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The Anschluss
Hitler wanted all German-speaking nations in Europe to be a part of Germany. To this end, he had designs on re-uniting Germany with his native homeland, Austria. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, however, Germany and Austria were forbidden to be unified. -
The Munich Conference
Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, and Benito Mussolini met in Munich on 29 Sep 1938 for what later came to be known as the Munich Conference; interestingly, Czechoslovakia was unrepresented at this meeting. At 0100 in the morning of 30 Sep 1938, in the Führerhaus at Königsplatz in Munich, the Munich Agreement ceded Sudetenland to Germany, effectively immediately, with Keitel named as the military governor. -
The Nazi Soviet Pact
On April 17 1939, the Soviet Ambassador to Germany discussed the possibility of better relations between the two countries. It was the first time Alexei Merekalov had called on the German Foreign
To show that he was serious about improving relations, Stalin sacked his Foreign Minister, Maksim Litvinov on May 3 and replaced him with Vyacheslav Molotov. It was announced with great fanfare on the Soviet newspapers. Molotov was a ‘close collaborator with Stalin’ as the US intell -
Danzig and the Polish Corridor
He was convinced that Germany had a right to the return of the Sudetenland ( a part of Poland and was at one time a part of Germany). At least that is what he said. The truth is that it was pretext to gain control of Poland and use the as a stepping stone to conquer other countries. -
The War Begins
Many people have wondered why Germany was allowed to take over both Austria and Czechoslovakia without a fight. The simple reason is that Great Britain and France did not want to repeat the bloodshed of World War I. They believed, wrongly as it turned out, they could avoid another world war by appeasing Hitler with a few concessions (such as Austria and Czechoslovakia). At this time, Great Britain and France did not understood that Hitler's goal of land acquisition was much, much larger than any
