European Aggressors on the March

1. European Aggressors on the March

2. Ethiopian ruler Halllie Selassie inspects his men. 1935 – Mussolini invades Ethiopia Why? - PROFIT: Mussolini dreams of creating an Italian colonial Empire in Africa - REVENGE: Bitter memories of Ethiopians defeating the Italian army in the Battle of Adowa in 1896. - WHY NOT? League of Nations had done nothing to stop Japan’s aggressive Empire-building in Pacific.

3. 1935 – U.S. Congress passes first of Why did isolationists want these laws? three Neutrality Acts. They hoped to keep the U.S. out of another European War. Americans in the United States preferred Isolationism – choosing to “stay out of the tensions between other countries” RESULT: Such an official policy prevented the U.S. from taking an immediate stand against the Aggressors which might have prevented war’s escalation. Britain and France chose Appeasement– choosing to “give in to an aggressor in order to keep the peace” RESULT: This policy only encouraged Japan, Italy, and Germany to keep taking more… “give ‘em an inch; they take a mile” Hitler’s growing military strength convinced Mussolini to seek an alliance with Germany 1936 – The two dictators sign the Rome-Berlin Axis agreement. A month later Germany reaches an agreement with Japan. Axis Powers – Germany, Japan, Italy RESULT: Strengthened by their alliance, further aggression was inevitable. T.W. Loessin, Akins H.S.

4. 1935 - Hitler is cheered after telling the Nazi-controlled Parliament that Germany would no longer obey the Treaty of Versailles’ restrictions. He had already begun rebuilding Germany’s military. The League of Nations issued only a mild condemnation. Banners throughout Germany read, “Today Germany! Tomorrow the World!” 1936 – German troops move into the Rhineland. What were some of the effects of appeasing Hitler after his invasion of the Rhineland? - Strengthened his power among the Germans; - Tilted the balance of power in Europe in Germany’s favor; - Encouraged Hitler to speed up his military and territorial expansion. 1936 – Hitler & Mussolini lend troops, tanks, planes to help Spain’s Fascist leader Francisco Franco and his Nationalists in Spain’s Civil War.

5. Spain had been a monarchy until 1931, when it then became a republic. Like all European nations, Spain’s economy suffered during the Depression. In 1936, army leaders backed a Fascist-styled leader in Spain named Francisco Franco. Civil War erupted. 1936 – Hitler & Mussolini lend troops, tanks, planes to help Spain’s Fascist leader Francisco Franco and his Nationalists in Spain’s Civil War. The liberal Republican government received little help from western democratic nations abroad. In fact, only the Soviet Union sent equipment to aid the legitimate republican government and also advisers to try to mediate the brutal conflict in Spain. 1939 – Franco becomes Spanish dictator. Although Franco never formally allied Spain with the Axis Powers during World War II, he openly sympathized with their fascist principles.

6. Guernica by Pablo Picasso

7. 1935 – U.S. Congress passes first of3. Why did isolationists want these laws? three Neutrality Acts. They hoped to keep the U.S. out of another European War. “Let it be resolved that upon the outbreak or during the progress of war between, or among, two or more foreign states, the President shall proclaim such fact, and it shall thereafter be unlawful to export arms, ammunition, or implements of war to any port of such beligerent states… nor shall these United States feel compelled to intercede in such international tensions as they unaffect us.” - U.S. Neutrality Act, 1935 T.W. Loessin, Akins H.S.

8. 1937 – Hitler plans to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich – or, the new German Empire. Pic below: Hitler's car passes through a triumphant crowd assembled in Vienna to celebrate the Anschluss, March 1938. lebensraum(living space) for the German people “The Treaty of Versailles prohibited Anschluss (union of Austria and Germany). However, many German-speaking Austrians supported the idea. In March, 1938 Hitler sent his army into Austria and annexed it. France and Belgium ignored a former pledge to protect Austrian independence.”

9. 1937 – Hitler plans to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich. Since WWI, Czechoslovakia had developed into a prosperous democracy with a strong army and a defense treaty with France. But 3 million German-speaking people lived in the Sudetenland- a western border region of Czechoslovakia. T.W. Loessin, Akins H.S.

10. 1937 – Hitler plans to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich. - In September, 1938 Hitler demanded the Sudetenland be given to him. - The Czechs refused and asked France for help. - France and Britain were preparing for war when Mussolini decided to play mediator and proposed a meeting….in Munich Germany. • Why was the Munich Conference unsuccessful? • The Czechs were not even invited; • Britain’s Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain >> • thought he could appease Hitler and keep the peace; • After Hitler was given Czechoslovakia it was clear • he would not stop there and he now began • demanding Poland. T.W. Loessin, Akins H.S.

11. A historic example of the failings of appeasement is that of the British prime ministerNeville Chamberlain, shown here upon his return from Munich with the scrap of paper that was to "ensure peace in our time!” The Munich Agreement is generally regarded as the shameful culmination of the Allied refusal to confront Nazi aggression. T.W. Loessin, Akins H.S.

12. When the German tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia… the Czech majority mourned as it was forced to offer up the Nazi salute, “Heil Hitler!” …while the Sudeten Germans cheered. At the end of WWII, no Jewish life in Bohemia and Moravia was left. Out of the 90,000 Czech Jews more than 72,000 were deported to Auschwitz immediately. 1938 - Ecstatic Sudeten girls in traditional local costumes join in welcoming the German soldiers. T.W. Loessin, Akins H.S.

13. One member of British Parliament was furious at what Chamberlain had done to the Czechs at the Munich Conference: “You had a choice between war and dishonor and you chose dishonor. You shall have war." That Parliament member was Winston Churchill who will become Britain’s next Prime Minister and carry the country through WWII.

14. Why did Stalin sign an agreement with Fascist Germany, once a bitter enemy? Stalin felt Russia’s former allies – Britain, France, U.S. – had snubbed him again and he resented having been left out of the Munich Conference; He also wanted to avoid another war in Germany since the Soviet Union was in no way prepared for one. 1939 – Germany and Russia sign a Nonaggression Pact. The Secret Protocol was the agreement between the Nazis and Soviets about what would take place the moment Hitler invaded Poland. For the Soviets, for agreeing to not join the possible future war, Germany was giving the Soviets the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Poland was also to be divided between the two. The new territories gave the Soviet Union the buffer (in land) that it wanted to feel safe from an invasion from the West. For the Nazis, when attacking Poland on September 1, 1939, the Soviets promised not to interfere. Two days later, the British declared war on Germany and World War II had begun. On September 17, the Soviets rolled into eastern Poland to occupy their "sphere of influence" designated in the secret protocol.