German Expansion Timeline

By lacie.dipietro

  • Austria and Czechoslovakia Fall

    Hitler met secretly with his top military advisers and declared that Germany needed the land of its neighbors in order to grow and prosper.

  • Union With Austria

    German troops marched into Austria unopposed.

  • Bargaining for the Sudetenland

    Edouard Daladier and Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement.

  • The German Offensive Begins

    German troops poured into what remained of Czechoslovakia.

  • The Soviet Union Declares Neutrality

    Fascist Germany and communist Russia committed to never attack each other.

  • Blitzkrieg in Poland

    German air force roared over Poland, raining bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. German tanks raced across the Polish countryside.

  • Blitzkrieg in Poland

    Britain and France declare war on Germany,

  • The Phony War

    Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order "to protect [those countries'] freedom and independence."

  • The Fall of France

    Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender.

  • The Battle of Britain

    The Germans began to assemble an invasion fleet along the French coast.

  • The Battle of Britain

    Approximately 2,000 German planes ranged over Britain.

  • The Battle of Britain

    The RAF shot down over 185 German planes and lost only 26 aircraft.