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German troops marched into Austria unopposed. A day later Germany announced that its union with Austria was complete. The United States and the rest of the world did nothing -
Hitler met secretly with his top military advisers. He boldly declared that to grow and prosper Germany needed the land of its neighbors. His plan was to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich. -
late spring, Stalin sent his Soviet army into Finland. After three months of fighting, the outnumbered Finns surrendered -
In the spring of 1939, Hitler began his familiar routine, charging that Germans in Poland were mistreated by the Poles and needed his protection -
German troops poured into what remained of Czechoslovakia. At nightfall Hitler gloated,“Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist.” -
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 -
two days following the terror in Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
during late summer, Germans began to assemble an invasion fleet along the French coast -
Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order “to protect those countries' freedom and independence.” But in truth, Hitler planned to build bases along the coasts to strike at Great Britain. Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. -
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 Pétain, would be set up at Vichy in southern France. -
RAF shot down over 185 German planes; at the same time, they lost only 26 aircraft. Six weeks later Hitler called off the invasion of Britain indefinitely