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Main Idea
Leading up to War, Germany invaded and quickly conquered many small European countries. -
Period: to
German Expansion Timeline
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Austria and Czechoslovakia Fall
Hitler met secretly with his top military advisers. His plan was to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into Third Reich. One of his advisers protested that annexing those countries could provoke war. -
Union with Austria
Austria was Hitler's first target. The Paris Peace Conference following World War One had created a relatively small nation of Austria out of what was left. The majority of Austria's 6 million people were Germans who favored unification with Germany. -
Bargaining for the Sudetenland
Hitler then turned to Czechoslovakia. Around 3 million German spoken people lived in the Western border called Sudetenland. Hitler wanted to annex Czechoslovakia in order to provide more living space for Germany. Earlier in the crisis, France an Great Britain promised to protect Czechoslovakia. Hitler met with French and Britain to have a meeting. They further signed the Munich Agreement which turned Sudetenland to Germany with no shots fired. -
Winston Churchill & Appeasement
Winston Churchill- Chamberlain's political rivals in Great Britain, also signed the Munich Agreement.
Appeasement- Giving up principles to pacify an aggressor. -
The German Offensive Begins
German troops poured into what was remained of Czechoslovakia. -
The Soviet Union Declares Neutrality
In the spring of 1939, Hitler began his routine. Charging that Germans in Poland were mistreated and needed his protection. The attack on Poland may be in affect of bringing Germany into conflict with the Soviet Union.The result would consists in a two-front war. As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin surprised everyone in signing a nonaggression pact with Hitler. -
Nonaggression
Is a treaty between two or more states/ countries that where the signatories promise not to engage in military action against each other. -
Luftwaffe + Blitzkrieg
Luftwaffe- German air force Blitzkrieg - lightning war -
Blitzkrieg in Poland
The German Luftwaffe roared over Poland, raining bombs on Military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. German tanks raced across the Polish country side. This was the test of Germany newest military strategy. Blitzkrieg made use of advances in military technology. The Blitzkrieg tactics worked perfectly . Major fighting was over in three weeks. The portion of Germany annexed in Western Poland contained almost two- thirds of Poland's population. -
France and Britain Fight on
Frances Maginot Line provided ineffective, the Germany Army threatened to bypass the line during its invasion of Belgium. -
The Fall of France
The German offensive trapped almost 400,000 British and French Soldiers as they fled to the beaches of Dunkirk on the French side of the English channel. Less than a week went by and 800 vessels in all fired and 330,000 British and French troops to safety a crossed the channel. -
The Battle of Britan
In the summer of 1940, the Germans began to assemble an invasion fleet along the French Coast. German to add launched air war at the same time. German pounded the British airfields. -
Phony War
French and British troops sat along Maginot line staring into Germany waiting for something to happen.The Blitzkrieg had given away to what the German called the Sitzkrieg which was "sitting war", some news papers referred to this as Phony War. Stalin further sent his Soviet Union to Finland. After that, Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order to protect freedom and independence. Next, Hitler turned on the Netherlands , Belgium, and Luxembourg.
