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Union With Austria
Austria was Hitlers first target. Most of the people that were in Austria were German and favored unification. On March 12, 1938, Germany took Austria without any resistance. -
Bargaining For Sudetenland
After Austria, Hitler's next target was Czechoslvakia. There were about 3 million German-speaking people that lived there. Hitler's main reason for annexation was to gain more living space for Germany. Hitler accused Czechoslovakia of false atrocities in order to make it seem like there was a good reason for invading. -
The Soviet Union Declares Neutrality
People thought Hitler would be crazy to invade Poland, as it would cause conflict with the Soviet Union. As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin surprised everyone by signing a nonaggression pact with Hitler. -
Blitzkrieg in Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany began its invasion on Poland. They used their Air Force to bomb military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. The invasion was the first time of the military strategy called a blitzkrieg. The tactic worked and they were able to invade Poland. By the end of September Poland was gone and WWII began. -
The Phony War
Several months after Poland was invaded, French and British troops sat on the Maginot Line, looking at German soldiers. German soldiers on the other side on the Sigfried Line doing the same. Nothing was being done and Germans referred to it as a sitzkrieg. Newspapers came to call it the Phony War. -
The Phony War Ends
The Phony War ended on April 9, 1940, after Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. -
The Fall of France
After 400,000 British and French soldiers were trapped by the German offensive, they fled across the Channel. A couple of days later, Italy entered the war and helped Germany with the invasion of France. Germany ended up occupying yhe northern part of France. -
The Battle of Britain
In summer of 1940, Germany begans to set up their naval fleet on the French coast. At the same time they set up an air attack in Britain. Germany's goal was to destroy the British Royal Air Force. Germany had approximately 2,000 planes that dropped bombs over Britain for two months. -
RAF Fights Back
When attacked, the RAF fought back brilliantly. Britain was able to guess the flight paths of British pilots. They shot down over 185 German planes.
