There were several parts to Hitler’s plan for expansion. The first part was the rebuilding of the German military in the early 1930s. The military was rebuilt and soldiers were drafted. These actions were in violation of the Versailles Treaty.
In 1936, Germany moved its military into the Rhineland. This was supposed to be a demilitarized area, but when Hitler went in with his army, it not only violated the Versailles Treaty, it now made the area a militarized area.
In 1938, Hitler began to seize land. He took over Austria in what is known as the Anschluss. Then he indicated he wanted a part of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland. This was an area where many Germans lived. The leaders of Great Britain and France made a deal with Hitler that is known as the Munich Pact. Hitler would get the Sudetenland in return for a promise of taking no more land.
The next steps in Hitler’s expansion were to break the Munich Pact by taking rest of Czechoslovakia and signing a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. This agreement with the Soviet Union would free Germany from having to fight on both the western front and eastern front at the same time. Shortly after signing this non-aggression pact, Germany invaded Poland leading to the start of World War II.
During the war, Germany expanded its control into several other countries including Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, and part of France. Germany also decided to break the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union when they invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. This, however, was a fatal mistake, that helped to lead to Germany’s defeat in World War II.
Hitler followed several steps as he tried to expand German control.
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