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Hitler began his Saturday Surprises
Hitler reinstated the draft, the air force, and began rearming the Germany. This was the first of his Saturday Surprises, followed by another on March 7, 1963. This second one was the day that the German army took the Rhineland. -
Hitler and the Nazis invade and take over Austria
After making many threats to the Austrian Prime Minister, Kurt von Schuschingg, the Nazis invaded the country. They could do this in part because of their newfound allies, the Italians. The Austrians voted that they approved of the takeover with an overwhelming 99.7%. -
Munich Agreement
With tensions rising over Hitler's demands for Sudetenland, Benito Mussolini called for a conference between France, Germany, Britain, and Italy. This conference was held in Munich, Germany. France and Britain eventually accepted this agreement because they were promised that this would be the last territory Hitler would take, and because they were attempting to appease Hitler to prevent war. -
Hitler declares war on Poland
Hitler declared war on Poland because he wanted the land. He said that Polish soldiers had attacked Gleiwitz. In fact, Nazis had rounded up some of the prisoners of a concentration camp and dressed them in Polish soldier uniforms. Poles who had previously supported Hitler and the Nazis were afraid from this news, and now everyone was forced to accept Nazism. -
Intelligent Poles were sent to concentration camps
Hitler decided to send all educated Polish people to concentration camps, including 167 professors from Cracow University. He then allowed other intelligent people to "vanish without a trace into the night and fog." He followed this by not allowing most Polish children to advance past the fourth grade, unless they looked Aryan and had Aryan backgrounds. -
Winston Churchhill is elected as the new Prime Minister of England
Following numerous Nazi victories, there was a call for a new prime minister in England. Winston Churchill was elected to this position. He first swore to defeat the Nazis at any cost. He would only accept victory over Hitler's reign of terror. -
Hitler and the Nazis invade Russia to wipe out the Jews
Hitler announced his plans to invade Russia. He decided to do this to rid of the "Jewish-Bolshevik menace." Jewish-Bolshevik was a conspiracy theory that the Jews were secretly running the Communist movements. Hitler was vehemently agaisnt this. -
The United States of America enters World War II
After evading conflict for the most part, the United States were provoked into entering the war. The day before they had entered the war, Pearl Harbor, a naval base located in Hawaii, was bombed by Japan. The United States then declared war on Japan, which was followed by Germany delcaring war on the United States.
