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Hitler 1935
On this day Adolf Hitler became President of Germany. -
Anschluss
In Febuary 1938 Hitler threatened to invade Austria unless nazi's were appointed into government jobs. The chancellor of Austria agreed but put Hitler's want of unification up to a democratic vote. Hitler, not happy with the desicion, and fearing the outcome sent troops into Austria in March and annouced the Anschluss of Austria and Germany. -
Czechoslovakia
Hitler announced that he wanted German speaking Sudentenland which was a part of Czechoslovakia. This led to the Munich conference which was when Germany,France,Briitain and Italy decided the fate of Czechosolvakia. -
Munich Conference
The Munich conference is when Italy, Germany, France and Britain got together and decided on czechoslovakia's fate. Britain and France decided to appease Germany and allow Germany to take the Sudentenland. -
Danzig
After the Munich Conference Hitler demanded that the city of Danzig be returned to Germany. Hitler's demands convinced Britain and France that war was inevitable, therefore on March 31, 1939 Britain announced that if Poland went to war Britain and France would stand beside them. This led to Germany invading Poland in May 1939. -
Nazi-Soviet Nonagression Pact
On August 23, 1939 Germany and the USSR signed the non-agression pact stating that Germany and the USSR wouldn't fight each other and that Poland would be split between the two. Of course the later agreement was not known to the rest of the world. -
Invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland and two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
Blitzkreig
"Lightning war" Blitzkreig used large numbers of tanks to break through and encircle enemies. Also, to support the tanks aircrafts bombed enemy positions and dropped paratroopers onto their supply lines. -
Poland Falls
The Polish army couldn't fight the attack by the Germans and on September 27th Warsaw fell. By October 5, 1939 Poland was completely under the control of Germany. -
Phony War/Bore War
In Western Europe (France) the war front was silent as both France and Britain wait for Germany to attack. -
Invasion Of France
After WWI the French constucted the maginot line, which was made out of concrete bunkers and fortifications, along the German border. This allowed the Germans to focus on Poland before facing Britain and France. Hitler then decided to go around the Maginot line into France. As soon as the German attack began France and Britain sent their troops into northern Belgium this proved to be a mistake because Germany enetered Beligum from the east, therefore French and British toops stuck in Beligum. -
Evacuation at Dunkirk
The only hope for French and British armies was to escape the only non-german port Dunkirk. Hitler suddenly ordered his forces to stop and provided the French and British a 3 day delay. This allowed 850 ships of all sizes to get to Dunkirk and evacuate 338,000 soldiers instead of the 48,000 planned. The evacuation had a bad side as well, almost all of Britain's military equipment remained at Dunkirk leaving Britain defenseless. -
French Surrender
On June 22,1940 3 weeks after the Evacuation of Dunkirk the French surrendered to the Germans. Hitler accepted this in the same railway car in which the Germans had surrendered in WWI. Germany now occupied most of northern France. -
Battle of Britain
The air battle between Britain and Germany which led to London being bombed and the following night Berlin being bombed is known as the battle of Britain. Hitler believed the bombing of London would led to the surrender of Britain. He was wrong.
