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Rise of Mussolini and Fascism in Italy
Mussolini was a WW1 veteran who established his own organization to encourage Italian Nationalism. He "launched a program of terrorism and intimidation against... opponents." Mussolini joins Adolf Hitler in his support of Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War. Hitler's revolution was modeled after Mussolini's rise.Rise of Mussolini -
Manchuria
Manchuria was attacked by Japan, and the League of nations did nothing to prevent the attack, believing there was no slight aspect of war. Japan invaded Manchuria, wishing to expand their peoples from their crowded islands to other lands. They also had believed that Manchuria was full of forests, minerals, and agricultural land. Japan had a "low opinion" on the Chinese and did not pay any mind to the Manchurian people. Japan invested in Manchuria what they could. (HistoryLearningSite.org) -
Germany's Rearmament
In Hitler's story, Mein Kampf, he stated in his speeches that he would undo the handicaps put on Germany after WW1 and stated his thoughts on East Europeans and Jews. In 1933, Hitler ordered his army generals to prepare 300,000 army men and ordered the Air Ministry to create 1,000 war planes. Hitler kept this under Germany's belt for two years, announcing his break with the Treaty of Versailles in 1935. Europe did nothing to stop him. Link -
Italo-Ethiopian War
In the 1890s, Italy had failed to capture the country of Ethiopia. In 1934, while Mussolini was in power, Ethiopia had rejected any negotiations from Italy, and so Italy invaded Ethiopia. Due to appeals by Ethiopians, the League of Nations condemned the invasion and voted to impose penalties on Italy. Britannica -
Spanish Civil War
This war occurred for three years. It was a military revolt against the Republican government of Spain. The coup failed to win control of the entire country, ending in a bloody war. The Republican side gained help from the Soviet Union while the Nationalists received help from Facist Italy and Nazi Germany. Britannica -
Anschluss
A political Union between Austria and Germany, made possible by Hitler taking over Austria in 1938. In 1934, Austrian and German Nazis attempted a coup, but had failed and a "right-wing authority" took over Austria. In February of 1938, Hitler invited the Chancellor of Austria to Germany and forced him to give Austrian Nazis the power to do what they wished.Britannica -
Czechoslovakia
In September of 1938, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact. This pact signed Czechoslovakia into the hands of Germany as a peaceful act. Hitler was only suppose to have Sudentenland where many Germans live, but in the end took high percentages of minerals from the Czechs. No matter what the Czechs did, they believed Hitler would place them into the "Reich." (History.com) -
Invasion of Poland
Hitler signed a peace treaty with Poland in 1934 in order to neutralize the possibility of a French-Polish military going against Germany. In August of 1939 Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Soviet-German Pact which stated that Poland were to be split between the two countries. On September 1st, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and Nazis falsely accused that they were planning with their allies to destroy Germany and were persecuting ethnic Germans.(encyclopedia.ushmm.org)
