 German Violations of the Treaty and Expansion  1935: Hitler initiated a draft to expand Germany's army and build a new air force.  1936: Hitler ordered the German military to occupy the Rhineland, a stretch of German territory that had been demilitarized under the treaty.  1937: Hitler called for the reunification of German-speaking peoples.

 German Violations of the Treaty and Expansion  March 1938: Hitler invaded Austria and announced Anschluss, or unification, of Austria and Germany.  September 1938: In exchange for peace, the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany. This policy became known as appeasement.  March 1939: Despite promises, Hitler invaded and divided Czechoslovakia.

 Movement Toward War  March 1939: Hitler demanded the return of Danzig, Poland, to German control. With British and French support, Poland refused.  Summer 1939: Hitler prepared to invade Poland and entered negotiations with the USSR to prevent doing battle on two fronts.  August 23, 1939: Stalin agreed to a nonaggression treaty with Hitler. Germany and the USSR signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

 Blitzkrieg  September 1939: Germany invaded Poland in a powerful, swift attack known as blitzkrieg, meaning “lightning war.”  May 1940: Hitler began a new blitzkrieg, invading the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium.

 Blitzkrieg  June 1940: The Allied forces of Britain and France became trapped in Belgium. Meanwhile, German forces overwhelmed France.  June 22, 1940: France surrendered. Hitler installed Marshal Philippe Pétain as leader of the new Vichy government.

 French and British Defiance  Charles de Gaulle refused to acknowledge French surrender.  Winston Churchill declared that Britain would not surrender to German aggression.  The Luftwaffe began a bombing campaign against Britain and fought the British Royal Air Force. Following the Battle of Britain, Hitler abandoned the planned i