1938: Hitler’s Four Events Leading to World War II in 1939

The Anschluss: March 11-13, 1938

German troops crossed into Austria without resistance on the evening of March 11 after Hitler demanded that Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg resign. On March 12, German forces entered Vienna to cheering crowds, with Austrians greeting Hitler enthusiastically. They annexed Austria on the 13th. Hitler declared it part of the Third Reich, claiming he was only unifying all the German-speaking people. Meanwhile, Britain and France sought to satisfy Hitler’s ambitions without resorting to conflict. Many believed that the union of Austria and Germany was natural because of their shared language, culture, and history. They underestimated Hitler.

Demand for the Sudetenland in Summer; Occupation in October 1938

The Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia, had a large ethnic German population. Hitler claimed the Czechoslovakians mistreated their German population as a pretext for intervention.

Munich Agreement: September 30, 1938

Britain (Neville Chamberlain), France, Italy, and Germany met in Munich. They sold Czechoslovakia out when they agreed to let Hitler take the Sudetenland without Czechoslovakia’s knowledge. 

Kristallnacht: November 9–10, 1938

Hitler began a violent pogrom against Jews across Germany and Austria with Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass). The rioters burned synagogues, destroyed Jewish businesses, and arrested thousands.

The events of 1938 set the stage for the full invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, and later Poland in September 1939, which triggered World War II. This proved Hitler wasn’t just interested in uniting German-speaking peoples. He wanted the world.

Germany used a staged incident as a pretext to invade Poland on September 1, 1939. German SS operatives, dressed in Polish uniforms, “attacked” a German radio station in Gleiwitz, broadcasting a short anti-German message in Polish. They left behind the body of a man dressed as a Polish soldier (a murdered prisoner from a concentration camp). Britain and France had guaranteed Poland’s independence. They declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939.