outbreak of WW2 in europe

By howlinghorror

  • Washington Naval Conference

    • negotiate the number of warships held by Japan, Britain, France and the US
    • organised by the US who was not a member of the League of Nations
    • Ratio of capital ships by the ton of Britain, the US, Japan, France and Italy: 5:5:3:1.67:1.67

  • Mussolini and the Fascists control Italy

    • held ambitions to build an Italian empire, to bring back the glory days of the Roman empire

  • League Commission to prepare for World Disarmament Conference

    • failure because Britain and France refused to co-operate

  • Locarno Treaties

    • negotiated between Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia
    • Germany accepted its western borders and agreed to the demilitarisation of the Rhineland
    • Weimar government agreed to settle disputes with above countries through the League

  • Kellogg-Briand Pact

    • negotiation between 15 countries including the US, France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Japan
    • agreement that force will not be used to settle disputes, but there was no way to enforce the pact

  • Wall Street Crash

    • countries (including Britain, France and the US) introduced tariffs to protect their own industries and limit imports
    • US banks called in loans, leading to collapse of banks and businesses, leading to unemployment
    • countries (including Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan) began rearming to boost industry and create jobs
    • helped bring radical regimes to power, existing regimes adopted more extreme and aggressive policies
  • Period: to

    World Disarmament Conference

    • focused on controlling the destructive power of offensive weapons
    • the League produced resolutions to prohibit bombing of civilians and chemical warfare, as well as limit the size of artillery and tonnage of tanks
    • almost 60 states could not agree on the definition of offensive and defensive weapons
    • resolutions did not ensure how limitations on weapons would be achieved
    • individual countries raised their own concerns

  • Germany walks out of Disarmament Conference and Conference breaks up

    • disagreements on how the Treaty of Versailles should be made fairer to Germany caused disputes
    • France did not want Germany to rearm and demanded a much larger armed force or have the guarantee that the US and Britain fight alongside France
    • other countries did not want to disarm, and this failure to agree on equality caused Germany to walk out
  • Period: to

    Rearmament of Germany

  • Disarmament Conference reconvenes

    • Hitler attended the conference and pretended to be interested in disarming, suggesting to not rearm Germany if all other nations disarmed in 5 years
    • he appeared to be a supporter of peace and progress, while knowing that the other powers would not disarm to the same level, giving him the justification to rearm Germany

  • Hitler pulls Germany out of League of Nations and Disarmament Conference

    • the German people voted in favour of withdrawing in a referendum
    • Hitler withdrew, on the basis that Germany was being treated unequally

  • USSR joins the League of Nations

  • Dispute between Italian and Abyssinian soldiers at Wal-Wal oasis

    • Mussolini used this as an excuse to claim the oasis as Italian territory
    • he demanded an apology and began preparing the army for invasion

  • Anglo-German Naval Agreement

    • allowed Germany to build a navy up to 35% the size of the British navy, breaking the Treaty of Versailles

  • Italian dictator Benito Mussolini agrees to negotiate with League over Abyssinia

  • Saar Plebiscite

    • Hitler claimed the Saar (being run by the League at the time) belonged to Germany
    • the League forced Hitler to agree to a plebiscite, where 90% of the people of the Saar voted to join Germany

  • Mussolini moves armed forces to Italian bases next to Abyssinia

  • Freedom to Rearm rally is held in Berlin

  • Stresa Front is signed

    • a coalition formed to oppose Hitler's announced intention to rearm germany, which violated the Treaty of Versailles
    • signed by Britain, France and Italy

  • Treaty of Mutual Assistance is signed

    • between France and the USSR
    • alarmed the British and created more sympathy for Germany

  • Mussolini rejects League's plan to give him some parts of Abyssinia

  • Mussolini launches full-scale invasion of Abyssinia

  • Hoare-Laval Pact is discussed secretly

    • the foreign ministers of Britain and France wanted to give Mussolini 2/3 of Abyssinia, in exchange for him calling off the invasion
    • was leaked to the French press, and was regarded as an act of treachery against the League
    • both ministers were sacked and the plan was dropped

