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The Austrian Anschluss
The event occurred on March 12th, 1938. Hitler had called for all German speaking people to unify under Germany. This included German speaking people in Austria and Czechoslovakia. Hitler then threatened to invade Austria unless his demands were met. Austria’s chancellor gave in to this demand but then made the matter a democratic vote. Hitler feared that the vote wouldn’t end in him gaining Austria so he ended up invading Austria and announced Anschluss(unification) of Austria and Germany. -
The Munich Conference
This event occurred on September 29th, 1938. Hitler had unified Austria and Germany but now wanted to claim Sudetenland. It was an area of Czechoslovakia with a large German-speaking population. They resisted Germany’s demands. France threatened to step in if Germany were to attack Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union also promised to aid if an attack. Britain was to step in as well if France were to help. They met at the Munich Conference and ended up agreeing to Hitler’s demands to prevent a war. -
Hitler demands Danzig
This event occurred on March 31, 1939. A month after the Munich Conference Hitler had demanded that Danzig should be returned to Germany. The city had been a part of Poland since WW1. These demands showed Britain and France that war was inevitable. Britain then announced if Poland went to war then Britain and France would be forced to step in. Later in May, Hitler ordered his army to prepare to invade Poland. He also wanted to make a deal with the Soviets so he didn’t have to fight them as well. -
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
The event occurred on August 30th, 1939. The Germans proposed a nonaggression treaty to the soviets and Stalin agreed to it. He believed that this was the best way to protect the USSR from entering the war. The pact shocked the world because communism and nazism were supposed to be total opposites. Britain and France knew why the treaty was made. It was so Hitler was free to wage war against them and Poland. The treaty had also contained a deal to divide Poland between Germany and the USSR. -
The Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland happened on September 1st, 1939. Two days after the invasion Britain and France declared war against Germany. Poland resisted the Germans for some time but eventually lost. Germany’s army was far too advanced for the Polish army. The Germans had better technology and used a new type of warfare, “blitzkrieg”. This new form of warfare had a large number of tanks push through enemy lines to quickly circle enemies. By September 27th, Poland had crumbled against Germany. -
The Fall of France
The event began on May 10th,1940. The French and the British had declared war on Germany but didn't do much to help Poland. The British had sent forces to France and waited at the Maginot Line for the Germans. This decision was a mistake. It made the Germans invade the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Then the allied forces had to go to Belgium. That helped the Germans go straight through the forces they left at the border. This ended in the allies' armies being stuck in Belgium. -
The Evacuation of Dunkirk
The evacuation occurred on June 4th, 1940. The Germans had pushed the Allied troops towards the English channel. Their only hope was to evacuate through sea but only the port of Dunkirk was available. Hitler was going to send his troops to attack but ended up not attacking in hopes that they would be willing to end the conflict. They ended up evacuating 338,000 troops. It had a cost though, almost all of the equipment had been left at Dunkirk. A few weeks later, the French surrendered. -
The Battle of Britain
The event occurred on June 4th, 1940. Winston Churchill delivered his speech saying that they will never surrender. The speech was meant to rally the British and alert the US. Germany couldn’t simply invade Britain without first destroying the air force. The battle became known as the Battle of Britain. They bombed each other’s capitals and even though the British were outnumbered, they had radar which helped them take out German fighter pilots. Eventually Hitler retreated his troops.
