1. Warm Up! How did Hitler change the GOVERNMENT in Germany? How did Hitler change EDUCATION in Germany?

2. Japan By the 1920s the military essentially ran Japan’s government. Japan had very limited natural resources and had only begun the process of industrialization in the late 1800s. Like other industrialized nations, Japan needed to secure resources and new markets. In the 1930s, Japan entered a phase of empire-building, using aggressive military action to achieve domination over key regions in Asia.

3. The Rape of Nanking The Rape of Nanking occurred in Nanjing, China, after it fell to the Japanese Army in 1937. In 1938, the Japanese army committed numerous atrocities, such as rape, looting, and arson. The executions began by trying to eliminate Chinese soldiers disguised as civilians. However, a large number of men, women, and children were raped and killed.

4. Mussolini Invades Ethiopia Mussolini’s ambitions included imperial expansion. He wanted Italy to build an empire that would rival that of Great Britain. In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, one of only four nations on the continent of Africa that had held off European imperialism and remained independent into the 20th century.

5. Hitler Rearms When Hitler became chancellor, he built up the armed forces. In March 1936, Hitler’s troops retook the Rhineland. France, terrified at the prospect of fighting another world war, did nothing. Britain urged other nations to do whatever was necessary to avoid starting a full-scale armed conflict with Germany. This policy of appeasement — making concessions or failing to counteract an aggressor in order to avoid war — guided Europe’s reaction to Hitler’s moves over the next three years.

6. The Axis Powers In October 1936, Germany and Italy entered into a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. Less than a month later, Germany made a similar agreement with Japan. Collectively, these three nations came to be known as the Axis Powers.

7. Germany Takes Austria Hitler believed that all German- speaking peoples in Europe should be part of the new German empire he planned to build. Many of these peoples lived in countries that bordered Germany In March of 1938, German troops took control of Austria, declaring it to be a part of Germany. Again, Hitler faced no consequences from the international community for his actions.

8. Germany Takes Czechoslovakia In March 1938, the Munich Conference produced an agreement between Germany, Britain, Italy, and France that part of Czechoslovakia would immediately be given to Germany with promises that German aggression would come to an end. In March 1939, Hitler invaded and took the rest of Czechoslovakia. Fearing that Hitler would next set his sights on Poland, Britain and France publicly promised to protect the country against Nazi aggression.

9. Non-Aggression Pact In August 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany publicly agreed to a ten-year nonaggression pact: a public agreement never to attack one another. They also secretly negotiated a deal concerning Poland: Stalin would not act against Germany if it attacked Poland, then Germany and the Soviet Union would divide Poland between them after the Germans seized the country.

10. Germany Invades Poland On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Within a month, Germany had all of Poland under its control. The invasion reflected a new German military strategy known as blitzkrieg (meaning “lightning war”) in which the Nazis used fast-moving planes and tanks for an initial attack, followed by a massive invasion of ground troops.

11. Germany Takes France In early June 1940, the Italians and Nazis attacked France from the south. On June 14th, Paris fell to the Germans, and on June 22nd, France surrendered to Germany. French General Charles de Gaulle fled to London. From there he set up a government-in-exile and named himself the leader of the “Free French.”

12. The Battle of Britain Hitler turned his attention to Great Britain. His goal was to disable the Royal Air Force (RAF) and then launch a land assault against the island nation. The Battle of Britain lasted until May 1941. Many civilians died and hundreds of buildings were reduced to rubble, but the British eventually prevailed because of several factors: The development of radar allowed the British to know the number, speed, and direction of incoming enemy warplanes. Most German attacks took place at night, & the British government imposed a total blackout to ensure that the Germans could not use lights from England’s buildings to help them locate targets to bomb. Civilians used thick black curtains or black paint to lightproof their windows, and cities refrained from using street lights at night.

13. Germany Turns East Hitler’s obsession with expanding eastward led him to break his treaty with Stalin. In June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. The ensuing campaign was one of the deadliest in history and lasted four years, as the German army attempted to destroy the Soviet Unions’ Red Army. With the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Winston Churchill announced that, “All who resist Nazi domination shall have our aid.”