1. Around 9 million soldiers died in the war. (The U.S.A. only lost 115,000 men.) 2. The Kaiser left Germany and a democratic government was formed. Many Germans blamed the new government for signing the Versailles treaty, which took away much of Germany’s territory. 3. Russia’s Tsar was arrested and he and his family were shot by the new Communist government under Vladimer Lenin. 4. The Ottoman Empire lost everything but Turkey. France and Britain took over the Middle East which infuriated the Arabs. 5. Austria-Hungary was broken into new countries. 6. Germany was supposed to pay an enormous war reparation to the Allies, which caused the new German government to go broke.

President Wilson proposed a League of Nations which would help countries solve their differences without war. The League failed because: 1. The U.S. Senate would not approve the treaty to join the league. After their experience in WWI, Americans wanted to stay out of Europe’s business. 2. The League had no way to punish nations that would not cooperate with other nations. It could only condemn them, and most dictators didn’t care what the League said.

Roosevelt created government agencies, The Works Progress Administration ( WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to provide some jobs. He also had the government lend people money to get homes. But the government could not afford to help everyone in the U.S.! The factories remained closed because people did not have the money to buy their goods. And as long as the factories stayed closed, many people did not have a job. The Depression finally ended in 1940 when WWII started in Europe, and the U.S. began to supply war materials to Britain. The factories reopened, and people went back to work.

The economic crisis caused three Fascist dictators to rise in Europe in the 1930’s.

The Axis Powers Flex Their Muscles

Who Were the Axis Powers?

Who were their leaders?

Italy

JAPAN

Hitler’s Plan 1.Conquer Eastern Europe, including Russia 2.Kill or enslave Slavic people living in those countries. 3.Eliminate Jews, Gypsies, and other “sub-humans”. 4.Create a German Super-race (Aryans)

Mussolini’s Plan 1.Establishing colonies in East Africa and North Africa. 2.Create a great Italian empire by taking Greece, Albania, and the area of Yugoslavia next to the Adriatic Sea (modern Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hertzogovina, and Montenegro.) 3.Taking French North Africa, and Egypt, which was controlled by Britain.

Tojo’s Plan 1.Create a “Greater East Asia Co- Prosperity Sphere” which was a code name for a Japanese Empire. 2.Drive the U.S.A., France, and Britain from East Asia and take over their colonies. 3.Take over China.

The Communists renamed the Russian Empire “The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” ( U.S.S.R.) There were no real republics in the U.S.S.R. The country was run by a terrible, cruel dictator named Josef Stalin. Stalin killed millions of Russians and many others were put in labor camps and prisons because he suspected them of disloyalty. He began an ambitious program to build factories to make the U.S.S.R. a powerful industrial country. Every citizen had a job, but they were paid very little, and they lived in poor conditions.

Hitler’s moves-- Hitler broke the Versailles Treaty by building up a powerful German army, navy, and airforce. He then began to take back territory that Germany had lost in WWI. Next he annexed Austria to Germany. France and Britain, who were still paying off debts from WWI, let Hitler get away with this because they really did not want to fight another war.

This cartoon shows the British prime minister obsessing over the abdication of King Edward VIII and ignoring the activities of dictators who are about to blow him up.

Hitler took a big risk. He took over Czechoslovakia. Once again, the leaders of Britain and France did nothing to stop him. He decided they were big chickens, and he could do anything he wanted to. But then Hitler went too far….He invaded Poland. France and Britain declared war on Germany. World War II had started.

The Japanese had taken over Korea before WWI. In the 1930’s Japan invaded northern China, claiming Manchuria. Later they attacked other Chinese areas, killing many innocent people. Many people in the U.S. sympathized with the Chinese, and the U.S. refused to sell scrap iron to Japan. Later the U.S. threatened Japan’s oil supply to try to stop the Japanese from taking more of China. The Japanese, led by General Tojo, began to resent U.S. interference in their plans to create a large empire. They began to think about war.

Hitler of Germany and Stalin of the U.S.S.R. make a Non-Aggression Pact in 1939.