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Hitler Makes The Plans For His Invasion
Hitler meets secretly with his top military advisers. Declared that in order for Germany to grow and prosper, they needed to invade Austria and Czechoslovakia. -
Austria is Invaded
WWI had created Austria out of what was left of Austro-Hungrian Empire. Most of the 6 million people living there were German, and supported unification. On this date German troops marched into Austria without a fight. A day later they announced the union with Austria- or Anschluss- was complete. No one opposed. -
Sudetenland Taken Without a Fight
Hitler was mostly interested in the mountainous region of Czechoslovakia called The Sudetenland, home to about 3 million Germans. Hitler convinced the public that the Czechs were abusing the Sudeten Germans and threatened war. He then convinced Czechs allies, the premier of France, Edouard Daladier, and the prime minister of Great Britain, Neville Chamberland, that Sudetenland would be his last territorial demand. They agreed and signed the Munich Agreement, which gave over Sudeten to HItler. -
Czechoslovakia under German Power
Chamberlain was satisfied with the agreement but not everyone was. Winston Churchill, a politician, claimed the policy was appeasement-or giving up principles to avoid war. Churchill predicted that this dishonor would lead to war, and he was right. On March 15th 1939, German troops took over the remaining part of Czechoslovakia. -
Hitler Wants Poland
In spring of 1939, Hitler charged that Poland was mistreating the Germans that lived there. People assumed this was a bluff, as such an invasion might spark war from Poland's allies, France and Britain. Hitler aligned himself with the Soviet Union. -
Nonaggression Pact
Fascist Germany and communist Russia signed an agreement never to attack each other. Germany and the Soviet Union signed a pact agreeing to split Poland. -
The First Blitzkrieg
Hitler invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939. The German Air force, or Luftwaffe, dropped bombs on military bases while tanks roamed the ground spreading fear. This was the first attempt of Hitlers new military strategy involving a surprise attack with overwhelming force. This was called blitzkrieg, or lightening war. -
War Declared on Germany
Two days after the Blitzkrieg, Britain and France declared war on Germany. The Blitzkrieg allowed the majority of fighting to be over before Polands allies could even step in . In the last week of fighting, the Soviet UNion attacked and annexed Poland from the east and Germany annexed it from the west. By the end of the month, Poland ceased to exist and World War Two had begun -
War suddenly strikes up
For months the war sat at a standstill. It was referred to as the phony war and sometimes as the sitzkrieg-"sitting war". Then suddenly on April 9th, Hitler launched a surprise invasion on Denmark and Norway claiming it was to protect the countries' freedom and independence. Hitler then turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. -
France Fell Into German Control
Italy sided with Germany after an attack and invaded France from the north while Germany invaded from the south. On June 22nd, Germany handed France his terms of surrender, allowing Germans to occupy northern France, and the Nazi-controlled Italians to occupy the northern part. Charles de Gaulle, a French general, fled to England and set up a government-in-exile. -
The Battle of Britain
Summer of 1940 Germans assembled an invasion fleet along the French coast. Its naval power was weak, so Germany also launched an air war. They bombed Britain hoping to destroy their Air Fore (RAF) and gain control. On August 15, Hitler had 2000 planes over Britain. He bombed London for two whole months. -
Bombing in Britain Continues Relentlessly
On September 15th, Britains Royal Air Force (RAF) shot down 185 German planes, losing only 26 of their own. ^ weeks later Hitler called off the invasion, yet Germany continued to bomb Britain, attempting to cause chaos, while Britain bombed Germany in return.
