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Italian invasion of Ethiopia
Mussolini claimed that his policies of expansion were not different from that of other colonial powers in Africa. The aim of invading Ethiopia was to boost Italian national prestige, which was wounded by Ethiopia's defeat of Italian forces at the Battle of Adowa in the nineteenth century (1896), which saved Ethiopia from Italian colonisation. -
German re-occupation of the Rhineland
German troops marched into the Rhineland. This action was directly against the Treaty of Versailles which had laid out the terms which the defeated Germany had accepted. The remilitarization was hugely important as it changed the balance of power in Europe from France towards Germany, and made it possible for Germany to pursue a policy of aggression in Eastern Europe that the demilitarized status of the Rhineland had blocked until then. -
German invasion of the Sudetenland
The German occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945) began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. -
German Annexation of Austria
At the time of the event, and until the German orthography reform of 1996, it was spelled Anschluß and was also known as the Anschluss Österreichs. Austria was Adolf Hitler's birth country, and she was the first nation to be annexed by Hitler's Nazi Germany. -
Munich Conference
Here Hitler met with representatives of the heads of state from France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. An agreement was reached that Hitler could annex the Sudetenland provided he promised not to invade anywhere else. -
German invasion of Poland
In Poland, and alternatively the Poland Campaign in Germany, was a joint invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. -
Beginning of WWII
It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people in more than 30 countries. In a state of "total war" launched major participants placed their entire economic, industrial and scientific behind the war effort capacity, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources.
World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. -
Signing of the Tripartite pact
On this day in 1940, the Axis powers are formed as Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies with the signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact provided for mutual assistance should any of the signatories suffer attack by any nation not already involved in the war.
