us_ch8_webquest-hitler-rise

=**Hitler's Rise to Power**= Timeline of Hitler's rise to power:

January 30, 1933: Hitler appointed Chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg

February 27, 1933: Fire in the Reichstag (German Parliament). Suspects were arrested (the suspects were all opponents of the Nazis). The origins of the fire were mysterious.

August 2, 1934: Hindenburg died...Hitler combines the offices of President and Chancellor making himself **Fuhrer**. He's officially a dictator. At this point the German people see him as bringing Germany back to its glory.

March 8, 1935: Hitler announced the existence of an air force, the **Luftwaffe**, headed by **Hermann Goering**, who also headed the Gestapo (Nazi secret police) --- __against the Versailles Treaty__.

Mach 15, 1935: Hitler announced an increase in the army and his new tank divisions with the use of **blitzkrieg** ("lightning war" for short quick battles) --- __against the Versailles Treaty__.

March 7, 1936: Hitler remilitarized the **Rhineland** (area in Germany between the Rhine River and France) --- __against the Versailles Treaty__. Mark on your map. Click here if you need help on the map. France as a response increased completion of the **Maginot Line**, a defensive line of armored buildings in the hills of France to use as protection.

October 25, 1936: **Rome-Berlin Axis** signed between Germany and Italy.

November 25, 1936: **Anti-Comintern Pact** between Germany and Japan to have same foreign policy wtih USSR; Italy joined in 1937; the 3 signed the Tripartite Pact in 1940. The Axis would be complete. Write the world Axis in these 3 nations (Germany, Italy, and Japan) on your map. Click here if you need help on the map

March 13, 1938: **Anschluss** - absorption of Austria into the German Reich (Hitler called his empire the Third Reich) --- __against the Versailles Treaty__. Mark on your map. Click here if you need help on the map

March 29, 1938: **Munich Conference** - Hitler wanted the Sudetenland. Click here for the rest of the information.

August 23, 1939: **Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact** - a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, which shocked the world, but Hitler didn't want the USSR to be a problem when he invaded Poland.

September 1, 1939: Germany invaded Poland...official start of WWII. Mark on your map. Click here if you need help on the map

What did America do? Click here to find out