  • League tries to stop oil sales to Italy; US increases oil sale instead

    • they also banned arms sales and all loans, as well as exports of rubber, tin and metals to Italy, as well as banning all imports from Italy
    • the Suez Canal (owned by Britain and France) remained open to Italy's supply ships as Britain and France worried that closing it would start a war
    • only 6 countries officially protested against Mussolini's actions

  • Germany marches into the Rhineland

    • Hitler declared that the ban on entering the Rhineland from the Treaty of Versailles was no longer acceptable as the Treaty of Mutual Assistance had been signed
    • claimed he had been encircled and had the right to place troops on his own borders
    • Britain, France and the League were occupied with the Abyssinian Crisis and Germany faced no resistance

  • Italy conquers Abyssinia

    • the Abyssinian Emperor, Haile Selassie, went into exile
  • Period: to

    Spanish Civil War

    • a civil war in Spain broke out between the Republicans and the Nationalists
    • Germany supplied the Nationalist leader with troops, aircraft and other equipment, as he shared similar beliefs
    • was an opportunity to showcase German might

  • Rome-Berlin Axis is signed

    • between Germany and Italy

  • Anti-Comintern Pact is signed

    • signed by German and Japan to oppose the Communist International (Comintern), set up by the USSR with the goal of spreading communism by promoting uprisings
    • also agreed not to sign any treaties with the USSR

  • Britain adopts policy of appeasement

  • Italy also signs Anti-Comitern Pact; Axis Alliance is formed

  • Hitler marches troops into Austria

    • Hitler encouraged the strong Nazi party in Austria to instigate a union with Germany
    • he convinced the Austrian Chancellor, Kurt Schuschnigg, that order would be restored if German troops moved into Austria
    • Schuschnigg appealed to Britain and France to force Hitler to withdraw but they did nothing

  • Plebiscite is held on Anschluss in Austria

    • through voter intimidation and fraud, 99.75% of Austrian voters approved of the Anschluss
    • Germany's size and stature through Austria's resources increased
    • Britain and France did nothing to stop him despite the breaking of the Treaty of Versailles

  • Hitler threatens to invade Czechoslovakia over Sudetenland

    • Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia was populated by Germans
    • Similarly to Austria, Hitler encouraged the Nazis in Sudetenland to stir up trouble and demand to join Germany
    • He claimed to protect the Sudetenland Germans

  • British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain meets with Hitler

    • Hitler moderated his demands, saying he would claim parts of Sudetenland with majority of Germans

  • Britain and France convinces Czechoslovakia to surrender parts of Sudentenland

  • Hitler increases demands to whole of Sudentenland

    • claimed he needed to rescue to Germans who were being poorly treated by the Czechoslovak government

  • Munich Agreement is agreed on

    • the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Germany decide to give in Hitler's demands without consulting Czechoslovakia or the USSR
    • they agreed to the whole of Sudetenland in exchange for a pledge of peace from Hitler

  • Chamberlain and Hitler published a joint declaration

    • British media presented the Munich Agreement positively and war had been prevented
    • however polls showed that the majority of the British people did not think appeasement would stop Hitler

  • Hitler moves forces into Sudetenland

  • Germany takes over the rest of Czechoslovakia

    • Britain and France threatened to declare war on Germany if Hitler invaded Poland

  • Germany demands control over Polish Corridor and Danzig

    • interest was due to the large population of Germans and the desire for a transportation line across the Polish Corridor
    • the Polish leader rejected these demands

  • Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact is signed

    • Germany and the USSR agree not to attack each other, as well as agree to divide Poland between them
    • Stalin was really just buying for time to get his forces ready in case Hitler turned against the pact
    • Hitler needed to guarantee that the USSR wouldn't oppose the invasion of Poland, which might lead to Britain and France attacking

  • Germany invades Poland

  • Britain and France declare war on Germany

  • Germany declares war on US

    • in support of Japan, possibly due to the Tripartite Pact