AXIS AGGRESSION

Japan on the Move Japan wanted to have an empire equal to

that of those in western Europe. In pursuit of this goal, Japan seized

Manchuria in 1931. The League of Nations condemned this

aggression So, Japan withdrew from the League of

Nations By 1937, Japanese armies took over

much of eastern China

Japanese Aggression

Italy Invades Ethiopia In Italy, Mussolini looked to expand his

empire In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia

The Ethiopian King, Haile Selassie appealed to the League of Nations for help

The League of Nations voted sanctions (penalties) against Italy for violating international law. They could not enforce these sanctions and

Italy succeeded in conquering Ethiopia

The Western European Reaction

Western democracies denounced the moves of Hitler, Japan and Italy but didn’t take real action

Adopted a policy of appeasement, giving in to the demands of an aggressor to keep the peace

Adopted for many reasons: France was suffering from political divisions at home The British didn’t want to confront Hitler The Great Depression sapped their country’s resources Widespread pacifism (opposition to all war) from the

first World War United States passed the Neutrality Acts

Forbade the sale of arms to any nation at war Outlawed loans to warring nations Goal was to avoid involvement in a European war

Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Germany, Italy and Japan formed what

became known as the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis

Agreed to fight Soviet communism Agreed not to interfere with one

another’s plans for expansion Cleared the way for these anti-

democratic powers to take more aggressive steps

Spanish Civil War In 1931, popular unrest forced the king to leave Spain A republic was set up with a new, liberal constitution

Passed controversial reforms that angered both the left (liberals) and the right (conservatives)

In 1936, a conservative general Francisco Franco led a revolt that began a civil war His Fascist and conservative supporters were called

Nationalists Supporters of the republic, including communists were

Loyalists Hitler and Mussolini sent arms and forces to help Franco

Britain, France, and the U.S. remained neutral

Germany Bombs Guernica In support of Franco, Germany began an air raid on

Guernica, a small, innocent Spanish town in April 1937

Germany dropped bombs and then gunned down the innocent people in the streets An estimated 1,600 people were killed

The Nazi leaders saw the attack on Guernica as an “experiment” to see what their air bombers could do

By 1939, Franco was victorious He created a fascist dictatorship like Hitler and Mussolini

Picasso’s Guernica

The Anschluss Nazi propaganda had spread to Austria In 1938, Hitler was ready to begin the Anschluss, or union of Austria and Germany

Hitler forced the Austrian chancellor to appoint Nazis to key cabinet posts However, the Austrian leader did not give in to

Hitler’s other demands Hitler sent the German army to “preserve order”

The Anschluss violated the Versailles treaty, but the western democracies did not take action

Czech Crisis and Munich Conference

Hitler insisted that the three million Germans in the Sudetenland (in western Czechoslovakia) be given autonomy

Czechoslovakia was one of the few remaining democracies in Eastern Europe

The Munich Conference began in September 1938 The British and French leaders chose appeasement by

caving in to Hitler’s demands Persuaded the Czechs to surrender the Sudetenland

without a fight In exchange, Hitler assured Britain and France that he

would not expand his territory British prime minister Neville Chamberlain said they

had achieved “peace for our time”

European Aggression

Nazi-Soviet Pact In August 1939, Hitler stunned the world

by announcing an nonaggression pact with his great enemy, Joseph Stalin

Secretly, the two agreed to: Not fight if the other went to war Divide up Poland and other parts of Eastern

Europe Pact made on mutual need

Hitler feared communism and Stalin feared fascism

Hitler Invades Poland On September 1, 1939, a week after the

Nazi-Soviet Pact, German forces invaded Poland

Two days later, Britain and France honored their commitment to Poland and declared war on Germany

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Key Ideas: Japan Invades Manchuria Italy Invades Ethiopia Western Powers Choose Appeasement and

Neutrality Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Created Spanish Civil War Begins Germany Bombs Guernica Hitler Engineers the Anschluss Czech Crisis and Munich Conference Nazi-Soviet Pact is Made World War II Begins