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First "Saturday Surprise"
Claiming it is for "defence", Hitler announces new plans for Germany, military-wise. He will start up the air force, the draft, and will "rearm" the nation. He again states it is for defensive purposes. -
Invasion of Austria
In 1936, Hitler allies Germany with Italy. He also declared that Austria must join "Greater Germany", and gave the Austrian Prime Minister three days to make up his mind. On March 11th, German troops entered and seized Austria. -
The Sudetenland Issue
Hitler wanted to control a part of Czechoslovakia called Sudetenland, which was home to about three million German speaking people. This created a greeat deal of tension, which was only resolved after a meeting was called by the leaders of Italy, Germany, France, and Britain which ended in Hitler taking Sudetenland. Nobody supported the poeple of Czechoslovakia in this meeting. -
The Taking of Czechoslovakia
Hitler took over all of Czechoslovakia less than two months after speaking about "peace in our time". No leaders spoke out about this invasion. He vowed it would be his last European territorial claim. -
Attack on Poland
The Polish city of Piotrkow was heavily bombed, causing massive death and destruction. On September 5th, German troops entered the city and controlled it after a short two hours of ground fighting. They also proceeded in killing any Jews they found about the city. -
Poland Under Nazi Control
All Jews in Poland were forced to wear "yellow stars" by the end of the year. Only "Aryan" children were taught well and given iver a fourth grade education. Soldiers were very cruel to the people of Poland, even forcing a rabbi to spit on the Torah and killing civilians. -
Focusing on the West
Hitler continued his invasion of Europe, capturing Denmark and Norway, and later controlling Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Hitler controlled most of Europe (all of Western Europe) except for Britain, who promised to "wage war, by sea, land or air, with all our might." Most captured countries had a military, civilian, or SS controlled government. -
Invading Russia
Hitler ordered troops to invade Russia. Four SS groups followed behind the troops, tasked with killing anyone who might be an enemy of the state. Russian Jews were uninformed of the danger they might face at the hands of the Germans, due to being uninformed and did not know the danger they faced. -
United States Enters the Fray
Strong Russian resistance forced Germay to withdraw from Russia. The Japanese led an attack on the US naval base, Pearl Harbor and the United States declared war on Japan. Japan asked for Hitler's support in fighting the United States and he obliged, declaring war on the US. It was now three superpowers, United States, Russia, and Britain, against Germany.
