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The Austrian Anschluss
In the late 1937 Hitler called for the unification of Austria and Czechoslovakia looking to unify all German speaking people and was willing to use force. In February 1938 Austria's chancellor attempted to avoid conflict by giving in to Hitlers demand, and assigned Nazis important government posts. The chancellor wanted Democratic votes to determine the future of Austrian. Hitler become startled and sent his troops into Austria, and announced the Anschluss, forcing Austria to unify with Germany. -
The Munich Conference
After unifying Austria, Hitlers eyes were locked on Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, but they strongly resisted. France, The Soviet Union and Britain come to the defense of the Czechs threatening to fight if Germany attacked. This lead to the Munich Conference, a conference between Britain, France, Italy, and Germany. In the conference they agreed on Hitler's demands again. Attempting to avoid war Czechoslovakia was forced to give up Sudetenland. This become known as appeasement. -
Hitler Demands Danzig
Hitler demanded the control of the city of Danzig, a part of Poland. He requested a highway and railroad across the Polish Corridor, an area that separated western Germany from East Prussia. These demand conveyed France and Britain war bound to happen. Britain announced that if Poland went to war to defend its territory, Britain and France would come to its aid. This lead to Poland resisting. Hitler unfazed prepared to invade Poland and he began to make peace with the Soviets. -
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
Seeking to stay out of Germany's bad side, the Soviets shocked the world by agreeing to a nonaggression treaty with Germany. Joseph Stalin thought this was the best way to keep the USSR safe from Hitler, away from the war, and turn the capitalist nations against each other. The treaty also, unknowingly, divided Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union. -
The Invasion of Poland
After the invasion of Poland, on September 1, two days later World war II begun. Poland made an effort to resist; Unfortunately, Germany was to strong and Poland didn't stand a chance. During the invasion Germany used new warfare called blitzkrieg, they used aircrafts to bomb Poland and support the attacking tanks. By September 27, Warsaw, the Polish capital fell; then by October 5, the Germans had defeated the Polish military. -
The Fall of France
The war in France was quiet. Both countries played defense and waited for the other country to attack first. The war earned names such as: or “sit-ting war", “Bore War”, and “Phony War". The French built a Maginot Line, a line of concrete bunkers, along the German border and wait for Germans to attack. The Maginot line failed miserably because Hitler went around it by attacking from Belgium. The Germans outsmarted the French by trapping their troops in Belgium as they attack France with tanks. -
The Evacuation of Dunkirk
When German forces closed in on Dunkirk, Hitler suddenly ordered them to stop. The delay gave the British and French time to strength their troops and allowed them to evacuate. The evacuation became known as the “Miracle at Dunkirk" and an estimated 338,000 British and French troops had been saved with the help of French, Dutch, and Belgian ships. However, British weapons remained at Dunkirk including: 90,000 rifles, 7,000 tons of ammunition, and 120,000 vehicles. Days later the French conceded -
The Battle of Britain
German air force began to attack British shipping in the English Channel and launched an all-out air battle to destroy the Royal Air Force. Later, bombers accidentally bombed London, the British capital. The British responded by bombing Berlin the next night. This got Hitler angry and he began to continuously bombing London. However, by developing new technology called radar, the British were able to inflict more damage than Germany. On October 12, 1940, Hitler canceled the invasion of Britain.
