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Treaty of Versailles is signed
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on May 7, 1919, five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. -
Period: to
Events leading to WWII
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Mussolini takes power in Italy
Mussolini is the one prime minister who led the Facist party and turned Italy into a Facist country. Mussolini allied himself with Hitler, but he was killed shortly after the German surrender in Italy in 1945 -
The stock market Crash
Industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great Depression (1929-39), the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world up to that time. -
Japan invades Manchuria
The invasion began on September 18, 1931, when the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria -
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
Hitler’s rise to prominence in Germany was spurred largely by the German people’s frustration with dismal economic conditions and the wounds inflicted by defeat in the Great War and the harsh peace terms of the Versailles treaty. -
Italy invades Ethiopia
The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire. The war is best remembered for exposing the inherent weakness of the League of Nations. -
Remilitarization of the Rhineland
Provisions of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to station armed forces in a demilitarized zone in the Rhineland. -
Rome-Berlin Axis is signed
Rome-Berlin Axis, Coalition formed in 1936 between Italy and Germany. An agreement was formulated informally linking the two fascist countries was reached on October 25, 1936. -
Anschluss
Nazi propaganda term for the invasion and forced incorporation of Austria to Nazi Germany. -
Munich Conference
Leaders of Great Britain, France, and Italy agreed to allow Germany to annex certain areas of Czechoslovakia. -
Germany invades Czechoslovakia
Hitler’s forces invade and occupy Czechoslovakia which was a vain attempt to prevent Germany’s imperial aims. -
Spanish Civil War
Military revolt against the Republican government of Spain, supported by conservative parties within the country. -
The Soviet-Nazi Pact
An economic agreement, signed on August 19, 1939, provided that Germany would exchange manufactured goods for Soviet raw materials. -
The Invasion of Poland
1.5 million German troops invade Poland. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
Britain declares war on Germany
Prime Minister Chamberlain went to the airwaves to announce to the British people that a state of war existed between their country and Germany. -
Canada enters the war
Between 1939 and 1945 more than one million Canadian men and women served full-time in the armed services. More than 42,000 were killed.
