The Road to WWII &

1.) Japanese, Italian, and German Drive for Empire

Emperor Hirohito:

• Ruled Japan (1923-1989)• Came to power as next in line

to the throne of the oldest remaining dynasty in the world

• His people thought he was descended from God.

• Wanted to establish a New Order in Asia led by the Japanese Empire

• Began WWII in Asia when he invaded China in 1931

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: • Created by Japan between 1931-1945• An attempt to create a Great East Asia

(Japan, China, and Southeast Asia)• According to imperial propaganda: “establish

a new international order seeking ‘co prosperity’ for Asian countries which would share prosperity and peace, free from Western colonialism and domination”

• However, this was a concept used to justify the Japanese aggression in East Asia

• Today it is remembered as a front for the Japanese control of occupied countries during WWII.

• Japan manipulated local populations and economies for the benefit of Imperial Japan

Poster of Manchukuo promoting harmony between Japanese, Chinese, and Manchu. The caption says: "With the help of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be in peace."

Japan invades China:• Wanted an empire equal to the Western Powers• Seized Manchuria in 1931

• withdrew from the League of Nations• Militarists and ultranationalists gained power

Rape of Nanking (Nanjing)• In 1937 Japan murdered 300,000 civilians

and soldiers

Present day map of China showing location of Shanghai and Nanking (now called Nanjing).

• 80,000 women and children were brutally raped and killed for six weeks• It became an animalistic hunt

One of the last humans left alive after intense bombing during the Japanese attack on Shanghai's South Station. August 1937

Map of the Japanese Empire at its peak in 1942.

•By 1937, Japan takes over much of eastern China

2.) Italy invades Ethiopia:

Mussolini Halie Selassie

• Mussolini invades in 1935•Uses tanks, machines guns, poison gas, and airplanes•Halie Selassie (Ethiopian king) pleads for help from the League of Nations…

•…League of Nations had no power to help•By 1936, Ethiopia was conquered by the Italians

•In 1939: Italy Invades and annexes Albania:

3.) German Aggression

• 1st move: 1935, Hitler defies the Treaty of Versailles and rearms his military• Banners throughout Germany announced:

“today Germany! Tomorrow the world!

• The League of Nations didn’t stop Hitler•This convinced Hitler to take even bolder actions!•By March 1936, Germany was ready to make its first military move…

• 1936: 2nd move Rhineland (buffer zone between Germany and France.)

• Europe was shocked, but did not challenge him for fear of risking war

• Western democracies (Britain, France, and the U.S.) adopted a policy of appeasement: giving into the demands of an aggressor to keep the peace.

• 1938: 3rd move Germany annexes Austria

Hitler starts to pursue his dream/goal to bring all Germans into one nation!

This meant uniting Germans in Austria and Czechoslovakia under the Third Reich!

• Anschluss (the union) of Germany and Austria violated the WWI Treaty of Versilles•Brief war scare•Hitler sent in his army•Hitler gets his way without a fight

• Later in 1938: 4th move Germany takes Sudetenland (border region of Czechoslovakia)

•3 million Germans lived there and Hitler demanded Czechoslovakia to give it up.•They of course refused and expected Russia, France, and Britain to back them up…•…However, at the 1938 Munich Conference, the British and French believed Hitler’s claim to leave the rest of Czech. alone and choose appeasement once again! •Six months later, Hitler takes the rest of Czech.•Finally, Great Britain and France realize Hitler can’t be trusted…big surprise!

Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis:

In 1940, during World War II, the military alliance of Italy and Germany—the so-called Rome-Berlin Axis—was extended to include Japan and became the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis. The three countries and their allies, known collectively as the Axis Powers, fought against the Allied Powers in the war. Here, Japanese and Italian emissaries accompany German dictator Adolf Hitler.

• 1940, 1940, Rome-Berlin Axis-was extended to include Japan•Stated purpose: to stop communism•Truth: Italy, Germany, and Japan wanted an excuse to take more foreign territory

The Nazi-Soviet Pact:

•Aug. 1939: Nazi Germany and Communist Soviet Union announce a 10 year nonaggression pact …shocking!

Why was this so shocking?

What could these two guys possibly get from this pact…

• Germany did not have to fight a two-front war …Hitler may have been the devil himself, but he was no dummy!

• Soviet Union would avoid war (for the time being), bought time to build up his military, and make territorial gains.

• Bound the countries to peaceful relations• Secret pacts were made:

1. Not to fight if the other went to war2. Divide Poland and Eastern Europe

3. Promised supplies from U.S.S.R. to GermanyDo you really think Hitler intended to keep his

promise…what is his track record anyway? How smart are the leaders of these other

countries?

Above -- Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov signs the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact while German Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop and Soviet leader Stalin look on under a portrait of Lenin, August 23, 1939. News of the Pact stunned the world and paved the way for the beginning of World War II with Hitler assured the Germans would not have to fight a war on two fronts.

Spanish Civil War:

• 1920’s: monarchy• 1931, after the king was forced to leave, a

republic was set up• Controversial reforms passed• Spanish public opinion was divided• Leftists demanded more reforms• Conservatives, rejected change• Differences = tension = chaos

• 1936: A conservative general, Francisco Franco, led a revolt with the support of Fascists known as: Nationalists (right-winged)

• Loyalists (support the republic): communists, socialists, and supporters of democracy • Hitler and Mussolini helpedFranco• Britain, France, and the U.S.are… Neutral

• both sides committed horrible atrocities•1 million died•Germans used the opportunity to “experiment” with their new planes•Horrible air raids and bombings of Spanish towns•1939: Francisco Franco won and created a Fascist dictatorship …Hitler and Mussolini are proud!

Attacks on Guernica led Picasso to paint this picture