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The Austrian Anschluss
When the Austria's chancellor tried to put the matter of unification with Germany to a democratic vote, Hitler grew nervous. Thus being so, he sent troops in Austria, in March, and announced the unification of Austria & Germany. -
The Munich Conference
A conference in which representatives from Britain. France, Italy and Germany met to discuss Czechoslovakia's fate. Britain and France agreed to Hitler's appeasement. In other words, they made concessions in exchange for peace. -
Hitler Demands Danzig
In preparation for war with Poland, in the spring of 1939 Hitler demanded the annexation of the Free City of Danzig to Germany and extraterritorial rail access for Germany across the "Polish Corridor," the Polish frontier to East Prussia. The German invasion of Poland became World War II. -
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
In April 1939, Russia, Britain and France met to form an alliance to defend Poland - but by August 1939, Russia had swapped sides and made a pact with Germany! Through the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Stalin and Hitler agreed not to go to war with each other and to split Poland between them. -
The Invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. From East Prussia and Germany in the north and Silesia and Slovakia in the south, German units, with more than 2,000 tanks and over 1,000 planes, broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on Warsaw in a massive encirclement attack. After heavy shelling and bombing, Warsaw surrendered to the Germans on September 27, 1939.
