Section 2: War in Europe
Czechoslovakia Next
 Next target because about 3 million German – speaking people lived in the
western boarder regions of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland
 Hitler built up troops on the boarder
Hitler Makes a deal
 Hitler invited French leader Edward Daladier & British leader Neville
Chamberlain to meet him in Munich
 Promised that the annexation of the Sudetenland would be the last place Germany
would demand
September 1938 – Munich agreement
 Gave the Sudetenland to German
Appeasement Critics
 Critics of Chamberlain included English politician & future Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
o Adopted a dangerous policy of appeasement
o Appeasement – give to principles to pacify an aggressor
German Offensive Begins
 Despite Munich Agreement, Hitler was not finished expanding
 March 15, 1939:
o “Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist”
o Germany invaded Czech
Next Target: Poland
 People thought they wouldn’t because Poland has alliances with USSR, Britain, &
France
 Stalin shocked everyone by signing the Non-Aggression Pact with Hitler
o No one knew about it, USSR would get ½ of Poland and Hitler wont
attack USSR
Blitzkrieg in Poland
 September 1st 1939 – Start of WWII
 Luftwaffle – airforce) roared over Poland
o Rained bombs on airfields & military bases
 WWII begins with Blitzkrieg (lighting war) fast moving tanks & powerful aircraft
 After Polish invasion, Britain & France declared war on Germany
o Knew Poland was gone, moved to save the rest
 Stalin attacks Eastern Poland & Finland
France & Britain are alone
 Maginot line – series of trenches & forts – ineffective
 France Falls & surrenders in June 1940
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By 1936:
Hitler sent troops to the Rhineland
A group of Spanish army officers led by General Francis Franco (against Spanish
republic)
A civil war ensured as Hitler & Mussolini supported
1939:
 Franco’s Fascists win civil war
o Became Fascist leader of a totalitarian Spain
 Spanish civil war led to a closer relationship
Rome – Berlin Axis
 Hitler & Mussolini alliance
 Picasso’s Guernica – representation of Spanish civil war & Fascist government
U.S. Remains Neutral for Now
 Because of WWi people did not want to get involved
 Bankers & Merchants want to make a profit
FDR: We are Neutral & Friendly
 Congress, too, pushed neutrality
 1st & 2nd – outlawed arms sales or loans to nations at war
 3rd – outlawed arms sales or loans to nations fighting ion civil war
FDR sent arms & supplies to China
 Got around the Neutrality Act because Japan did not declare War
 U.S. took a stand against aggression
War in Europe
 Austria was the first target (Hitler was anxious)
 On March 12, 1938:
o German troops marched into Austria unopposed
o Anschluss: A day later Germany announced its union with Austria
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Section 1: Dictators Threaten World Peace

End of WWI was the beginning of the Revolutions
o Economic depression, Nationalism, territorial expansion
Failure of the Versailles
 The peace settlement that ended WWI
 Failed to create peace
Weimar Republic Rules Germany
 The victors installed many new democratic governments in Europe
 Overwhelmed from the start & struggled economy
Joseph Stalin Transforms the USSR
 After V.I. Lenin died in 1924, Stalin took control
 Goals: agricultural & industrial growth
o From backwards rural to industrial power
 5 YEAR PLAN
o Economic activity under strict state control
o 1937 Stalin achieved his goal
o USSR was the world’s 2nd largest industrial power
The Rise of Fascism in Italy
Fascism – political idea that supports a strong centralized naturalistic government
headed by a powerful dictator
 Benito Mussolini was establishing a totalitarism regime in Italy
 Seized power, taking advantage of high unemployment, inflation
 Middle-class fear of communism
Creates Fascist Party
 Strong public speaker
 Italian national pride
 921 Mussolini established the Fascist party
 Focused on nationalism not individualism
Mussolini marches on Rome
 1922 – King Emmanuel II handed Mussolini power
Nazis take over Germany
 1919 Hitler joins the Nazis
 Hilter was a great public speaker
 He quicley became a leader
 Called himself Der Fuhrer (the leader)
 Promised to returned Germany to old glory
Beliefs
 Unite German speaking people into one Empire
 “master race” of the Aryans (blonde hair blue eyes)
o Jews, slavs & non-whites were slaves (workforce)
 Lebensraum – living space
o Took over African nations & surrounding countries