A.     The Munich Conference

1.     In 1938, Hitler successfully annexed Austria into Germany.

2.     Hitler’s campaign of German expansion focused next on a mountainous region of western Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland. This heavily-fortified strategic region contained 3 million German-speaking people.

3.     Hitler, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Mussolini, and French Premier Edouard Daldier held an emergency conference in Munich to negotiate Hitler’s demand that Czechoslovakia give up the Sudetenland.

4.     Chamberlain believed he could preserve the peace by appeasing Hitler and giving in to his demands.

5.     The Munich Conference marked a turning point in European history. Filled with confidence, Hitler now made plans to attack Poland.

6.     The Munich Conference quickly became a symbol of surrender. Following WWII, democratic leaders vowed they would never again appease a ruthless dictator.

B.     Nazi-Soviet Pact

1.     Secret provisions of this agreement divided Poland between them and allowed Russia to occupy the Baltic states and to take Bessarabia from Romania.

2.     Bitter ideological enemies had become allies

3.     On September 1, 1939, the Germans invaded Poland; two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany.