2. Interwar Period:

3. League of Nations Overall the League was weak and ineffective
No control of major conflicts
No progress in disarmament
No military force

4. Japanese Agression
1931- Japan seized Manchuria which was part of China
Manchuria was rich in iron and coal
League of Nations protested actions
Japan dropped out of the League of Nations
Hideki Tojo: Militaristic dictator who controlled the military and nation by 1941

6. Italian Aggression 1926- Benito Mussolini starts fascist dicatorship
1935- Italy reinvades Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
Use brutal chemical warfare
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie plead to League of Nations about aggression

8. The Soviets and Stalin USSR was established in 1922
Joseph Stalin takes over in 1924 after Lenin dies
Focused on agricultural production and modernizing industry
5-Year Plan: Collectivized farming that led to massive deaths
Great Purge: Stalin’s restructuring of USSR that led to millions of deaths

9. German Resentment Bitter from Treaty of Versailles
Militaristic, territorial, and financial penalties
Dolchstrosslegende:German military felt “stabbed in the back” by politicians and public

10. Postwar Germany Weimar Republic = liberal democracy
Massive Inflation = Economic misery
Weimar Republic fails after 14 years

13. Hitler's Rise Corporal in WWI (won two Iron Crosses for bravery)
National Socialist German Worker’s Party
Wrote Mein Kampf while serving prison sentence for inciting a riot
Ran for President in 1932 but lost
Served as Chancellor to the president

14. Nazi Party Hitler took over after president’s death in 1934
Consolidated chancellor and president position into one = dictator
Rigged elections, took away self-government to states, blocked out opposing parties

15. Spanish Civil War
1936- Coup d’etat by militant group led by fascist leader Francisco Franco
Soviet Union and Mexico sided with the Republican Gov.
Italy and Germany sided with fascist Franco
War served as a warm up for WWII

16. Brink of War
Appeasement- international policy used to avoid conflict through satisfying enemy needs
This was policy of Britain and Prime Minister Chamberlain
1938- Annexed Austria and Sudetenland
1939- Invaded Poland = Britain/France declare war on Germany