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First Saturday Surprise
Hitler announced to the world that he was rebuilding the German air force, reinstating the draft, and rearming the nation. This went against the Treaty of Versailles, but Hitler said it was only for defense. -
Second Saturday Surprise
Germany marhched troops into the Rhineland, which was still a part of Germany, even though the Treaty of Versailles had set it aside as a buffer between Germany and both France and Belgium, saying that Germany could not fortify that area. Germany went against the Treaty of Versailles again, and again nobody did anything about it -
Anschluss (Union of Germany and Austria)
Hitler threatened Austria saying that if they didn't allow themselves to be under German control, Germany would invade their country. The Austrian citizens allowed Germany to take over. Unlike the Prime Minister, most of the Austrian citizens actually approved of the Nazis taking over. No other countries bothered to help Austria. -
Treaty of Munich
Italy invited German, French and British leaders to a meeting in Munich, Germany to make an agreement between Germany and the other countries. They appeased Germany by agreeing to give Hitler the Sudetenland, as long as he asked for no more territiory. -
Hitler takes over all of Czechoslovakia
On this date, Hitler gives a speech to the Reichstag saying that other nations were hypocritical in their complaints that Germany mistreated Jews. Less than two months later, Hitler takes over all of Czechoslovakia. On top of this, Hitler continues to demand more territiory. -
Hitler declares war on Poland
Hitler makes a publicly broadcasted speech, declaring war on Poland. This makes most people very angry, because they hate the idea of having another war. The next day, German troops start marching into Poland. They claimed that they were retaliating for a Polish "attack on Gleiwitz." -
Great Britain and France declare war on Germany
Three days after the Nazis attacked Poland, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. They finally decided to try to stop the Nazis. -
Poland Surrenders
The Nazis take only 18 days to capture Poland. Once they had taken over, the Nazis sent many Jews and other prisoners to concentration camps. -
Nazis control all of Western Europe except Great Britain
The Nazis had been working their way west, conquering first Denmark and Norway then Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. By this date, France had finally fallen, and Hitler now controlled all of Western Europe except Great Britain. -
Dutch strike
After the Germans tried to deport four hundred Jews, the Dutch called a general strike. This caused a large amount of havoc. All transport and industry was halted. This strike helped turn almost everyone into one party: anti-German. -
Hitler orders invasion of Russia
Hitler says he wants to invade Russia to destroy once and for all the "Jewish-Bolshevik menace." Four SS units called the Einsatzgruppen were each assigned a territory in Russia. The Russian Jews had no idea they were in danger until it was too late. -
United States declares war on Japan
United States declares war on Japan because the day before Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. Japan asks for Hitler's support against the United States because Japan and Germany are allies. -
Germany declares war on the United States
Hitler did not want to avoid a fight, so he agreed to help Japan against the United States. By doing this, Hitler united three very powerful nations: Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Now these three powerhouses were all united to win the war over Germany.
