1. Beginning of WWII
At the end of World War I, the Allied leaders met in Paris, hoping to establish peace.
However, the Treaty of Versailles they approved actually became a contributing cause of World War II.

2. Treaty of Versailles The terms of the Treaty of Versailles included:
Taking land away from Germany, including its overseas colonies
Reparations to be paid by Germany for the damage and destruction caused by the war
A “war guilt clause” which held Germany responsible for causing the war

3. Dictators of WW2

4. A dictator named Mussolini took power in Italy in 1922.
Germany, Italy, and Japan all came under the rule of dictators or military leaders.
A dictator named Mussolini took power in Italy in 1922.
Military leaders took control of Japan in the early 1930s.
In Germany, Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, gained power in 1933.
These leaders promised to restore their countries to greatness. But they set up totalitarian governments. (A totalitarian government is controlled by a single political party that allows no opposition and tightly controls people's lives.)
Hitler began to arm Germany for war. Japan invaded China. Mussolini sent Italian troops to conquer Ethiopia, in Africa. None of the world's democracies did anything to stop them.

5. Hitler Mussolini Hirohito/Tojo

6. Rise of the Nazis
The crushing burden of reparations crippled the German economy, leading to widespread discontent and political instability.
The onset of a global depression in the late 1920s and early 1930s only made the situation worse.

7. Fascism in Germany
Fascism glorified the nation at the expense of basic civil and human rights.
Fascism embraced extreme nationalism (love for your country) and terror tactics to gain power.
In Germany, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party—also known as the Nazis—put forth a form of fascism that approved of using aggressive action to uphold state power, and advocated a policy of racial discrimination against the Jews.

8. Adolf Hitler
In 1923, Hitler was sent to prison for trying to overthrow the government.
He felt that they were not doing enough for the people of Germany.
Hitler wrote a book titled Mein Kampf (meaning “my struggle”) where he outlined his political philosophy.

9. Mein Kampf Hitler believed: Germany was superior to all other nations
Jews posed a major threat to Germany
All German-speaking people needed to be united under one rule
Germany needed lebensraum (meaning “living space”) for all “true” Germans

10. Germany Under Hitler
In January 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. He immediately sought remove anyone who might limit his power.
Secret police known as the Gestapo worked to enforce his will—often brutally—by jailing, beating up, or even killing Hitler’s political opponents.

11. Benito Mussolini – Italy
Italy became fascist in the 1920s after the government was overthrown.
Like Hitler, Benito Mussolini gained power by throwing his critics into prison, forcing them to leave the country, or executing them.
Mussolini also used secret police to enforce his rule and propaganda tactics to uphold his regime.

12. General Tojo, Minister of War
In the summer of 1940, Tojo became Minister of War in the government and he saw that Japan's future lay with the European dictators - especially Hitler - who were much admired in Japan. While the European dictators were admired and respected in Japan, the opposite was true for America. The people of America were thought of as decadent, lazy and without scruples compared to the disciplined workforce of Japan that worshipped their emperor, Hirohito.