2. Vocab
Fascism
Kristallnacht
Politburo
Totalitarian State
Black Tuesday

3. Disturbing the Peace
Thee Great Depression of the 1930s brought chaos and unemployment to Europe, which led to the rise of authoritarian dictators .
Fascist totalitarian regimes in Italy and Germany threatened to end the peace in Europe, while aggressive Japanese militarism caused tension in Asia.

5. Disturbing the Peace
A military government controlled Japan, and it desired a vast Asian empire.
Japanese Aggression
Japan conquered Manchuria in 1931.
League of Nations condemned the act, took no action.
Since the Meiji Restoration Japan had been growing more nationalistic, militaristic, and imperialistic

6. Disturbing the Peace
Japan conquered much of eastern China in 1937, brutally killing thousands in what became known as the “Rape of Nanking.”
League of Nations did nothing but protest.

7. Disturbing the Peace Italian Aggression
Fascist Italy was also militaristic, nationalistic, and had dreams of an empire.
Conquered Ethiopia in 1935.
Ethiopia appealed to the League of Nations for help, but the league merely responded with sanctions, or economic penalties, against Italy. The sanctions were never enforced, and by 1936 Mussolini fully controlled Ethiopia.

8. Disturbing the Peace Hitler rebuilt the German military.
This violated the Treaty of Versailles, but the League of Nations did nothing.
Hitler’s Militarism
"Not only have I united the German people politically, but I have also rearmed them. I have also endeavored to destroy, sheet by sheet, that treaty [Versailles] which in its 448 articles contains the vilest oppression human beings have ever been expected to endure." Hitler, 1935

9. Disturbing the Peace
With a stronger military, in 1936 Hitler ordered troops to occupy the demilitarized Rhineland
Yet again, the League of Nations took no action.

10. Disturbing the Peace
Britain and France denounced Hitler’s moves with words, adopting a policy of appeasement.
Appeasement – giving in to an aggressor’s demands in hopes of keeping the peace.

11. Disturbing the Peace
Appeasement convinced Hitler that Britain and France were weak, which encouraged him to continue to break the Treaty of Versailles.
Overjoyed, the German public rallied behind their Fuhrer.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”- Edmund Burke

12. Why Choose Appeasement?
Pacifism –
Against
all War
Great
Depression
Weakness
Some
Agreed
with Hitler
Lack of
Strong
Leadership
Hitler was
a Defense
against
Communism

13. Disturbing the Peace
1936-Italy, Germany, and Japan formed the Axis alliance and agreed to allow each other to pursue their own empires and combat Soviet communism.
The Axis Powers
During the action, Germany experimented with its new planes and tanks, and Hitler was encouraged with the effective results.
Germany and Italy sent troops to Spain to help fascist General Francisco Franco gain power in the Spanish Civil War.