The Anschluss Österreichs

Austria was Germany’s first major win in World War II. The takeover (Anschluss), which occurred on March 12, 1938, was a major victory for Hitler, who dreamed of uniting the two countries for the first time in the 20th century. Although the Austrian Chancellor attempted to get a vote on the issue of annexation, the Nazis in Austria managed to overturn it. Thus, Austria united with Germany and the Wehrmacht marched in. The Allied countries were unhappy with the union, but could do little to stop it.

Czechoslovakia was the next big annexation. Leaders from France, Germany, Italy, and the UK got together on September 30, 1938 to discuss the Sudetenland. They signed the Munich Pact, which let Germany annex the country (inhabited by many ethnic Germans). The Czechs still regard this agreement as a betrayal from France, as they had a military alliance with them. Pieces of Czechoslovakia were handed over to Poland and Hungary against their wishes. The rest of the country was divided into the Slovak Republic and the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

This important document is also called the Treaty of Non-Aggression. It was named for the German and Soviet leaders Ribbentrop and Molotov, respectively. It was signed into law on August 23, 1939, as the leaders of these two powerhouse countries pledged to stay neutral if either one was under attack from another country. Furthermore, the treaty secretly divided Europe into Soviet and German interests, as they anticipated future border rearrangements. The rest of the world responded with shock and surprise at the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Soviets had been fighting against Nazi Germany for many years now. People started calling it the “Communazi Pact.”

In September of that year, the two countries invaded different areas of Poland, which effectively divided it. Germany took the western portion, while the Soviets took the east. It was a bloodbath from the beginning, with Germans slaughtering hundreds of Jewish and Polish civilians in the first month.

Meanwhile, the Soviets launched a serious attack that overwhelmed the undersized Polish military. “Sovietization” began right away as the new leaders changed long-standing Polish laws, currency, history, and property. Similarly, “Germanization” programs were designed to re-program citizens (mainly Polish children) to the Third Reich’s way of thinking.

The Soviets next took control of several Eastern European countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Overall, about 170,000 Baltic civilians were killed or removed from their countries during the occupation.

A Treaty Broken

The Treaty of Non-Aggression was supposed to last for 10 years, but it only lasted until late June of 1944 when Germany marched into the Soviet Union. Soviet troops weren’t ready for the attack since Stalin had not heeded warnings. Consequently, the Soviet Union lost its recent land holdings to Germany, and over four million Soviets died as a direct result of the German invasion.