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Explore Hitler's aggressive expansion in Europe, from annexing Austria to the fall of Czechoslovakia. Understand the Munich Agreement, the German Offensive, the Phony War, and the Blitzkrieg tactic. Discover how WWII started with the attack on Poland and the Battle of Britain.
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Austria and Czechoslovakia Fall • Hitler declared that to grow and prosper Germany needed the land of its neighbors. His plan was to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich. • The Majority of Austria’s 6 million people were German and wanted to unite with Germany. • On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria. A day later Germany announced its union.
Czechoslovakia • Hitler wanted to annex Czechoslovakia in order to provide more living space for Germany as well as to control its important natural resources. • Hitler accused the Czechs of abusing the Germans in the Sudetenland, the western region of Czechoslovakia. • France and Great Britain promised to protect Czechoslovakia if Germany invaded.
Munich Agreement • French premier Edouard Daladier and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain met with Hitler in Munich. • Hitler promised them that Sudetenland would be his last territorial demand. They believed him! • On September 30,1938, they signed the Munich Agreement, which turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired. • Winston Churchill, Chamberlain’s political rival in Great Britain, believed they had adopted a shameful policy of appeasement-or giving up to pacify an aggressor.
The German Offensive • Churchill warned that Hitler was not done expanding the Third Reich. • On March 15, 1939, about 6 months after the Munich agreement, Germany took over all of Czechoslovakia. • Hitler now wanted Poland and he declared that Poland was mistreating Germans in that country.
Nobody believed that Hitler would attack Poland because then the Soviet Union, Poland’s Neighbor, would attack Germany. • Then Germany would be attacked by France and Great Britain. • This would be a two front war (a war to the east and west of Germany). • Stalin signed the nonaggression pact, which meant that neither Germany or the Soviet Union would attack each other. • A second secret pact was signed in which the two countries agreed to divide Poland amongst each other.
Poland = WWII • On September 1, 1939, the German Luftwaffe (air force) attacked Poland. • The blitzkrieg, or lightning war was Germany’s newest technology, in which it used fast tanks and aircrafts. • On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany. • Major fighting was over in 3 weeks way before France and Britain could mount a defense. The Blitzkrieg tactic worked. • In the last week of fighting the Soviet Union attacked Poland, grabbing some of its territory. • WWII had begun.
Junker planes introduced in 1936 and retired in 1945, used mainly by the German air force (Luftwaffe)
The Phony War • For several months after the fall of Poland, the French sat on their border waiting for Germany to make a move. Germany waited for them too. • It became known as a sitting war. • While the French and the Germans waited, the Soviets took over Estonia, Latvia, Finland, and Lithuania. • The Phony War was over when Hitler invaded Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxemburg, and the Netherlands.
Fall of France (No French Fries) • The German offensive forced the French and the British towards the English Channel. • Italy then entered the war on Germany’s side and attacked France from the South. • The Battle of Britain- Since Germany’s naval fleet could not compare to that of the British, Germany decided to attack Great Britain from above. • Great Britain had newer Technology (radar). Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) fought off Germany. On a single day there were about 2,000 German fighter planes bombing Great Britain.
