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Japan seizes Manchuria
As part of the Sino-Japanese war, the Japanese army expanded into Manchuria, formerly a part of China. Because of their growing hunger for power, they would sign a pact with Germany and Italy in 1940, solidifying their membership as an ally of Nazi Germany. Later, they would dominate East Asia during World War II. -
Stalin becomes the leader of the Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin became the leader of the Soviet Union, after a power struggle with Leon Trotsky resulting from Lenin's death in 1924. Stalin had been a high-level individual the Bolshevik Party since the beginning of the 1900s. He would later kill millions of Russians suspected of conspiring against him in a purge called The Great Terror, similar to that in Nazi Germany's Holocaust, in the 1930s just before the outbreak of World War II. -
Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany a year after he became the leader of the Nazi Party. -
US signs first Neutrality Act
The US signed an act preventing them from aiding anyone in the growing conflict. Because of this, they did not enter the war until the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan. They would later also sign Neutrality Acts in 1936, 1937, and 1939. This is a formal example of the US's disengagement from European nations, in addition to their withdrawal from the League of Nations. -
Munich Agreement
Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France signed the Munich agreement, which forced the Czechoslovak Republic to cede the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. This is an example of appeasement by the early Allied forces. -
Slovaks declare independence
The Slovaks declared their independence and formed a Slovak Republic, even though Slovakia was a small country with a large Hungarian population. Because of this, the Germans were able to occupy Czech lands, forming a protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. -
France and Britain guarantee the integrity of Polish borders
This assurance would later cause the two nations to declare war on Germany. -
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign Nonaggression Pact
Former enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Nonaggression Pact, where the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. Hitler used the pact to make sure that Germany was able to invade Poland more safely. The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact fell apart in June 1941, when Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union. -
Nazis invade Poland
Britain and France declared war on German in response to their invasion of Poland, officially beginning World War II.
