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Austrian Anschluss
On this day Hitler called for the unification of all German speaking people. This included the countries Austria and Czechoslovakia. He believed that Germany could expand its territory only by resorting to force with its attendant risks. He first threatened to invade Austria unless Austrian Nazis were given important government jobs. Austria eventually agreed to his terms. -
Munich crisis
In late 1937 hitler called for the unification of germany speaking people. Representatives of countries France, Britain, Germany, and Italy meet in munich to decide what will happen to czechoslavakia. France and Britain agree to hitler's terms. The policy known as the appeasement. -
Hitler demands danzig
Hitler demanded the city of Danzig a month after the Munich Conference.It has been a area of Poland since World War I despite being more than 90 percent German. His new demands made Britain and France see that war was inevitable and that they had to take action. -
The nazi soviet pact
Stalin agreed when German officials made a non-aggression pact with the Soviets. He thought turning the capitalist nations against each other was the best way to protect the USSR. Germany would decide to go to war with France and Britain if the treaty went as planned then seeing through to the USSR´s safety. The signing of this pact shocked a lot of people around the world. Communism and Nazism were supposed to be against each other and now are on equal terms. -
The invasion of poland
Two days after the invasion of Poland Britain and France decided to declare war on Germany. Poland tried to fight the German armbut its army stood no chance. While the Polish rode horses and used lances Germany had tanks. Also the Germans used a new type of warfare called Blitkrieg meaning lightning war. This type of warfare used large numbers of tanks to break through and encircle enemy positions. To support the tanks they bombed enemy positions and dropped paratroopers. -
The fall of france
Western Europe was oddly quiet after the situation in Poland.Germans called it sitzkrieg meaning sitting war. British called it the Bore War, and American newspapers name it the Phony War. Britain sent troops to France and waited for Germany to attack. Hitler decided to go around the Maginot Line built in France after WWI. To get around it Germans would have to go through the countries the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxenbourg first. They went out with their plan rolling a fleet of tanks into it. -
The fall of france part II
Britian and France both see the attack coming. As soon as it started British and French forces charged into north Belgium. Hitler sent his main forces through the Ardennes Mountains of Luxembourg and Eastern Belgium instead of sending their tanks through the countryside of Central Belgium. This was because the French left that side open with no guard. The Germans crush the French lines going into France. French forces couldn't make it back in time to stop them which ended up in losing France. -
The evacuation of dunkirk
The German army traveled to the English Channel after trapping the Allied forces in Belgium. Hitler ordered the German army to stop just as they were close to Dunkirk. He wanted to wait until more infantry came to help. His order gave time for the British army to escape. About 850 ships of all different sizes ventured to Dunkirk to help the Allies. The British hoped to save about 45,000 troops but actually ended up saving almost 338,000 of them. -
The Battle of Britain
Hitler knew the British army wouldn't stop he decided that his commanders should prepare to invade them. Going through the English Channel proved to be a major problem for Germany. They had only a small amount of transport ships which Britain would destroy if they tried to invade them. In June the German Luftwaffe or air force started to attack British ships. Later in August they went to a all out air battle to beat the royal air force. This long air battle lasted until the fall of 1940.
