenland, which was a western portion of the country filled with German-speaking people. He falsely accused the Czechs of abusing the people living there in order for other leaders to side with him. -
The Munich Agreement
France and Great Britain promised to protect Czechoslovakia. Hitler invited them to Munich to discuss the predicament. They both believed Hitler's accusations of Czechoslovakia and signed The Munich Agreement, which handed Sudetenland over to Germany without any fighting involved. -
Hitler Takes the Rest of Czechoslovakia
German trooped poured into what was left of Czechoslovakia, and invaded Bohemia. He then declared "Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist". -
Germany and Russia Split Poland
Hitler accuses Poland of mistreating the German-speakers who lived there, but some people thought that he was lying this time around. Hitler was afraid of attacking Poland because of the Soviet Union neighboring the country. Stalin, the Russian dictator, signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler, saying that they would never attack each other. They then signed a secret pact, which agreed to divide Poland between the two countries. -
Blitzkrieg in Poland
The German Luftwaffe flew over Poland and dropped bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. German tanks also ran along the countryside and spread fear and confusion among the citizens. The invasion was the start of Germany's blitzkrieg, or the lightning war. -
The Phony War
For the next several months after Germany took over Poland, French and British troops sat on the Maginot Line waiting for something to happen. German troops sat and waited on the other side, the Siegfried Line. The aftermath of the Blitzkrieg came the Sitzkrieg, or the "sitting war", or what it was referred to as the phony war. -
Hitler Invades Denmark and Norway
Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway without any warning. He planned on building bases along the coasts to strike at Great Britain. -
Miracle of Dunkirk
German troops trapped almost 400,000 British and French soldiers as they fled to Dunkirk. More than 800 fishing trawlers, tugboats, river barges, pleasure craft, etc., carried over about 330,000 British, French and Belgian troops to safety in England. -
The Fall of France
Italy entered the war on Germany's side and went into France from the south as the German troops went towards Paris from the North. France surrendered. -
The Battle of Britain
Knowing that Britain had a much stronger navy, Germany started an air war in attempt to invade England. Their goal was to destroy Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF). Every night for 2 months, bombs from the Luftwaffe went off on London. With the help of radar technology, the RAF fought off successfully, and Hitler called off the invasion.
