German Expansion Timeline

Hitler Makes Plans To Expand Germany

Nov 5, 1937

German leader Adolf Hitler meets with other German officials and decides that Germany deserves more land.

Germany and Austria Unify

Mar 12, 1938

Germany and Austria wanted to be on the same side, so when Hitler marched his troops into Austria there was no resistance.

Munich Agreement

Sep 30, 1938

Munich Agreement with Britain and France gave Germany Sudetenland, and Hitler agreed to stop pursuing expansion. British and French officials chose to believe Hitler.

Czechoslovakia Falls to Germany

Mar 15, 1939

Germany invades the rest of Czechoslovakia, breaking the Munich Agreement.

German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

Aug 23, 1939

Surprising many people, Stalin signed a nonaggression pact with Germany with secret plans to divide Poland’s lands between them.

Blitzkrieg

Sep 1, 1939

Germany starts attacking Poland using blitzkrieg strategy. It only took 3 weeks of major fighting for Poland to fall, with the Soviet Union attacking Poland in the last week.

Britain and France Declare War

Sep 3, 1939

Britain and France declared war on Germany after Poland was attacked.

Germany Invades Denmark and Norway

Apr 9, 1940

Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway to “protect their freedom and independence”, but he really planned to build bases and attack Great Britain.

France Falls To Germany

Jun 22, 1940

France fell to the Nazis, Italy helped Germany attack from the south while they invaded from the north.

Royal Air Force

Sep 15, 1940

Britain’s RAF (Royal Air Force) shot down over 185 attacking German aircraft, and only lost 26 aircraft causing Hitler to call off the invasion of Britain. Both countries continued to bomb each others cities