The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Japanese
steps
towards
WWII
German
steps
towards
WWII
Democratic
countries’
reaction
The spark
that
triggered
the war
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1929 Enconomic crisis
• End of international harmony
• Economic crisis  increased international tension
Germany, Italy and Japan
• Discontented powers
• Set up the Axis, military bloc
Democratic countries
• Weak international policy
• «Appeasement policy» led by British PM Chamberlain
Soviet Union
• Stalin’s «great purges»
• After failing a possible alliance with the democratic countries  Pact with
Hitler
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
«Appeasement policy»
• Unwillingness of the British,
French and American
population to fight again a war
• British thought that the Treaty
of Versailles had unfair clauses
• Chamberlain believed that
Hitler could be appeased by
giving in to certain Hitler’s
claims
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
JAPANESE STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR
1931 Invasion of Manchuria
• Inukai Tsuyoshi’s ultranationalist
government
1937 Invasion of China
• For some historians, the Sinojapanese
war meant the beginning of WWII
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Manchuria’s invasion 1931
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Manchuria’s invasion 1931
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Inukai Shiyosi and the Emperor
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
JAPANESE STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR
1931 Invasion of Manchuria
• Inukai Tsuyoshi’s ultranationalist
government
1937 Invasion of China
• For some historians, the Sinojapanese
war meant the beginning of WWII
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1937 Nanjing’s massacre
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1937 Japanese invasion of China
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (1)
1933
Germany left the League of Nations
1935
Compulsory military service
1935-36
Italy invades Ethiopia
1936
Remilitarisation of Rhineland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1933 Hitler, chancellor of Germany
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1933 Germany leaves the League of Nations
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (1)
1933
Germany left the League of Nations
1935
Compulsory military service
1935-36
Italy invades Ethiopia
1936
Remilitarisation of Rhineland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1935 Germany: compulsory military service
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (1)
1933
Germany left the League of Nations
1935
Compulsory military service
1935-36
Italy invades Ethiopia
1936
Remilitarisation of Rhineland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1935-1936 Italian invasion of Ethiopia
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1935-1936 Italian invasion of Ethiopia
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (1)
1933
Germany left the League of Nations
1935
Compulsory military service
1935-36
Italy invades Ethiopia
1936
Remilitarisation of Rhineland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Remilitarisation of Rhineland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (2)
1936
German and Italian intervention in Spain
1936
Rome-Berlin Axis
1936
Antikomintern Pact (Germany and Japan)
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 German-Italian intervention in Spain
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (2)
1936
German and Italian intervention in Spain
1936
Rome-Berlin Axis
1936
Antikomintern Pact (Germany and Japan)
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Rome Berlin Axis
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS
TOWARDS THE WAR (2)
1936
German and Italian intervention in Spain
1936
Rome-Berlin Axis
1936
Antikomintern Pact (Germany and Japan)
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Antikomintern Pact
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Antikomintern Pact
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
HOW DID THE DEMOCRATIC POWERS
REACT TO HITLER’S DEMANDS
Failure of the «Appeasement policy»
March 1938
German annexation of Austria (Anschluss)
September 1938
Munich Pact (Hitler obtained Sudetenland)
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1931 Lack of reaction to Japan’s attack on Manchuria
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1935 Lack of reaction to Italy’s attack on Abyssinia
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936 Lack of reaction to Germany’s remilitarisation of Rhineland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 Chamberlain and Von Ribbentrop
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
HOW DID THE DEMOCRATIC POWERS
REACT TO HITLER’S DEMANDS
Failure of the «Appeasement policy»
March 1938
German annexation of Austria (Anschluss)
September 1938
Munich Pact (Hitler obtained Sudetenland)
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 German annexation of Austria
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 German annexation of Austria
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
HOW DID THE DEMOCRATIC POWERS
REACT TO HITLER’S DEMANDS
Failure of the «Appeasement policy»
March 1938
German annexation of Austria (Anschluss)
September 1938
Munich Pact (Hitler obtained Sudetenland)
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 Munich Agreement
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 Munich Agreement
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1938 Munich Agreement
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
WHAT WAS THE LAST SPARK THAT
TRIGGERED THE WAR?
March 1939
Germany invades Czechosovakia. The end of
appeasment.
August 1939
Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Treaty
September 1939
Invasion of Poland  GB and France declared
war on Germany
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
First German poster in Prague,
15 March 1939.
"Notice to the Population.
By order of the Fuhrer and
Supreme Commander of the
German Wehrmacht. I have
taken over, as of today,
the executive power in
the Land of Bohemia.
Headquarters,
Prague, 15 March 1939.
Commander, 3rd Army,
Blaskowitz, General of Infantry."
1939 Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
WHAT WAS THE LAST SPARK THAT
TRIGGERED THE WAR?
March 1939
Germany invades Czechosovakia
August 1939
Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Treaty
September 1939
Invasion of Poland  GB and France declared
war on Germany
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi-Soviet non agression pact
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi-Soviet non agression pact
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi-Soviet non agression pact
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi-Soviet carved up Poland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
WHAT WAS THE LAST SPARK THAT
TRIGGERED THE WAR?
March 1939
Germany invades Czechosovakia
August 1939
Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Treaty
September 1939
Invasion of Poland  GB and France declared
war on Germany
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Poland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Poland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939 Nazi invasion of Poland
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
Expansionist
steps by Japan
Expansionist
steps by
Germany
and Italy
Weak
reaction of
the
democratic
powers
Final crisis:
Invasion of
Poland
1-9-1939
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1936
1935-36
1935
1933
1931
Germany left
the L. of
Nations
Invasion of Manchuria
Compusory
Military
Service in
Germany
Italian
invasion of
Ethiopia
(Abbysinia)
Spanish Civil
War
Rome-Berlin
Axis
Antikomintern
Pact
The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)
1939
1939
1939
1938
Anschluss
1937
Munich
Agreement
Sinojapanese war
Nazi invasion
of
Czechoslovakia
German-Soviet
non agression
pact
German
invasion of
Poland
War breaks
out