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This treaty was signed by Germany and the allied nations to end WWI. They required that Germany pay reparations, cut down its military, lose land, and give up its overseas colonies. The significance gave power to Hitler and took the power away from Germany. This was very significant in Hitler's rise. -
Mussolini rose to become a very strong leader. He gives empowering speeches and eventually gets everyone on his side. He said that he would unite the people to overcome the postwar mass unemployment among many other challenges that they had to face. This is significant because it gave Mussolini more power, and is the first fascist leader. -
This promoted the key components of Nazism. Hitler wrote this book while in jail and explained all of his thoughts and ideas of how Germany should be run. This is significant to Hitler's rise to power, by outlining Nazi power and National Socialism. -
This is a huge step for Hitler. Even though Chancellor isn´t a huge title, Hitler takes this to his advantage and makes himself hold all of the power (while laying low under the radar.) This was also very significant for the Nazi party and was truly the start of Hitler's rule. -
This event mainly established Hitler as the supreme administrator of the German people. On this night Hitler purges members of his own Nazi party. He had hundreds of his Nazis that he thought were against him assassinated. This is significant because it is a German government turning point. It shows just how much Hitler can do. -
The goal of this was to boost Italian national prestige. However, this launched a war that would drive Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie into exile, pave the way for Italian occupation, and test the capacity and will of the League of Nations to check the aggression of expansionist states. The significance of this was that it launched WW2. -
The first time Japan invaded China, they set off explosions on the railroad. The Japanese army used the incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and quickly occupied its key cities. This was significant because it showed who had the power and eventually was one of the main causes of WW2, and would eventually lead to many problems to come. -
Japanese troops killed Chinese soldiers, and Chinese civilians (including women and children), raped up to 20,000 Chinese women, and absolutely destroyed lots of Chinese property. This all began the seizure of Nanjing and ended with 300,000 deaths. This was significant to Japan because it also showed who had the power, and just how much they could do if they wanted to. -
This is when the Axis was formed. Germany and Italy expanded their political alliance into a military one by signing the Pact of Friendship and Alliance. Dubbed the Pact of Steel by Mussolini, the agreement provided for military cooperation and mutual defensive support between Germany and Italy. This is significant because the Pact of Steel would become the Tripartite Pact, with Japan making up the third constituent of the triad. -
Hitler attacked Poland because he wanted the Germans to get their land and live there. Hitler thought that the Germans deserved it more than the Polish people. The significance of this is that it triggered the start of WW2 because of German aggression. Great Britain and France then declared war on Nazi Germany. -
The Axis powers are formed as they become allies. This formalizing of the alliance was aimed directly at “neutral” America—designed to force the United States to think twice before venturing in on the side of the Allies. This is significant because it was purposefully created to deter the US from entering the war.