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Hitler secretly met with his top military advisers
Adolf Hitler declared that Germany needed the land of its neighbors to prosper and wanted to bring Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich. Adolf Hitler- German dictator
Third Reich- Also known as the Third Empire, it was a name given by Nazis to the German government and Hitler thought he was creating a third German empire -
German troops marched into Austria unopposed
Austria was a relatively small nation created from what was left of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Most Austrians favored unification with Germany, so a day after marching in, the "Anschluss" with Austria was complete. Austro-Hungarian Empire- Also known as the Dual Monarchy, it was the constitutional union of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary that lasted from 1867-1918
Anschluss- Union -
Hitler wanted to annex Sudetenland
Approximately 3 million German-speaking people lived in Sudetenland and Hitler wanted to annex Czechoslovakia to give more living space for Germany and control the natural resources. He said that the Czechs were abusing Sudeten Germans and massed troops on the border. France and Great Britain promised to protect Czechoslovakia, but Hitler invited Édouard Daladier and... (continued on next timestamp). -
Hitler wanted to annex Sudetenland, Continued
...Neville Chamberlain to meet in Munich where it was declared that the annexation would be the last territorial demand. In order to prevent a war, they believed him and signed the Munich Agreement. Sudetenland- Western border regions of Czechoslovakia
Édouard Daladier- the French premier
Neville Chamberlain- the British prime minister
Munich Agreement- Signed by the French premier and British prime minister, this agreement allowed Sudetenland to be turned over to Germany without any war -
Hitler goes after the remains of Czechoslovakia
After hearing what happened in Sudetenland, Winston Churchill had his doubts. He did not believe that giving Germany Sudetenland would stop a war from happening. A couple months later it was shown that he was right. Early in the morning March 15, German troops invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia and by night it was completely taken over. Winston Churchill- British politician, rival to Neville Chaimerlain -
Hitler laid eyes on Poland
In the Sring of 1939, similar to Sudetenland, Hitler claimed that the Polish people were abusing the Germans in Poland, so he wanted to take over to protect them. As things started to become more tense, Joseph Stalin signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler. In this time they also signed a secret pact that divided Poland between each other. Joseph Stalin- Dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Nonaggression Pact- Commitment between Germany and Russia to never attack each other -
Surprise attacks across Poland
The German Luftwaffe tested the Blitzkrieg, which was the fast invasion of Poland with raining bombs and tanks rolling throughout the countryside. Because of the terror in Poland, France and Britain declared war on Germany on September 3. Germany was prepared with their new tactic and took them by surprise. In the last week, the Soviet Union attacked Poland which started off WWII. Luftwaffe- German airforce
Blitzkrieg- also known as the lightning war, was the new military strategy of Germany -
Surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway
Late 1939 Stalin sent the Soviet Army to Finland and was successful in taking over. Then on April 9th, Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway and stated that it was to protect their freedom and independence, but he really wanted to make it easier to strike Great Britain. After, he went after the Netherlands,
Belgium, and Luxembourg. -
France is forced to surrender
An ally of Germany, Italy invaded France from the south as Germany entered from the North. In Compiègne Hitler gave French officers the terms of surrender, stating that Germans would occupy the north and a Nazi-controlled government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain would be set up in the south. Compiègne- a commune in France
Marshal Philippe Pétain- French general officer, Nazi collaborator -
Luftwaffe vs. RAF
All summer to fall, the Luftwaffe's goal was to take total control of the skies by taking down the RAF. However, with the help of the new radar, the RAF was able to fight back and plot the flight paths of Germans. On September 15, the RAF was able to take down more than 185 German planes. Hitler called off the invasion of Britain indefinitely, but German bombers still continued to pound Britain’s cities, with them bombing back. RAF- Britain's Royal Air Force
