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During this event, Hitler stated that Germany would need to expand their territory in order to grow and prosper. In order to expand Germany's territory, his plan was to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich.
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On this day, German troops marched into Austria unchallenged. One day after, Hitler announced to the world that the "union" with Austria was complete. When this was announced, the rest of the world did nothing in order to stop Hitler.
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After Germany gained the land of Austria, he then wanted to gain land in Czechoslovakia. This land would be used to provide more living space for Germany as well as to control its important natural resources. In result, the Munich Agreement was signed which turned Sudetenland over to Germany.
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On this day, German troops took over the land that remained in Czechoslovakia. In order to prevent this from happening, Churchill had warned to the people that Hitler was not finished expanding. However, no one believed Churchill and the land of Czechoslovakia became land that belonged to the Germans.
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On this day, Hitler began telling people that Germans who were living in Poland were mistreated by the Poles and needed his protection. However, Poland was skeptical because an attack on them would cause conflict with the Soviet Union. The German air force ended up raining bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities located in Poland.
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Two days after Poland was attacked by the German air force, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Germans have come up with a military strategy called "blitzkrieg" which means lightening war. This strategy included the use of fast tanks and powerful aircrafts. By using this tactic against Britain and France, the major fighting was over in three weeks.
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On this date, Hitler launched a surprise attack on Denmark and Norway. Hitler launched this attack in order to "protect the freedom and independence of countries" in need of it. However, in reality, Hitler launched this attack in order to build bases along the coasts to strike at Great Britain.
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On this day, Germans had invaded France from the South. Instead of fighting against the Germans and protecting their own land, Hitler and his soldiers had made William Shirer surrender. In result, Germans occupied the northern part of France. Also, in the southern part of France, a Nazi-controlled government would be ran by Marshal Philippe Petain.
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During this period of time, an invasion was beginning to happen which would be ran by the Germans in the summer of 1940. This invasion fleet would occur along the French coast. Because Germany's army could not compare to that of Britain's, Germany had also planned to launch an air war at the same time.
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On this day, the Battle of Britain occurred. Thousands of German planes ranged over Britain dropping bombs on London every night for two months. In order to weaken the British, German planes bombed British targets. After that, German plane bombers targeted cities that were located in Britain.
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On this day, RAF decided to stick up for themselves as well as numerous other countries and fight back. British pilots tracked the flight paths of German planes with the use of a technological device called radar. This allowed the RAF to accurately shoot down over 185 German planes. In result, Hitler called off the invasion of Britain indefinitely.
