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Mussolini wanted to gain control and power over Italy. He left the Italian Socialist Party and established the "Fasci di Combattimento." The party called for militaristic Italian nationalism, disagreed with democracy (state over individuals), and established dictatorship and strong control by the state. Fascism was established in Milan, Italy.
This worsened tensions because it led to disagreement and fighting between nations and inspired others (such as Hitler), therefore causing more conflict -
On June 28th, the Allied Powers and Germany signed a Treaty for Germany to pay for reparations, soldiers, etc. to every country in the Allied Powers. With this, Germany had to pay billions of dollars, give back their territory they've gained, stripped of their overseas colonies, their military was restricted, and much more.
This treaty worsened tensions between Germany and the majority of other countries, causing Germany to have a difficult time in WWII finding countries to become allies with. -
Hitler joined the German Workers Party, a party that came before the establishment of the Nazi Party. It was a small party, so he thought he could potentially become its leader (he joined to gain power). He joined in Sterneckerbräu, Germany.
This worsened tensions because it led to the establishment of the Nazi Party and therefore destruction and fighting between the nations. -
The League of Nations was founded by Woodrow Wilson, and became quite popular, as 48 countries joined within the first year. Created from the common desire to to avoid another World War, the League lessened tensions initially as it showed a collaborative effort of countries to avoid the extreme losses and chaos of another World War. The League however became a source of tension later on, as nothing was being enforced. -
Countries met in Washington DC to discuss the disarmament of navies and the growing tensions in Asia. Resulting in three treaties, the Washington Naval Conference lessened tensions prior to WWII because many major world powers were working together toward avoiding any future wars after WWI. -
Benito Mussolini and other fascist leaders planned to march on Rome as part of a larger string of events in order to capture places in Italy that would propel their possession of power over the country.
This worsened tensions prior to WWII because it created chaos and tension in Italy during the march. It also led to power being transferred over to the Fascist regime in Italy, who then took full control over the government, and took out any political opposition. -
Hitler wanted to obtain power in Weimar Germany. He and his Nazi Party planned to take over the Bavarian state government and kidnap the state commissioner Gustav von Kahr. This plan was inspired by Benito Mussolini. The attempt occured in Munich, Germany.
This worsened tensions because it helped Nazi Germany learn how to gain power through politics rather than attacks, brought the Nazi Party to public light in Germany, and therefore helped them gain power, attention, and spread propaganda. -
This plan, created by Charles Dawes, tried to help the US and Germany figure out a plan to make it far for Germany to still have money yet still pay the US for reparations. This was signed in Paris yet made in the US. Yet, Germany was still gaining more money at the end of the day.
This plan lessened tensions between Germany and the US because it gave Germany a way to still have money yet still give the US money either way at the end. This did cause tension though during the Great Depression. -
The Kellogg Briand Pact, which outlawed war, was signed initially by 15 nations in Paris, France. The pact was created to help prevent another World War. This didn’t affect tensions prior to WWII because at first, it was seen as a good thing to have, but it was later realized that it would not be enforced and there were loopholes in the rules and agreements. -
In early September, the stock market in New York crashed, causing the US to go into a great depression which caused millions of people to become homeless, jobless, and starving. The Great Depression first started out in the US, but it expanded around the world since the US was very important to every country back then.
This depression was a huge factor in how tensions rose with every country, because every country was slowly losing more money everyday, causing poverty and harmed their economy. -
Japan wanted more raw materials and wanted more fuel to grow their newer industries. So, on September 18th, 1931, Japan occupied Manchuria, China until February 27th, 1932. How Japan did this was by placing a small explosive device next to the railroad in Manchuria.
This event worsened tensions between Japan and China because it caused a bad connection with the two countries during WWII. -
The World Disarmament Conference (AKA The Geneva Conference) took place in Geneva, Switzerland. The League of Nations, USSR, and US attended. The conference called for the global reduction and limitation of arms (demilitarization in countries). The goal and purpose of this meeting was to avoid a second world war and maintain peace between the nations.
However, it failed to accomplish these goals (and actually caused the opposite to occur), and therefore worsened tensions. -
There was a national election which was held on March 13th, 1932, and Hitler decided to run in this election. The votes came back on April 10th, 1932, and Hitler placed second and his opponent, Paul Von Hidenburg was first. Hitler got 36.8% of the people and Hidenburg got 53.0% of the people.
