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German Expansion
German Expansion from 1937 to 1940. -
Hitler's meeting.
Hitler met secretly with his top military advisers. He declared that to grow and prosper Germany, they needed the land of its neighbors. (Austria and Czechoslovakia) -
Sudetenland
Hitler began massing troops on the Czechoslovakia boarder, which was also called Sudetenland. This happened in the late summer of 1938. -
Germany and Austria
Germany announced that its anschluss, or union, with Austria was complete. The US and the rest of the world did nothing. -
Munich Agreement
Hitler invited French premier Eduard Daladier and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain to meet with him and signed the Munich Agreement. This turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot. Chamberlain's satisfaction wasn't shared by Winston Churchill. Churchill viewed the agreement as a policy of appeasement - giving up principles to pacify an aggressor. Churchill said "Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They will have war." -
Germany and Czechoslovakia
German troops poured into what remained of Czechoslovakia. -
Nonaggression Pact
Germany and Russia now committed to never attack each other. -
German Luftwaffe
German Luftwaffe, or German air force roared over Poland, raining bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads and cities. -
Phony War (Sitzkrieg)
The "sitting war" was between the French and British troops. It was on the Maginot Line. The troops sat staring into Germany, waiting for something to happen. -
Blitzkrieg
German tanks raced across the Polish countryside, spreading terror and confusion. This invasion was the first test of Germany's newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg, or lighting war. -
Hitler with Denmark and Norway
Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order "to protect those countries" freedom and independence. -
Dunkirk
The German offensive trapped almost 400,000 British and French soldiers as they fled to the beaches of Dunkirk on the French side of the English channel. -
Hitler at Compiegne
At Compiegne, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender. Germans would occupy the northern part of France. A Nazi-controlled puppet government would be set up in the south. -
The RAF
The RAF, which was Britain's Air Force, shot down over 185 German planes; at the same time, they lost only 26 aircraft. This was in response to when the Luftwaffe began making bombing runs over Britain.
