-
Hitler Meets With Top Advisors
Hitler and his advisors discuss and declare that to grow and prosper Germany needed the land of its neighbors. Hitler's plan was to absorb Austria and Czecholovakia into the Third Reich. -
Period: to
German Expansion
-
Anschluss- "Union"
German troops marched into Austria unopposed. A day later, Germany announced that its Anschluss, or "union," with Austria was complete. The United States and the the rest of the world did nothing. -
Sudetenland & Munich Agreement
Hitler then turned to Czechoslovakia. about three million German-speaking people lived in the western border regions of Czechoslovakia called Sudetenland. They signed the Munich agreement, which turned Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired.
Munich Agreement: People involved- British prime minister Neville Chamberlain and French Premier Edouard Daladier.
Famous quote- "My friends, there has come back from Germany peace with honor. I believe it is peace in our time." -
The German Offensive Begins
German troops poured into what remained of Czechoslovakia. Hitler declared that Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist. After that, the German dictator set his gaze toward Germany's eastern neighbor, Poland. -
Non-Aggression Act
Stalin signed the non-aggression act with Hitler. Fascist Germany and the communist Russia now committed to never attach each other. -
Luftwaffe & Blitzkrieg
The German Luftwaffe, or German air force, roared over Poland, dropping bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. German tanks raced across countrysides. This invasion was the first test of Germany's newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg, or lighting war. This strategy made use of advances in technology by having powerful tanks and aircrafts, and take the enemy by surprise by using an overwhelming force. -
The Phony War
After the fall of Poland, French and British troops on the Maginot Line sat staring into Germany, waiting for something to happen. On the Siegfried Line a few miles away German troops stared back. The Germans called this sitzkrieg or the sitting war. Newspapers referred to this as the phony war. -
Invasion & End of the Phony War
Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order to protect their "freedom and independence." But in truth, Hitler was planing to build bases along the coast to strike a Great Britain. Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. The Phony War had finally ended. -
The Battle of Dunkirk
The German offensive trapped almost 400,000 British and French soldiers as they fled to the beaches of Dunkirk on the french side of the English Channel. A makeshift fleet of almost 800 vessels ferried about 330,000 British, French, and Belgian troops to safety across the Channel. A few days later, Italy entered the war on the side of Germany and invaded France. -
The Fall of France
Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender. Germans will occupy the northern part of France and a Nazi-conrolled puppet government. After France fell, a french general named Charles de Gaulle fled to England where he set up a government-in-exile. -
The Battle of Britain & RAF
Germany started to make bombing runs over Britain. The goal was to completely destroy Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF). About 2,000 planes raged over Britain and pounded London for two solid months. The RAF fought back brilliantly by having a new technological device called a radar. The RAF shot down over 185 German aircrafts. Six weeks later, Hitler called off the invasion of Britain. Still, German bombers pounded Britain's cities and British pilots also continued to bomb German cities.
