- Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, an area of Germany that was supposed to be demilitarized according to the Treaty of Versailles.
- This was a violation of the treaty and a direct challenge to the French and British, who had already begun to take steps to rearm themselves in response to Hitler's earlier aggressions.
- The French and British did not take any immediate military action, but they began to prepare for war.
- Hitler's reoccupation of the Rhineland was a major turning point in the lead-up to World War II.