1933: Nazi Party comes to power and forms the Third Reich. Hitler begins to rebuild the military in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. March 1938: Austria is annexed by the Third Reich. Sept. 1st 1939: Germany TURNING POINT IN EAST: invades Poland. Soviet Union invades eastern Poland. Britain and France declare War on Germany. War Begins July – October 1940: Battle of Britain: German attempt to gain air superiority over UK. Germany Fails- First Loss World War II- Europe Sept. 1938: Britain and France agree to give Germany a region of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland. March 1936: Germans occupied the Rhineland with troops- again violating the Treaty of Versailles. June – December 1941: Operation Barbarossa: Germany invades the Soviet Union. Almost reaches the capital city of Moscow. May 1940: Nazi army invades France. June 1940: France surrenders to Nazi Army. Appeasement: The policy of granting concessions to potential enemies to maintain peace. TURNING POINT IN WEST: END OF THE WAR: