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On November 5 1937,Hitler met secretly with his top military advisers. He boldly declared that to grow and prosper, Germany needs to take over Austria and Czechoslovakia.
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On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria unopposed. A day later, Germany announced that its "union", with Austria.
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On September 30, 1938, German Hitler, France premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement. The Munich Agreement provided "cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory" of Czechoslovakia.
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As dawn broke on March 15, 1939, German troops poured into what remained of Czechoslovakia. , German troops occupied Czech Bohemia and Moravia and Chancellor Hitler traveled to the Czech capital, Prague. The next day, Hitler decreed: “The Bohemian-Moravian countries belonged for a millennium to the living space of the German people."
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The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, or the Nonaggression Pact was signed August 23, 1939- fascist Germany and communist Germany and communist Russia now committed never to attack each other.
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As Day broke on September 1, 1939, the German Air Force, roared over Poland, raining bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. At the same time, German tanks raced across the Polish countryside, spreading terror and confusion. This was called blitzkrieg or lightning war.
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On September 3, 1939, in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany.
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On April 9, 1940 Hitler launched a surprise invasion on Denmark and Norway in order "to protect their freedom and Independence". In truth, Hitler planned to build bases along the coasts to strike Great Britain.
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On June 22, 1940, at Compiègne, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender. Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Petain, would be set up at Vichy, in southern France.
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The Battle of Britain raged in through the summer and fall. . On September 15, 1940 the The Royal Air Force shot down over 185 German planes: at the same time, they lost only 26 aircraft of their own. Six weeks later Hitler called off the invasion of Britain indefinitely.
