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Re-arming the Rhineland
As soon as the Nazis came
to power, Hitler began to
increase the nation’s army
and its armaments
 1935—Hitler announces the
expansion of Germany’s
army from 100,000 to
550,000 and the creation of a
new Air Force
 1936—Hitler sends German
troops into the Rhineland
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The Anschluss
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One of Hitler’s early goals was to unite all
German-speaking people under his “Third
Reich”—including his native country of
Austria
In 1938, the Austrian Nazi Party gained
control of that country’s government
The Austrian Nazis invited Hitler to send
German troops to help maintain law and
order in Austria
March 13—German troops enter Austria;
the next day, Hitler announces the formal
annexation of Austria to Germany
This is known as the Anschluss—the
“union,” or “marriage”—of these two
German-speaking nations
The Sudetenland and
Appeasement
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Hitler’s next demand was that the
Sudetenland—a largely German area of
Czechoslovakia—be given to Germany
The Munich Conference was called in
November 1938 to discuss Hitler’s demand
At Munich, Britain and France agreed to allow
Hitler to take the Sudetenland, in exchange for a
promise that he would not take any additional
territories
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
declared that the Conference had ensured
“peace in our time”
Five months later, Germany invaded and
captured the western half of Czechoslovakia
German Acquisitions, March 1939
The Non-Aggression Pact
Hitler’s next target was
Poland—on the doorstep of the
Soviet Union
 In order to avoid getting in to a
two-front war, Hitler negotiated
the Non-Aggression Pact with
Joseph Stalin
 In this pact, Germany and the
USSR agreed to not attack
each other, and to split Poland
between them after the German
invasion
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Invasion of Poland
September 1, 1939—Germany invades Poland
 The German troops used Blitzkrieg tactics:
 Blitzkrieg is German for “lightning war”
 Bliztkried tactics involve concentrating massive force at a
single point of attack, using infantry, artillery, tanks, and air
power
 September 3, 1939—Great Britain and France declare war on
Germany
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The German Onslaught
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Between 1939 and 1941, Germany invaded and conquered:
Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, France,
Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece
The Battle of Britain
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Before invading Great Britain, Hitler
sought to weaken the country’s
defenses with a major air assault
Beginning in August 1940, the
German Luftwaffe began daily
bombing attacks against military
targets in Britain
In September, Hitler changed tactics
and began bombing British cities
instead
The RAF (British Air Force) fought off
the German assault, inflicting heavy
losses
By the end of September, Hitler was
forced to postpone the invasion of
Britain indefinitely
Invasion of the Soviet Union
Frustrated with his failure to defeat Great Britain,
Hitler turned his attention eastwards
 In June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union
 German troops advanced quickly into Soviet territory,
but faced stiff Russian resistance
 By winter, the German advance had been stopped,
and German troops were trapped in Russia with
insufficient winter gear
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America Enters the War
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After the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor (December 7, 1941), the
United States declared war on Japan
The next day, Germany declared war
on the U.S.
President Roosevelt and British
Prime Minister Winston Churchill
quickly settled on a “Europe First”
strategy, reasoning that the Germans
were much closer to total victory in
Europe than the Japanese were in
Asia
The Allies also agreed that the war
could only end with the “unconditional
surrender” of the Axis powers
The North African Campaign
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In 1941 and 1942, the German Afrika
Korps (led by Erwin Rommel, the
“Desert Fox”) stormed across North
Africa and threatened to capture the
Suez Canal
July 1942—British tank divisions defeat
the Afrika Corps at the Battle of El
Alamein, stopping the German advance
into Egypt
October 1942—the British launch a
counter-offensive against Rommel and
the Afrika Corps
November 1942—American tank
division land in Morocco; Rommel is
now trapped between the British and
Americans (the Afrika Corps surrenders
in May 1943)
The Battle of Stalingrad
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During the spring and summer of
1942, the German campaign
against the Soviet Union
continued
The Germans captured the
Crimea and lay siege to the cities
of Leningrad and Stalingrad
November 1942—the Soviets
launch a counter-attack in
Stalingrad
 This battle was the most brutal
urban combat of the war
 The Germans were pushed back,
then encircled, all in the depth of the
Russian winter
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February 1943—the elite German
6th Army surrenders to the Soviets
at Stalingrad
Invasion of Italy
From their base in North Africa,
American and British troops
launched an invasion of Italy—
the “soft underbelly of Europe”
 July 1943—the Allies land on
the island of Sicily; from there
they launch an invasion of the
Italian mainland
 September 1943—Italy
surrenders to the Allies
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 However—German troops
continued to fight the Allies in Italy,
slowing their advance up the
peninsula
D-Day
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June 6 1944—the Allies launch the largest amphibious invasion
in history; attacking the German fortifications on the coast of
Normandy in northern France
Despite heavy casualties, the Allies secure a “beachhead”
From there, they begin to push into German-occupied territory
(Also in June 1944—American troops liberate Rome)
August 1944—the Allies liberate Paris
Battle of the Bulge
December 1944—the Germans launch a last,
desperate counter-attack against the Allied forces in
France
 In what becomes known as the “Battle of the Bulge,”
the Allied lines bend but do not break
 January 1945—the Germans are defeated at the
Battle of the Bulge; the Allied advance continues
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The German Surrender
April 1945—At some point during the
Soviet bombardment of Berlin, Adolf
Hitler commits suicide
 May 7, 1945—Germany surrenders
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