Aggression in Europe and Asia, 1930-1939

  • Japan Invades Manchuria

    On this date Japan launched an attack on Manchuria. They had also controlled the railway.
  • Italy Attacks Ethiopia

    The Italians invaded Ethiopia because they rejected all arbitration offers.
  • Germany Occupies Rhineland

    This occured because it was directly against the Treaty of Versailles which had laid out the terms which the defeated Germany had accepted.
  • Japan Invades China

    The Japanese invaded China proper, launching the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese military was not only better armed and organized, they were also incredibly brutal.
  • Germany Annexes Austria

    German troops march into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich.
  • Germany Takes Sudetenland

    Leaders of Nazi Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy signed an agreement that allowed the Nazis to annex the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia that was home to many ethnic Germans.
  • Germany Seizes Czechoslovakia

    During a meeting with Czech President Emil Hacha–a man considered weak, and possibly even senile–Hitler threatened a bombing raid against Prague, the Czech capital, unless he obtained from Hacha free passage for German troops into Czech borders.
  • Italy Conquers Albaina

    A response was required by 6 April 1939. This was kept secret by the Albanian government which offered a counterproposal on 5 April. This in turn was disregarded by Italy which started landing troops on 7 April.