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September 27 1940: Hitler signs the Tripartite Treaty with the leaders of Japan and Italy, which become known as the Axis Powers.

The Governments of Japan, Germany, and Italy consider it as the condition precedent of any lasting peace that all nations in the world be given each its own proper place, have decided to stand by and co-operate with one another in their efforts in Greater East Asia and the regions of Europe respectively wherein it is their prime purpose to establish and maintain a new order of things, calculated to promote the mutual prosperity and welfare of the peoples concerned. It is, furthermore, the desire of the three Governments to extend cooperation to nations in other spheres of the world that are inclined to direct their efforts along lines similar to their own for the purpose of realizing their ultimate object, world peace. Accordingly, the Governments of Japan, Germany and Italy have agreed as follows:[1]

ARTICLE 1. Japan recognizes and respects the leadership of Germany and Italy in the establishment of a new order in Europe.

ARTICLE 2. Germany and Italy recognize and respect the leadership of Japan in the establishment of a new order in Greater East Asia.

ARTICLE 3. Japan, Germany, and Italy agree to cooperate in their efforts on aforesaid lines. They further undertake to assist one another with all political, economic and military means if one of the Contracting Powers is attacked by a Power at present not involved in the European War or in the Japanese-Chinese conflict.

ARTICLE 4. With a view to implementing the present pact, joint technical commissions, to be appointed by the respective Governments of Japan, Germany and Italy, will meet without delay.

ARTICLE 5. Japan, Germany and Italy affirm that the above agreement affects in no way the political status existing at present between each of the three Contracting Powers and Soviet Russia.

ARTICLE 6. The present pact shall become valid immediately upon signature and shall remain in force ten years from the date on which it becomes effective. In due time, before the expiration of said term, the High Contracting Parties shall, at the request of any one of them, enter into negotiations for its renewal.

In faith whereof, the undersigned duly authorized by their respective governments have signed this pact and have affixed hereto their signatures.

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1939: Invasion of Poland

Until 1939, Germany had made demands for Poland to return Danzig to Germany and for a road and railway system to built across the Polish corridor, which was a territory given to Poland at the Treaty of Versailles to give Poland access to the sea. Poland refused to give in to German threats because Poland was backed by Britain and France. Poland also felt that Germany would not risk a two-fronted war. However, unknown to the rest of world, the Nazi-Soviet Pact contained a secret protocol that divided Poland into Soviet and Nazi spheres of influence. On 1 September,  Hitler sent 62 German army divisions and 1,300 aircraft to invade Poland. Hitler felt confident that Chamberlain and Daladier were weak-willed  politicians who would not declare war on Germany.
Hitler was wrong. In response to the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. World War 2 in Europe had begun. On 17 September, Soviet forces attacked Poland from the East. By 6 October, the defeat of Poland was complete.

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1939: Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression pact was signed on24 August 1934.According to the terms of the pact, Nazi Germany and the USSR would have ten years of peace and cooperate economically with each other. There was also  secret police protocol that divide Poland into Soviet and Nazi spheres of interest along the Narew, Vistula and San Rivers.
In Eastern Europe, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Bessarabia (part of Romania) would be in the Soviet sphere. The Nazi-Soviet Pact made war with Poland likely because Nazi Germany and the USSR were ideological enemies but had made peace with each other. They had also agreed to partition Poland. This ended the German fear of a two-fronted war and made World War 2 likely.

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1939: Invasion of Czechoslovakia

In March 1939, Hitler broke his promise made at the Munich agreement and took over the rest of Czechoslovakia. Between September 1938 and March 1939, Hitler stirred racial problems in Czechoslovakia by getting Slovaks and Ruthenians to demand for independence from the Czech-dominated government. Hitler put pressure on the new Czech President, Emil Hacha, to request for German help to "restore order".
On 15 April, President Hacha finally agreed to allow German troops to occupy Czechoslovakia. Unlike previous cases, Czechoslovakia was an independent and sovereign country, which was now occupied by Nazi troops.
Britain and France protested but knew that there was little they could do. Britain and France then warned Hitler that if he invaded Poland, they would declare war. Hitler did not believe that Britain and France would want to go to war with Germany and thought he could still push his luck further, even if it means going to war.

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June-September 1938: The Sudetenland Crisis

In 1938, Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland become a German territory and claimed that the Sudeten Germans were discriminated against by the Czech government and wished to become part of Germany.
However, Hitler knew that it would be much harder to annex Czechoslovakia because of various factors.
Firstly, the Czechs had a modern army consisting of 600,000 men and four air regiments. They also had modern tanks, armoured cars and artillery. Hitler would also find it difficult to launch an invasion due to border fortifications and mountainous terrain of the Sudeten mountains.
Secondly, President Edvard Benes, the Czech President, was also prepared to fight to preserve his country and was promised by Britain, France and USSR to support Czechoslovakia n the event of war.
Hitler was, however, convinced that Czechoslovakia would not receive help from its allies. The Soviet army was already weakened by Stalin's purges and also needed permission to march through Poland and Romania. France's new Prime Minister was not keen on going to war over Czechoslovakia. People of Britain was against the war and their Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, also did not want war with Germany.
This led to Hitler believing that he could push his luck further with Britain, France and USSR and became greedy to achieve more Lebensraum (living space)

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March 1938: Creating a Greater Germany through Anschluss: Union with Austria

One of Hitler's political aim was to create a greater Germany. This was the political idea of creating a German nation-state that would include all German speakers of Europe. Hitler wanted to achieve Anschluss because Austria and Germany shared the same language and culture. Austria was also rich in natural resources like gold and iron ore. Hitler was also Austrian by birth and upbringing. The treaty of Versailles and other various treaties forbade Anschluss and pushed for Austrian independence.
The Austrian Chancellor, Kurt Schuschnigg, was treated badly by Hitler and was forced to allow pro-Nazi Austrians to be given key government posts in the Austrian government. However, Hitler was not satisfied and continued to stir trouble to push for the annexation of Austria.
German troops were sent to Austria to "ensure peace" and arrested anyone who opposed Nazi rule. More than 99.75%of the population of Austria voted in favour of Anschluss and thus, Anschluss was achieved without a single shot fired, horrifying Czechoslovakia

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March 1936: Repudiating the Treaty of Versailles by the remilitarisation of the Rhineland

According to the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties, the Rhineland was to be demilitarised. In March 1936, Hitler moved German troops into the Rhineland, risking a war with France. Hitler's excuse for going into the Rhineland was that the territory belonged to Germany. Another excuse was that France and the USSR had concluded a Franco-Soviet alliance in May 1935 to protect each other against a German attack. Hitler used this alliance to claim that Germany was under threat and that he should be allowed to place his troops in his own frontier.
Hitler sent a weak force without air support to the Rhineland and were told to withdraw if France did attack.

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March 1935: Rearmament

The Treaty of Versailles limited Germany's army and navy to 100,000 men and six battleships. However in March 1935 , Hitler reintroduced conscription and announced that he would increase the size of his army to 300,000 men. Germany also signed the Anglo-German Naval agreement in June 1935 in which Hitler promised that the German navy would be limited to 35% the strength of the British navy(but with no intention to keep it).