1. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)

2. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Japanese steps towards WWII
German steps towards WWII
Democratic countries’ reaction
The spark that triggered the war

3. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1929 Enconomic crisis
End of international harmony
Economic crisis  increased international tension
Germany, Italy and Japan
Discontented powers
Set up the Axis, military bloc
Democratic countries
Weak international policy
«Appeasement policy» led by British PM Chamberlain
Soviet Union
Stalin’s «great purges»
After failing a possible alliance with the democratic countries  Pact with Hitler

4. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
«Appeasement policy»
Unwillingness of the British, French and American population to fight again a war
British thought that the Treaty of Versailles had unfair clauses
Chamberlain believed that Hitler could be appeased by giving in to certain Hitler’s claims

5. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
JAPANESE STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR
1931 Invasion of Manchuria
Inukai Tsuyoshi’s ultranationalist government
1937 Invasion of China
For some historians, the Sinojapanese war meant the beginning of WWII

6. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Manchuria’s invasion 1931

7. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Manchuria’s invasion 1931

8. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Inukai Shiyosi and the Emperor

9. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
JAPANESE STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR
1931 Invasion of Manchuria
Inukai Tsuyoshi’s ultranationalist government
1937 Invasion of China
For some historians, the Sinojapanese war meant the beginning of WWII

10. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1937 Nanjing’s massacre

11. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1937 Japanese invasion of China

12. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (1)
1933
Germany left the League of Nations
1935
Compulsory military service
Italy invades Ethiopia
1936
Remilitarisation of Rhineland

13. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1933 Hitler, chancellor of Germany

14. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1933 Germany leaves the League of Nations

15. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (1)
1933
Germany left the League of Nations
1935
Compulsory military service
Italy invades Ethiopia
1936
Remilitarisation of Rhineland

16. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1935 Germany: compulsory military service

17. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (1)
1933
Germany left the League of Nations
1935
Compulsory military service
Italy invades Ethiopia
1936
Remilitarisation of Rhineland

18. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Italian invasion of Ethiopia

19. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Italian invasion of Ethiopia

20. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (1)
1933
Germany left the League of Nations
1935
Compulsory military service
Italy invades Ethiopia
1936
Remilitarisation of Rhineland

21. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Remilitarisation of Rhineland

22. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (2)
1936
German and Italian intervention in Spain
Rome-Berlin Axis
Antikomintern Pact (Germany and Japan)

23. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 German-Italian intervention in Spain

24. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)

25. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (2)
1936
German and Italian intervention in Spain
Rome-Berlin Axis
Antikomintern Pact (Germany and Japan)

26. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Rome Berlin Axis

27. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (2)
1936
German and Italian intervention in Spain
Rome-Berlin Axis
Antikomintern Pact (Germany and Japan)

28. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Antikomintern Pact

29. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Antikomintern Pact

30. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
HOW DID THE DEMOCRATIC POWERS REACT TO HITLER’S DEMANDS
Failure of the «Appeasement policy»
March 1938
German annexation of Austria (Anschluss)
September 1938
Munich Pact (Hitler obtained Sudetenland)

31. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1931 Lack of reaction to Japan’s attack on Manchuria

32. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1935 Lack of reaction to Italy’s attack on Abyssinia

33. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Lack of reaction to Germany’s remilitarisation of Rhineland

34. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 Chamberlain and Von Ribbentrop

35. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
HOW DID THE DEMOCRATIC POWERS REACT TO HITLER’S DEMANDS
Failure of the «Appeasement policy»
March 1938
German annexation of Austria (Anschluss)
September 1938
Munich Pact (Hitler obtained Sudetenland)

36. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 German annexation of Austria

37. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 German annexation of Austria

38. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
HOW DID THE DEMOCRATIC POWERS REACT TO HITLER’S DEMANDS
Failure of the «Appeasement policy»
March 1938
German annexation of Austria (Anschluss)
September 1938
Munich Pact (Hitler obtained Sudetenland)

39. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 Munich Agreement

40. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 Munich Agreement

41. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 Munich Agreement

42. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
WHAT WAS THE LAST SPARK THAT TRIGGERED THE WAR?
March 1939
Germany invades Czechosovakia. The end of appeasment.
August 1939
Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Treaty
September 1939
Invasion of Poland  GB and France declared war on Germany

43. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia

44. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia

45. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
First German poster in Prague,
15 March 1939.
"Notice to the Population.
By order of the Fuhrer and
Supreme Commander of the
German Wehrmacht. I have
taken over, as of today,
the executive power in
the Land of Bohemia.
Headquarters,
Prague, 15 March 1939.
Commander, 3rd Army,
Blaskowitz, General of Infantry."
1939 Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia

46. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
WHAT WAS THE LAST SPARK THAT TRIGGERED THE WAR?
March 1939
Germany invades Czechosovakia
August 1939
Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Treaty
September 1939
Invasion of Poland  GB and France declared war on Germany

47. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi-Soviet non agression pact

48. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi-Soviet non agression pact

49. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi-Soviet non agression pact

50. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi-Soviet carved up Poland

51. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
WHAT WAS THE LAST SPARK THAT TRIGGERED THE WAR?
March 1939
Germany invades Czechosovakia
August 1939
Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Treaty
September 1939
Invasion of Poland  GB and France declared war on Germany

52. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Poland

53. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Poland

54. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Poland

55. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Expansionist steps by Japan
Expansionist steps by Germany and Italy
Weak reaction of the democratic powers
Final crisis: Invasion of Poland

56. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Invasion of Manchuria
Germany left the L. of Nations
1933
Compusory Military Service in Germany
1935
Antikomintern Pact
Rome-Berlin Axis
Spanish Civil War
1936
Italian invasion of Ethiopia (Abbysinia)

57. The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1937
Sinojapanese war
Munich Agreement
Anschluss
1938
Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia
1939
German-Soviet non agression pact
War breaks out
German invasion of Poland