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Hitler's Saturday Suprise
Adolf Hitler breaks the treaty of Versailles, on his first "Saturday Surprise". On this date Hitler announnced that he was reinstating the draft, rebuiling the airforce, and re armning Germany in the name of Defense. No one tried to stop or punish Hitler while he did so. -
Taking Austria
Hitler now thinks he is ready to take Austria. On February 12, 1938 he and Italian Prime Minister Mooselini bullied Austrian Prime Minister Kurt Schuschnigg for 11 hours. Finally Htiler gave him an ultimatum. If he did not give over Austria in three days, he would invade. The Prime Minister tried to get affiars in order, but failed. Hitler invaded with little resistance from Austrians. No foreign countries rushed to Austira's aid. Hitler had captured Austria. -
Appeasing Hitler
In 1938 Hitler made steps to take the Sudetenland, a collection of Many countires borders. World leaders met at the Munich Conference on September 30, 1938 to discuss various solutions. France, Russia, and the UK. At the end of the conference, most of the world was in shock, and Hitler had control of the Sudetenland. -
Taking Poland
In 1939 the Nazi's staged a fake attack on Germany by the Polish. using concentration camp inmates. This provoked Germany to act because they were "defending and retaliating against an attack". After Hitler invaded Poland, it was the last straw for most European nations. France and the UK declared war on Germany. -
Czechoslovakia and Appeasement
Also at the Munich Conference, Hitler conquered Czechoslovakia. The world leaders allowed this to happen, but they told Hitler not to go on further. This only egged Hitler on further, he was already on his way to taking Poland. -
Yellow Star
In late 1939 all Jews in Poland had to wear a Yellow badge in public, to signify that they were Jewish. Jews also had to go through a twice a day roll call. Regular Poles were also under Nazi control, and the Nazi's were controlling the education system. The Nazi's took many of the same steps they did in Germany. -
Fall of France
France falls to Nazi Germany in 1941. Earlier in 1941, the Nazis also conquered: Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. In May of1940, WInston Churchill took power in the uK, and the country became much more aggressive in the war. Anti Semitism was also now legal in all Nazi controlled countries. -
Invasion of Russia
Hitler now tries to invade Russia. The Nazi do kill a lot of "enemies", but do not succeed in taking Russia. This is one of the first times Hitler is unsuccessful in trying to capture a country. -
The Americans Enter
America was attacked at the Pearl Harbor naval base by Japan on Decemeber 7, 1941. This caused America to declare war on Japan. Since the USA declared war on the German-allied Japan, Germany declared war on the USA.
