1. Unit Objective Understanding the events that led to war

2. Japan invaded Manchuria, a northern region of China (1931):
AS A LAUNCHING POINT FOR A FUTURE INVASION OF THE REST OF CHINA
What did the world do about it?
NOTHING

4. Italy invaded Ethiopia (1934):
ETHIOPIA HAD BORDER DISPUTES WITH NEIGHBORING ITALIAN COLONY SOMALIA;
MUSSOLINI WANTED TO TEST OUT HIS NEW MILITARY
What did the world do about it?

6. Germany re-militarized the Rhineland (1936):
BORDER AREA WITH FRANCE THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO REMAIN FREE OF ANY GERMAN MILITARY ACCORDING TO THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES
What did the world do about it?

7. The Rhineland

8. Japan invaded China (1937)—What did the world do about it?
Japan conquered most of the rest of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (late 1930s)—what did the world do about it?

9. Germany annexed Austria (1938):
HITLER’S HOMELAND, USED TO BE PART OF THE GERMAN KINGDOMS
What did the world do about it?

11. Germany annexed the Sudetenland (1938):
PART OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA THAT HITLER CLAIMED HAD MANY GERMANS LIVING IN IT
What did the world do about it?

12. The Sudetenland

13. Munich Pact (1938)
Finally Britain and France decided to meet with Hitler, but they were not yet ready for war—as Hitler and Mussolini were increasing their militaries Britain and France had been reducing theirs
Britain and France agreed to allow Hitler to keep what he had already taken in return for his promise to take no more while they started to build up their militaries

14. Germany took the rest of Czechoslovakia, a clear violation of the Munich Pact (1939)
What did the world do about it?
Japan joined Germany and Italy as an AXIS Power in 1939

15. Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Non-Aggression Pact in 1939
An unlikely pairing
Surprising to the world because the Germans had feared Soviet invasion and now Hitler signed agreement not to go to war
Shocking to Britain and France because they had been counting on the Soviets on the Eastern Front if war broke out

16. Germany invaded Poland (1939)
SPARK THAT STARTED WWII
Led to Britain and France finally declaring war