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Treaty of Versailles
The treaty says that the war was entirely Germany's fault and that Germany had to pay the other countries for the damge they caused during war, but at the time, germany didn't even have the rezources to take care of its own people. -
Adolf Hitler Becomes Leader of the Nazi Party
January 14, 1921, Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi party which will eventually lead up to Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany. -
Militarists take control of Japan
The Great Depression left Japan vulnerable and they turned to militarists for help. Unlike other foreign leaders, militarists focus on the military of the country to ensure safety. They turned to the Pacific in the hopes to make a Pacific Empire and soon enough, the building of the military and the greed for an empire would be some of the factors that involved Japan in the war. -
War Reparations
The need to pay war reparations, combined with the instability of the government, contributed to massive inflation which crippled the German economy. By 1932 they stopped paying altogether. The date may not be right but it was in 1932 when the Germans stopped paying, there is no exact date. -
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
Soon after Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he started to rebuild Germany's army and weapons. This act soon caused the British to rearm themselves and this soon lead to war. -
Germany invades Rhineland
On 7 March 1936 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. It was Hitler’s first illegal act in foreign relations since coming to power in 1933 and it threw the European allies, especially France and Britain, into confusion. -
Japan Invades China
The Japanese invaded China causing the second Sino-Japanese war. The Japanese military was not only better armed and organized, but they were also a lot more brutal. -
The Death of Carl Von Ossietzky
Since the treaty of Versailles, the Germans had been rearming themselves slowly. Until the Nazis came into power and started to rearm themselves a faster and more secretly. Carl Von Ossietzky was the man that exposed the amount of rearmament the Nazis were actually undergoing. This prompted the British to also start rearming themselves for war and won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935. Unfortunately the Nazis arrested Carl and tortured him to death in prison on May 4th, 1938. -
Hitler takes Czechoslovakia
In 1938 the Munich Pact was signed which sealed the fate of Czechoslovakia. The agreement was that Hitler would take control of the area in Csechoslovakia where the 3 mllion Germans lived, but it also handed over 66 percent of Czechoslovakia’s coal, 70 percent of its iron and steel, and 70 percent of its electrical power. Without those resources, the Czech nation was left vulnerable to complete German control. -
Hitler signs a Steel Pact with Mussolini
By signing this, Hitler established a friendship with Italy and no longer had to worry about fighting alone in World War 2. -
Germany Invades Poland
After Germany invaded Poland, France and Britain declared war on Germany. This was the official beginning of World War 2. -
Hitler's Reichstag Speech
Inspired by Hitler's theories of racial struggle and the supposed "intent" of the Jews to survive and expand at the expense of Germans, the Nazis ordered anti-Jewish boycotts, staged book burnings, and enacted anti-Jewish legislation.
