Section 1: Paths to War

Would you let a bully pick on a classmate as long as he didn’t pick on you or anyone else?

A. YesB. No

Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by creating a new air force and expanding Germany’s army. France, Great Britain, and Italy condemned these actions.

Hitler’s first aggressive move occurred when he invaded a demilitarized zone in Germany known as the Rhineland.

Great Britain adopted a policy of appeasement and did not take military action against Germany.

Mussolini and Hitler created the Rome-Berlin Axis, a pact recognizing their shared political and economic goals.

By November of 1936, Hitler formed an anti-communist alliance with Japan known as the Anti-Comintern Pact.

Hitler annexed his homeland of Austria on March 13, 1938.

Hitler announced, in 1938, that he would wage a world war if he was denied occupation of Sudetenland (NW Czech)

France, Great Britain, Italy, and Germany all agreed to Hitler’s plan at the Munich Conference, abandoning the Czechs.

Hitler continued to advance into Czechoslovakia and eventually demanded the Polish Port of Danzig.

Great Britain and France soon realized they would need help from Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union to contain Nazi aggression.

To avoid fighting a war on two fronts and to gain access into Poland, Hitler signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact on August 23, 1939, with Joseph Stalin.

On September 1, 1939, German forces invaded Poland, causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany two days later.

The need for natural resources fueled the Japanese plan to seize other countries.

Seized Manchuria