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Re-arming the Rhineland As soon as the Nazis came to power, Hitler began to increase the nations army and its armaments 1935Hitler announces the expansion of Germanys army from 100,000 to 550,000 and the creation of a new Air Force 1936Hitler sends German troops into the Rhineland

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The Anschluss One of Hitlers early goals was to unite all German-speaking people under his Third Reichincluding his native country of Austria In 1938, the Austrian Nazi Party gained control of that countrys government The Austrian Nazis invited Hitler to send German troops to help maintain law and order in Austria March 13German troops enter Austria; the next day, Hitler announces the formal annexation of Austria to Germany This is known as the Anschlussthe union, or marriageof these two German-speaking nations

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The Sudetenland and Appeasement Hitlers next demand was that the Sudetenlanda largely German area of Czechoslovakiabe given to Germany The Munich Conference was called in November 1938 to discuss Hitlers 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

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German Acquisitions, March 1939

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The Non-Aggression Pact Hitlers next target was Polandon 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, 1939Germany 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, 1939Great Britain and France declare war on Germany

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The German Onslaught Between 1939 and 1941, Germany invaded and conquered: Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece

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The Battle of Britain Before invading Great Britain, Hitler sought to weaken the countrys 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

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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 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

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The North African Campaign 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 1942British tank divisions defeat the Afrika Corps at the Battle of El Alamein, stopping the German advance into Egypt October 1942the British launch a counter-offensive against Rommel and the Afrika Corps November 1942American tank division land in Morocco; Rommel is now trapped between the British and Americans (the Afrika Corps surrenders in May 1943)

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The Battle of Stalingrad 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 1942the 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 February 1943the elite German 6 th Army surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad

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Invasion of Italy From their base in North Africa, American and British troops launched an invasion of Italy the soft underbelly of Europe July 1943the Allies land on the island of Sicily; from there they launch an invasion of the Italian mainland September 1943Italy surrenders to the Allies HoweverGerman troops continued to fight the Allies in Italy, slowing their advance up the peninsula

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D-Day June 6 1944the 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 1944American troops liberate Rome) August 1944the Allies liberate Paris

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Battle of the Bulge December 1944the 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 1945the Germans are defeated at the Battle of the Bulge; the Allied advance continues

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The German Surrender April 1945At some point during the Soviet bombardment of Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide May 7, 1945Germany surrenders