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The Austrian Anschluss
Hitler sent troops into Austria in March and announced the Anschluss of Austria and Germany. -
The Munich Conference
Britain and France agreed to Hitler's demands which was a policy known as appeasement. -
Hitler Demands Danzig
Hitler demanded Danzig to be returned to German control. He also requested a highway and railroad across the Polish Corridor. His new demands convinced Britain and France that war was inevitable. Britain announced if Poland went to war, Britain and France would help them on March 31, 1919. Poland refused his demands and Hitler orders the German army to invade Poland in May 1939. -
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
Germany and the USSR signed the nonaggression pact on August 23, 1939. The pact shocked the world because Communism and Nazism are both opposites. The treaty also had a secret deal to divide Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union. -
The Invasion of Poland
Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. Poland resisted Germany's onslaught, but their army was old. They rode horses and carried lances and Germany had tanks. Germans used blitzkrieg. Warsaw fell to the Germans on September 27. By October 5, Germany defeated the Polish military. -
The Fall of France
The French created the Maginot Line which was a line of concrete bunkers along the German border. The French preferred to wait behind the Maginot Line for the Germans to approach. It allowed Germany to focus on Poland before turning west to face the British and French. Hitler went around the Maginot Line which did not protect France's border with Belgium. Britain and France expected a German attack so they went North into Belgium. They got trapped in Belgium and couldn't move back into France. -
The Evacuation of Dunkirk
After the Allied forces got trapped in Belgium, the Germans began to drive them towards the English Channel. Britain and France's only hope was to evacuate by sea, but one port, Dunkirk. As German forces closed in on Dunkirk, Hitler ordered them to stop. The evacuation ended on June 4 and began known as the "Miracle at Dunkirk", but it came with a price. The British army left all of their equipment at Dunkirk. -
The Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was an air battle that occurred in England. In June 1940, the German air force, the Luftwaffe, began
to attack British shipping in the English Channel. Then, in mid-
August, the Luftwaffe launched an all-out air battle to destroy the Royal Air Force.
