WW II – Paths to World War II
The Path to Global War
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.
Attributed to Samuel Clements (1835-1910)
(Remember this?)
A
Events
September 8, 1926
Germany joins League of Nations
August 27, 1928
Germany signs Kellogg-Briand Pact
 Signatories promise not to use war to resolve
disputes
(Treaty still in force!)
Events
September 8, 1926
Germany joins League of Nations
August 27, 1928
Germany signs Kellogg-Briand Pact
January 30, 1933
Hitler becomes chancellor (Election ‘32)
October 19, 1933
Germany withdraws from League
January 26, 1934
Germany signs 10 yr non-aggression
pact with Poland
August 2, 1934
President Hindenburg dies; Hitler
declares himself Führer
Events
March 16, 1935
Germany announces conscription,
formation of new army units, navy ships
and an air force
German rearmament now out in the open!
A direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles!
Who does anything about it?
Events
March 16, 1935
Germany announces conscription,
formation of new army units, navy ships
and an air force
October 3, 1935
Italy invades Ethiopia; League of Nations
imposes economic sanctions
March 7, 1936
Germany occupies Rhineland,
successfully challenging France
MAGINOT LINE…
Rhineland
Re-occupied by Germany – March 7, 1936
Events
October 25, 1936
Germany & Italy form Berlin-Rome Axis
November 1936
Germany & Japan sign Anti-Comintern
Pact
 Attempt by Germany & Japan to isolate Soviet Union
Events
October 25, 1936
Germany & Italy form Berlin-Rome Axis
November 1936
Germany & Japan sign Anti-Comintern
Pact
January 17, 1937
Hitler renounces Versailles Treaty
July 7, 1937
Sino-Japanese War begins
November 5, 1937
Hitler discusses secret plan for
Lebensraum (“living space”)
March 12, 1938
Germany annexes Austria (Anschluss)
Events
May 20, 1938
Czechoslovakia mobilizes over German
pressure against Sudetenland
Events
September 29, 1938
Munich Conference
Chamberlain, Léger, Hitler, Mussolini
Britain
France Germany
Italy
Peace In Our Time
http://homepage.eircom.net/~finnegam/war/peace.htm
Events
September 30, 1938
Chamberlain: “Peace for our time”
"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has
returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time...
Go home and get a nice quiet sleep."
Peace For Our Time
http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/uk/peace.html
Man of the Year - 1938
January 2, 1939
Baron Rudolph Charles von Ripper
Click for source
Events
October 1, 1938
Germany acquires Sedetenland
March 10, 1939
Germany occupies Czechoslovakia
Hitler: Opportunist or Strategist?
Why did Hitler invade Czechoslovakia?
Hitler: Eye on Russia
Hitler: Opportunist or Strategist?
else
Why did Hitler invade Czechoslovakia?
⌃
LA Times, March 18, 1938
Hitler: Opportunist or Strategist?
else
Why did Hitler invade Czechoslovakia?
⌃
BLITZKRIEG- Lightning War!
Skoda T-21 Tank
Skoda Works -Pilsen, Czechoslovakia
c 1938
Summary
Hitler’s Pre-War Expansion
March 7, 1936
Germany occupies Rhineland,
successfully challenging France
March 12, 1938
Germany annexes Austria (Anschluss)
Sept 29, 1938
Munich Conference
Sept 30, 1938
Chamberlain: “Peace for our time”
October 1, 1938
Germany acquires Sedetenland
March 10, 1939
Germany occupies Czechoslovakia
Events
August 23, 1939
Hitler negotiates non-aggression pact with
Soviet Union (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)
September 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland
Two weeks later…
Russian invades Poland
Holocaust Encyclopedia
Events
September 3, 1939
Britain and France
declare war on Germany!
September 27, 1940
Tripartite Pact is signed.
(Germany / Italy / Japan)
May 10, 1940
Germany invades France.
1930’s US Neutrality Acts
(No supplies / $)
(Destroyer’s…)
(Cash and Carry)
(Lend Lease)
Sept. 1939 – May 1940 PHONY WAR
Events
September 27, 1940
Axis Tripartite Pact
Previously….
In the Western Pacific
Japan had been at war in
China since 1931
Japanese Expansion
Empire of Japan - 1910
Conquest of Korea
1910
Second Sino-Japanese War
1937 - 1945
Japan had been at war with China since 1931
Conquest of Manchuria
September 1931
Second Sino-Japanese War
1937 - 1945
Japan had been t war with China since 1931
Japanese Conquest
1937-1941
Nanking Massacre
December 1937
“The Rape of Nanking”
Over 300,000 people butchered
Japan’s Path to War
Increase in Militarism in Japanese society
US moves Pacific Fleet to Hawaii (May 1940)
Great East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere declared (Aug 1940)
Move into northern French Indochina (Sep 1940)
Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis formed (Tripartite Pact, Sep 1940)
US embargos iron & steel exports to Japan (Sep 1940)
Vichy government accedes to Japanese request for bases in
southern Indochina (July 1941)
US embargos shipments of oil to Japan (Jul 1941)
Events
December 7, 1941
US Pacific Fleet attacked at Pearl Harbor
Japanese Decision to War
"One can search military history in vain for
an operation more fatal to the aggressor."
Samuel Eliot Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations in World
War II, Vol. III, The Rising Sun in the Pacific
To be continued …