13:2
• Path to War– Hitler begins violating terms of Treaty of Versailles• Military draft • Build a new air force
– European leaders do little• Did not want another war• Believed Hitler’s demands were reasonable
• Hitler wants all German-speaking nations united
• Anschluss (“unification”)– Hitler demands Austria elect more Nazis– Austrian government asks for a vote– Hitler sends troops into Austria
• Munich Conference (Sep 1938)– Britain, France, Italy, and Germany meet to decide
fate of Czechoslovakia – Britain and France agree to Hitler’s terms • “appeasement”
– Make concessions for peace
• Hitler demands Danzig– Polish city since WWI; 90% German
• Britain and France agree to help Poland if Germany invaded (March, 1939)
• The Nazi-Soviet Pact (Aug 1939)– Germany and Russia would not attack each other• Russia would not aid Britain and France against
Germany
• September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland• September 3, 1939: Britain and France declare
war on Germany – World War II begins