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Austria and Czechoslovakia Fall
Adolf Hitler secretly met with his military advisors in the Reich Chancellery in order to create a plan to invade and annex Austria and Czechoslovakia. When it was mentioned that this plan could elicit war, Hitler stated, " 'The German Question' can only be solved by means of force, and this is never without risk." -
Austrian Unification
Keeping in mind that a majority of the Austrian population were Germans that wanted a union with Germany. Hitler used this to his advantage and sent German troops to march into Austria. The next day, Hitler announced that the union with Austria was finalized. -
Munich Agreement
Hitler needed to conquer Czechoslovakia's western border regions, Sudentenland since the mountainous regions were the sovereign state's main defense against German attack. Hitler invited Edouard Daladier, French premier, and Neville Chamberlain, British prime minister, to Munich where he stated that Sudetenland would be his "last territorial demand". Attempting to avoid war Chamberlain and Daladier sign the Munich Agreement and turn the region over to Germany. -
German Occupation of Czechoslovakia
As expected Hitler did not keep his word and continued to annex Czechoslovakia. German troops flooded in and took whatever was left of the sovereign state and added it to his Third Reich, however, he did not stop there. -
Non-aggression Pact
Hitler wanted to annex Poland but feared it would cause conflict with the Soviet Union since it was east of Poland. It would also cause France and Britain to declare war, and a two-front war had been the reason behind Germany's defeat in WWI. Surprisingly Joseph Stalin signs a neutrality agreement with Germany agreeing to never attack each other. From there Russia and Germany agreed to divide Poland between them and Hitler added another country to the Third Reich. -
Blitzkrieg- Lighting War
Not too long after the Non-aggression pact, the German Air Force came into Poland and poured bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. Simultaneously, tanks traveled all across Poland's countryside causing havoc and chaos. This new tactic of war, Blitzkrieg, created by Germany was meant to catch your enemy off guard and leave them defenseless. -
Declaration of War
Two days after the Blitzkrieg in Poland Britain and France declared war on Germany. German continued using their new war tactic and in three weeks a majority of the fighting was over since Germany was pushing France and Britain back into a corner. By the end of September, Poland had been completely annexed by German and the Soviet Union, Germany taking the majority, and World War II had officially begun. -
The Phony War
Hitler had set in motion a surprise takeover on Denmark and Norway and reasoned it as him trying to protect both countries' freedoms and independence. In reality, he needed to have bases along the coasts so he would be able to attack Great Britain. Hitler then headed towards the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium and they were all taken over by the end of the next month. -
France Surrenders
Britain and France keep fighting on but once Italy enters the war as an ally to Germany it leads to the Fall of France. It had invaded France from the south as Germany attacked from the north. Soon France too had fallen under German hands. -
The Battle of Britain
Hitler started an air war in plans to destroy Britain's Royal Air Force and with 2,600 planes at Hitler's use, he rained bombs on London for the next two months. German planes just continued to rain bombs on Britain in hopes to leave them defenseless. -
British Victory
With the aid of the newly invented radar, the British could see where the German planes were going and the paths they were taking. The Royal Air Force was able to shoot down 185 German planes and 6 weeks later Hitler called off the invasions. However, German and British bombers continued to bomb the other countries.
