Transcript Events in Europe Leading Up To World War II

Events in Europe Leading Up
To World War II
1914-1918 – World War I, Europe a Mess!
 Treaty of Versailles – Germany powerless
(owes $33 billion, no troops, etc.)….League
of Nations formed
 Adolf Hitler fights in World War I, losing
side
 1919 Weimar Republic, Democracy
attempted
1920’s in Europe
 1920 – Hitler forms
the German
Worker’s Party, or
the Nazi Party
 1923 – Hitler jailed
for treason, writes
Mein Kampf (My
Struggle) while in
prison, a following
starts
Hitler Takes Advantage
 Severe economic depression hits
Europe, German Mark nearly worthless
(countries worried about themselves)
 1930’s – Nazi’s make strong showing in
Parliamentary elections, near majority
in German Reichstag
 1933-1934 – Hitler becomes
Chancellor, rearmament
begins…Germany starts to grow
Other Leaders Make Their Mark in Europe
 Joseph Stalin – Soviet
Union
 “Man
of Steel”, took control
in 1924 – extreme
communism
 Become industrial power,
but millions die (some
estimates, he was
responsible for 30 million
dead)
 Benito Mussolini – Italy
 Needed
a strong leader,
Mussolini established the
Fascist Party (one leader,
Nationalism)
 1922 – Marched to Rome
with “Black Shirts” –
country in disarray – King
Makes Him Leader (“Il
Duce”)
 Other Leaders
 Hideki Tojo– Japan
 Francisco Franco –
Spain (took control
by overthrowing
government)
Lands Start to be Taken
 1. 1931 – Japan invades Manchuria (not
stopped)
 2. 1936 – Hitler reoccupies Rhineland
(Northeast France), no problems
 3. 1937 – Francisco Franco becomes
Fascist (nation above all else – allied
w/ Hitler) dictator of Spain after Civil
War
Hitler Goes to Far….Or Does He?
 4. Austria annexed,
or taken by
Germany…Prime
Minister assasinated
---At this point, people
are scared of Hitler,
need to have a
meeting
What Happens?
 Munich Conference – Gives Hitler
Sudetenland (part of Czech.) for
promise of peace
 KEY – Policy of appeasement-Giving in
to a hostile power to keep peace
 Neville Chamberlain – Great Britain
Prime Minister, “We Have Peace in our
time.”
Munich Conference, 1938
What Does Hitler Do?
 Takes the rest of
Czechoslavokia
…..No Kidding!
(Easy to look
back and see the
mistakes, at the
time, not so
easy)
Summer of 1939
 1. Germany signs
secret nonaggression pact with
Soviet Union (don’t
attack each other)
 1A.
Invasion of
Poland, split by two
countries