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Treaty of Versailles
The signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28th, 1919 ended WWI. It stated that the Germans must end all fighting with the Allied Powers. It did not become effective until January 10th, 1920.
Soon enough they went back on the treaty and started invading nearby countries. -
The Annexing of Austria and Czechoslovakia
Hitler had a secret meeting with his military advisers and planned on invading and annexing Austria and Czechoslovakia. He wished to expand Germany so it could grow and prosper to its full capacity. Hitler knew that annexing these countries would cause war and was prepared to lie and get other countries to aid him in the upcoming years. -
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Union With Austria
Hitler planned to annex Austria first because a large majority of their citizens were already for the unification of Germany and Austria. The citizens of Austria did not resist the soldiers marching through their streets and the very next day, March 13th, 1938, Germany announced that the unification was complete -
Territorial Demand of Sudetenland
About 3 million German speaking people lived in Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia. Hitler planned to annex Sudetenland to provide more living space for German citizens along with using Sudetenland for its natural resources.
Hitler met with the British prime minister (Neville Chamberlain) and the French premier (Edouard Daladier) to avoid having a war. Britain and France both promised to assist Czechoslovakia when the Germans try to invade again; which they knew would inevitably happen. -
Hitler Invades the Rest of Czechoslovakia
On this day Hitler invaded and took over the rest of Czechoslovakia and soon planned to take Poland -
Soviet Union Declares Neutrality
In the spring of 1939 Hitler planned to get Poland to join Germany. However, he knew that taking Poland would possibly anger the Soviet Union (the eastern neighbor to Poland). So Germany and communist Russia had a secret meeting and agreed with a nonaggression pact to never attack each other. Hitler and Stalin also made a secret pact to divide Poland, once captured, between the two countries.
The union between Germany and the Soviet Union would prevent a two-front war for Germany. -
Poland is Taken
On this day Germany invaded Poland with their military. They used blitzkrieg tactics. This was the use of fast tanks and more powerful aircraft to surprise their enemies.
Two days later, September 3rd, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany -
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Surprise Invasion of Denmark and Norway
Hitler invaded Denmark claiming that he wanted to "protect their freedom and independence" when in reality he wanted to set up military bases along Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. By setting up bases along the outer edges of these countries Hitler would have easy access to attack Great Britain and France. -
Fall of France
Italy joins the war as an ally of Germany and assists the German military in taking control of France. On June 22nd, 1940 France surrendered the northern area of their country to the German citizens and the southern part to the German government.
In the late summer of 1940 the Germans also tried to take Britain using mostly air attacks but Hitler pulled most of his troops out unable to claim Britain without losing too many men.
