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Secret Meeting
Hitler secretly met with military advisers and discussed how he wanted to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia. Some of the advisers believed that this may provoke war. Hitler responded with "'German Question' can be solved only by means of force, and this is never without risk." -
Austria's Unity
Austria wanted to unify with Germany because the country's population consisted of many Germans. In March of 1938, German troops marched in to Austria. One day later, it was announced that the union was complete. -
Munich Agreement
Hitler massed troops on Czechoslovakia's border. U.S. correspondent, William Shirer, who was stationed in Berlin stated that the German headlines were lies, "Women and Children Mowed Down by Czech Armored Cars". Originally, Britain and France agreed to protect Czech, but Hitler invited premier, Edouard Daladier, and prime minister, Neville Chamberlain for a meeting in which Hitler said this would be his last territorial demand. To avoid war, the Munich Agreement was signed. -
Non-existent Czechoslovakia
"Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist." - Adolf Hitler. After conquering Czechoslovakia, Hitler wanted more and Poland was next. The concern of taking over Poland was that it may anger the Soviet Union and provoke war. The Soviets may not be the only ones who would declare war, Great Britain and France also promised to Poland. -
Nonaggression Pact
Surprisingly, Stalin signed a nonaggression pact with Germany. This pact was agreement for the two countries to never attack each other. It also included a secret agreement to divide Poland between the two countries. -
Blitzkrieg
Germany attacked Poland with a new fighting method known as blitzkrieg or “ Lightning war”. This fighting tactic takes the enemy by surprise and uses new technological advances. This ended in three weeks. -
The Beginning of WWII
After the three weeks of the attack in Poland, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. Although, the did not yet build up their defense, this marked the beginning of World War II. -
“Sitzkrieg”
The beginning of the war didn’t consist of much fighting. Troops from Britain and France were sat along France’s eastern borders staring at the German troops. During this phony war, Stalin began to annex Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Finland also surrendered to the Soviet Union. -
Surprise Invasion
To strike Great Britain, Hitler had to set up bases along the coasts of Denmark and Norway. So he invaded both countries and announced that it was to ‘protect their freedom and independence’.
One month later, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg were also conquered by Germany. The phony war ended. -
France Lost A Battle
German troops marched to Paris while trapping 400,000 British and French soldiers. About a week later, 800 vessels ferried 330,000 British, French, and Belgian troops across the English Channel. Italy then invaded the south of France. Hitler gave French soldiers the terms of surrender.
“France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war.” - Charles de Gaulle -
The Luftwaffe
As Germany could not fight against Britain’s powerful naval branch, the Luftwaffe, Germany’s aerial warfare branch, was organized to bomb Britain from above in attempt to invade the country. Hitler’s plan was to use his 2,600 planes to destroy Britain’s Royal Air Force. -
Britain Fights Back
British pilots used an advancement called radar where they could track Germany’s flight paths. The Royal Air Force, RAF, shot down 185 planes, which caused Hitler to call off the invasion of Britain. However, both countries continued to bomb each other.
