And then came the next step. There were 65 million Germans who needed a little stretching room.

They considered expansion for "Lebensraum," living space, their inalienable right.

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Annexation of the Saargebiet, 1935 photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

Hitler had his eyes to the east. Countries like Poland, Russia, etc., with lots of room and populated only by "sub-humans."

At first, they moved into German-speaking areas that had been taken away from Germany by the Versailles Treaty. Hitler did not think the nations of the world would fight for Germany as they did in World War I. He thought they had gone soft. And he was right. They did not fight.

The Saar Basin was the richest coal area in Europe. It was taken away from Germany by the Versailles Treaty, which was administered by the League of Nations, with the coal going to France. In January, 1933, Germany re-incorporated the Saar Basin. They re-militarized the Rhineland, violating the Versailles Treaty. In March, 1938, they entered Austria; one month later, 99.7% of Austria voted for union with Germany.

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Chamberlain and Hitler, Munich Conference 1938 photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

And the final capstone was the German-speaking southern part of Czechoslovakia, Sudentenland. Hitler said he wanted it because there were many German nationals in Sudentenland. There was one problem: Czechoslovakia had a mutual treaty with Britain and France. If Czechoslovakia was invaded, Britain and France would have to respond.

In September 1938, England, France and Italy met to discuss Hitler"s demands for Sudentenland and agreed that Hitler could annex it if he stopped there. Neville Chamberlain wrote in a letter to his sister, describing Hitler, "Now here is a man, a true statesman, a man I feel I can really trust." England and France ignored their treaty with Czechoslovakia, and Hitler went in and took Sudentenland.

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Germans In Prague photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

But then the problem arose; a short time later, Hitler went and he took the rest of Czechoslovakia. In March 1939, Hitler occupied Prague, and Czechoslovakia was gone. The Western Alliance was silent.

Suddenly, everyone realized, the lights were about to go off in Europe for the second time in about 25 years.

It was the eve of World War II.