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Adolf Hitler met with his top military advisors and he declared to them that in order for Germany to prosper it needs to gain land. Hitler planned to take Austria and Czechoslovakia. His advisors prompted that this could cause war, but Hitler replied that "The German Question can only be solved by means of force."
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Austria was the first country that Hitler planned to seize. Most of Austria's population were Germans who wanted unification with Germany. On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria and on March 13, 1938, Germany announced its unification with Austria. The rest of the world did absolutely nothing.
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Hitler quickly sent German troops to the Czech Border. He charged the Czechs with abusing the Sudetan Germans. Hitler wanted Czechoslovakia to provide more living space for germans and to control important resources.
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France and Great Briain promised to protect the Czechs, so when war seemeed inevitable Hitler invited French premier Edouard Daladier and British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlin to Munich. They signed the Munich Agreement which gave the Sudentland to Germany without war.
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As a neighbor of Poland. Stalin of the Soviet Union shocked the world by signing the pact with Germany to never attack its previous enemies. They also signed a secret pact that divided Poland between them both (Germany and the Soviet Union).
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The German Air Force, Luffwaffe, dropped bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, and Polish cities while German tanks attacked the countryside. This was the first test of the German's new war strategy, Blitzkrieg, which translates to lightning war. Their goal was to take the enemy by surpirse and crush them before they even saw it coming.
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Two days after Germany attacks Poland, France, Britain, and Poland declare war on Germany. Germany's strategy was working and France and Britain didn't have time to fight back. After three weeks, Poland no longer existed World War II had just begun.
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"To protect freedom and independence," Hitler attacked Denmark and Norway. His real plan was to build military bases along their coastlines to attack Great Britain.
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As William Shirer watched, Hitler gave French Officers his terms of surrender. The northern part of France would go to Germany and southern France would be controlled by Nazi government which would be lead by Marshal Philippe Petian. Charles De Gaulle, a French General, decalred that "France has lost a batttle, but France has not lost a war." He fled to England to set up a government-in-exile.
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Germany's naval power could not compete with those of Britain, so they attacked from the air at the same time. The Luftwaffe started bombing Britain to gain control of Britain's Royal Air Force(RAF). In one day, 2,000 German planes flew over Britain and continued to bomb London. The Luftwaffe continued to bomb Britian for months.
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The RAF shot down over 185 German plains while they only lost 26 aircraft with the technological device called radar. This allowed British pilots to see the flight paths of German planes, even in darkness. Six weeks later, Hitler ended the invasion of Britain. Still, Germany continued to bomb Britain and Britian continued to bomb Germany.
