15 4 Aggressors Invade Nations Ms Bielefeld Spring

15. 4 Aggressors Invade Nations Ms. Bielefeld Spring 2012

What’s going on in this political cartoon?

Japanese Aggression � Japan seeks to solve its economic problem through foreign expansion � Takes over Manchuria, China in 1931 � Manchuria rich in iron and coal � League of Nations protests & Japan withdraws from the League � Japan invades the rest of China in 1937 � Beijing & Nanjing captured � Japanese troops killed tens of thousands of soldiers & civilians in Nanjing � Chinese troops led by Mao Zedong continue to fight the Japanese

Italian Aggression � Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, one of Africa’s 3 independent nations in 1935 � Ethiopian emperor, Haile Salassie, appealed to the League of Nations � League condemned the attack, but did nothing. � Britain controlled the Suez Canal, but let Italy through in order to keep the peace

Civil War in Spain � Spain was a monarchy until 1931, then a republic � Spanish army leaders want fascist-style government � General Francisco Franco leads a rebellion in 1936 � Received aid from Hitler and Mussolini � Won the war in 1939—becomes Spain’s Fascist dictator

German Aggression � Hitler begins a series of steps that would lead to war � built German military against Treaty of Versailles � Entered the Rhineland (buffer zone between Germany and France) � Britain & France choose appeasement—giving in to demands to keep peace � Strengthened Hitler’s power and prestige � Forms alliance with Italy and Japan � Axis Powers—Germany, Italy, Japan

German Expansion

Who were the Axis Powers?

Why Appeasement? � Many nations didn’t want another World War � Many thought Communism was a bigger threat � Great Depression “sapped” energy of western democracies

German Third Reich Expands � Hitler annexed Austria (1938) and Sudetenland, but Czechs ask France for help � Munich Conference (Sept. 29, 1938) � Meeting of Germany, France, Britain, and Italy � Hitler could take Sudetenland, but had to respect Czech. New borders � Less than 6 months later, Hitler took Czechoslovakia � Soon after, Mussolini seized Albania

United States Stays Out! � Isolationist Policy—avoid political ties to other countries � Beginning in 1935, Congress passed three Neutrality Acts � Banned loans and the sale of arms to nations at war

Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact � France and Britain asked USSR to help them stop Hitler � USSR talked with all three countries � Hitler and Stalin agree not to fight each other and to split up Poland