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How did Germany annex Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938?

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Nazi SS troops march in formation carrying banners with swastikas and eagles at the 1933 Party Day rally in Nuremberg, Germany, with trees in the background. — Third Reich A Nazi Party rally at Nürnberg, Germany, in 1933.

In 1938, Germany expanded its territory through a combination of political intimidation, manufactured crises, and the failure of international powers to intervene.

The Annexation of Austria (Anschluss)

Adolf Hitler sought to unite Austria with the Third Reich, a process known as Anschluss. Following a 1936 agreement that increased German pressure on the Austrian government, Hitler bullied Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg into making concessions during a 1938 meeting at Berchtesgaden. When Schuschnigg attempted to hold a plebiscite on the issue, Hitler forced his resignation and ordered a military occupation on March 12, 1938. The annexation was finalized the following day, later receiving retroactive approval through a controlled plebiscite.12

The Annexation of the Sudetenland

Hitler used the grievances of the ethnic German minority in the Sudetenland to destabilize Czechoslovakia. Led by Konrad Henlein, the Sudeten German Party demanded autonomy, creating a pretext for Hitler to threaten war. Seeking to avoid conflict, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French leaders pursued a policy of appeasement. This culminated in the Munich Agreement (September 1938), where the Western powers pressured Czechoslovakia to cede the region to Germany.134