I’m assuming that tensions were roughly the same, maybe Hitler was aggravated from this event since he became second in a national election so he pushed to be better. -
The German government withdrew from the League of Nations because they were angry that western countries were refusing to enforce equality among militaries. This worsened tensions prior to WWII because Germany showed that they were no longer willing to cooperate or work with the other countries. As soon as Germany left the league, they also began building up their army, violating international agreements. -
Hitler disagreed with the goals of this conference and the Treaty of Versailles. He didn’t want to disarm his military, and instead began to rearm. He also claimed that Germany shouldn’t have to disarm when other countries were also unwilling to do so. So, after withdrawing Germany from the League of Nations, Hitler and his Nazi Party also withdrew from the Geneva Conference.
This worsened tensions because it caused Germany to become even more militarized and hostile rather than disarmed. -
Hitler was very controlling while in office, one of his biggest changes was when he merged the chancellor and president offices. He believed that doing this, he can have ultimate power of most decisions. Also, he got this merge through because the president then was very old and wanted to help the Nazi party as much as possible.
This merger caused tension within Germany because there was no second opinion from the chancellor or the president since they merged together instead of being separated. -
Italy invaded and attacked Ethiopia without any declaration of war because they wanted to expand Italy's control. A lot of tension was created from this because Italy was invading another country without declaring war and was choosing to open the doors to violence and aggression. The League of Nations also didn't help Ethiopia, as they did nothing more than label Italy as an aggressor. -
Hitler disagreed with the policies in the Treaty of Versailles (which called for the area to be demilitarized), and he also probably wanted more power. He continued to violate the treaty and sent the German military to the Rhineland, an area along the Rhine River in western Germany.
This worsened tensions because it violated the peace the Treaty of Versailles established and caused more militarization rather than less. -
Japan invaded China and made quick advances starting around the Beijing area. China had been struggling within its borders at the time with animosity between the nationalist and communist parties, which had been used to the advantage of Japan when they invaded.
Japan wanted to gain more control or influence over China, which worsened tensions as China wanted independence. -
Benito Mussolini announced Italy's withdrawal from the League of Nations at the Piazza di Venezia in Rome Italy. He felt Italy was being suffocated after the League enforced penalties on them during the Abyssinian War. Mussolini felt that Italy was being treated unfairly by the League of Nations which worsened tensions before WWII. -
Nazi, Germany wanted more territory to fuel themselves and also wanted more people for the Third Reich. So, they decided to annex Austria and take over as much land as they can get. How Germany got Austria was because Hitler claimed that Austria had "descended into chaos" by making fake reports of riots and street fights.
This event worsened tensions between Nazi, Germany and Austria since Germany took over their country, causing a bad connection with the two countries while in WWII. -
On September 29th-30th, Germany troops invaded Sudetenland with permission from an agreement. This agreement was the Munich agreement which allowed some countries around Czechoslovakia can gain their land. This was a continuous act with the Anschluss or annex of Austria.
This event worsened tensions between Nazi, Germany and Czechoslovakia since Germany stole their biggest land at that time, causing a horrid connection with the two countries during in WWII. -
Hitler wanted to get rid of the peace that the Treaty of Versailles had established. The treaty was also detested by him and his Nazis because it punished Germany for the entire WWI. As a result, Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and broke the Munich Pact. They bombed Prague and invaded Bohemia and Moravia, turning them into provinces.
This worsened tensions prior to WWII because it violated the Treaty of Versailles which caused Czechoslovakia to become aggravated at Hitler and Germany. -
Germany and Italy were at a low point during the 1900s due to WWI. Which caused Hitler and Mussolini to become alliances. Becoming alliances the two countries were politically and militarily combined.
This alliance lessened tensions between Germany and Italy because it made Germany and Italy stronger together which helped both of them out during WWII. -
In this pact Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed for no military action against each other for 10 years. It was signed in Moscow, Russia. Stalin used this pact to maintain good terms with Germany while he was building his army. Hitler used this to guarantee that Germany would be able to invade Poland. He knew that the Soviet Union (who was in an alliance with France and Britain) would fight Germany if they invaded Poland.
This obviously worsened tensions between France, Britain and Germany. -
On the first of September, German troops led by Hitler invaded Poland. Poland was very unprepared for this attack. Why Germany invaded Poland was to gain territory.
This worsened tensions between Britain, France, and Germany and eventually started WWII since Poland was under attack and the other countries had to get involved. -
After the infamous attack from Germany invading Poland, Britain and France (who were Poland's allies and promised to defend Poland if they were in a situation like this) declared war on them. This declare was the first mark on the start of WWII.
This worsened tensions because it caused conflict between nations and began the next world war.