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Period: to
World War Two
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Saturday Surprise #1
Hitler makes a speech at the Reichstag stating that he will begin to rebuild the German forces for 'defensive' purposes. He did this on a Saturday because many British government leaders were at their country homes for the weekend. Almost the entire German people believed that he was to use these armed forces for defensive purposes. -
Saturday Surprise #2
Rhineland was a nuetral zone between Belgium, France, and Germany. Germany had agreed to not to keep troops there. Germany ignored those terms with this attack. -
Germany invades Austria
Germany ivades Austria despite rejection from their prime minister. Hitler claimed that he was saving the country from chaos. Austria, however, denied this via radio. Yet, no country helped Austria defend itself. -
Munich Agreement
This agreement discussed the threatened invasion of Czechoslovakia. Hitler would agree to anything to capture this territory. They agreed after a long discussion that Hitler could have Czechoslovakia if he invaded no other countries. -
Hitler Invades Czechoslovakia
Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia just six years after becoming chancellor. Nobody from anywhere stood up for them. This marks Hitler breaking the Munich Agreement because he invaded more of Czechoslovakia then was agreed. -
Attack on Poland
On this date, Nazis brought some prisoners in a concentration camp to Gleiwitz, a town on the border of Poland and Germany. There, they dressed them in Polish uniforms, and exterminated them. Soon after, Hitler declasred war on Poland as a result of the 'Attack on Gleiwitz'. -
Himmler Plots Future
Himmler was deciding what was to be done with all of the students in a recently captured Poland. It was decided that all of the 'Aryans' would be sent to Germany for a higher education. Others who remained in Poland would only be taught up to the fouth grade. -
France Falls to Germany
France is conquered by German German forces. This marks the fall of a major enemy of the Nazi regime. This also marks another step Germany takes towards conquering all of western Europe. -
Invasion of Russia
Hitler orders the invasion of Russia or the Soviet Union then. He calls them the "Jewish-Bolshevik menace". At this point, Hitler has successfully dehumanized almost all of his enemies. -
War on the U.S.A.
Hitler declares war on the United States after the U.S. declared war on Japan. This war was declared as a result of the Pearl Harbor bombings three days prior. Since Japan and Germany were allies, Japan had asked HItler to help fight the Americans, and he had agreed. This put Hitler and the Nazis against three military superpowers: the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain.
