The Major Political and Military Events of 1938-1941

Germany's Anschluss with Austria

Mar 12, 1938

• Hitler creates a union b/w Germany and Austria
• in order to make Germany greater, he added the smaller nation

The Munich Pact

Sep 29, 1938

• Pact was made b/w four countries (Germany, Italy, France, and Great Britain)
• Locked Great Britain and France's agreement to Adolf Hitler's orders

Germany's Annexation of the Sudetenland

Oct 21, 1938

• Sudetenland consisted mostly of ethnic Germans
• The Jews living in Sudetenland were persecuted

Hitlers Annexation of Czech

Mar 16, 1939

• Czechoslovakia's northern and western regions were annexed
• Hitler left Czech very weak after the annexation

The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

Aug 1, 1939

• Stated that GErmany and Russia would not harm each other
• If something happened, the two countries had to work it out w/o fighting

Germany's Invasion of Poland

Sep 1, 1939

• it was the first military engagement of WWII
• hitler said "The decision to invade Poland was a gamble"

The Phony War

Sep 3, 1939

• Happened after the blitzkrieg attack on Poland, no one thought tanything would happen
• Called the "phony war" because nothing really happened

The Miracle at Dunkirk

May 26, 1940

• 350,000 men were trapped in the port of Dunkirk after the French and Britih were badly bent by Germany
• Aprox. 30,000 men were to be saved but the navy put out a call and saved over 340,000 men

The Fall of France

Jun 22, 1940

• On June 12, the French commander announced the lost the battle
• After losing the battle, the only option left was to end

The Battle of Britain

Jul 10, 1940

• Germany was trying to dominate the war in the air
• Their failure was a major turning point of WWII