On 12 March 1938, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi troops crossed the German border and invaded Austria.
This is the moment when the countdown to the Second World War began. A war that wouldn’t have happened without the decisions and actions taken by Hitler in this crucial period.
To understand how it happened we need to understand him. This series tells the story of these 18 months, from 12 March 1938 to 3 September 1939, in a radical new way – through the eyes of Hitler himself. A team of leading, young historians explore what Hitler was doing day by day, week by week, revealing how this bully, gambler and arch manipulator brought the world to the edge of destruction.
Episode One: This episode reveals how Hitler manipulated and played games with the Czechs and with the western powers of Britain and France to achieve his ends.
Episode Two: By September 1938, Hitler had occupied Austria and was intent on invading Czechoslovakia. But the British and the French had made it clear that they would go to war against Germany if he did so.
Episode Three: Fresh from invading Czechoslovakia, Hitler now turned to his next target – Poland. He saw it this vast country as ripe for German expansion, taking him to the borders of the Soviet Union.
