Appeasement to war ESSENTIAL QUESTION: WHY WERE THE ALLIED POWERS RELUCTANT TO START ANOTHER WAR? Rise of Dictators around the World Totalitarians took aggressive action in the 1930s. Overran Manchuria and eastern Military Japan China, with support of new leaders emperor Hirohito Rebuilt the military and invaded Germany Hitler the Rhineland Italy Mussolini Invaded and conquered Ethiopia After Lenin’s death, he leads the Russia Stalin Communists and consolidates power with the purge A new Fascist alliance • By the mid-1930s, the antidemocratic aggressive powers formed an alliance. Italy, Germany, and Japan became the Axis powers. • The Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis agreed to fight Soviet communism. • They also pledged not to interfere with one another’s plans for territorial expansion. Civil War in Spain • In 1931, conservative general Francisco Franco launched a revolt against the republic in 1936 and the Spanish Civil War became known as a “dress rehearsal” for world war 2. • Hitler and Mussolini sent arms and forces to support Franco, while the Soviet Union sent soldiers to help the Loyalists. • By 1939, Franco had won. He created a fascist dictatorship similar to those of Germany and Italy. Expansion Begins • Meanwhile, Hitler took aggressive steps to bring all German-speaking people into the Third Reich. • One of Hitler’s goals was the Anschluss, or union of Austria and Germany. In 1938, German troops entered Austria. • Although Hitler’s annexation of Austria violated the Treaty of Versailles, the Western democracies took no action other then a warning. Aggression Continues Hitler next threatened to annex the Sudetenland. Britain and France protested the taking of Czechoslovakia, but they were unwilling to go to war. At the Munich Conference in 1938, British and French leaders gave in to Hitler’s expansion, but gave him an ultimatum and he agreed not to take any more. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced that they had achieved “peace for our time.” Fear lead to Appeasement Western democracies denounced these invasions but chose a policy of appeasement or giving in to the demands of an aggressor to keep peace. • France could not take on Hitler without support, and others did not want to confront him because the Great Depression exhausted Western nations. • Some even viewed Hitler’s fascism as a defense against the spread of Soviet communism. • The previous war had led to widespread pacifism, opposing all violence A Second World War On September 1, 1939, German forces broke the deal and invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared World War II war on Germany. had begun. Complete a map of Europe in 1941 Use map on pg 733 Label the listed countries Under the map: List all of the original allied and axis powers as well as neutral countries. DO NOT COLOR THE MAP YET. Guiding question Summarize events that unfolded between Chamberlain’s declaration of “peace for our time” and the outbreak of a world war? After the horrors of World War I, Western democracies tried to preserve peace. However, Germany, Italy, and Japan were preparing to build new empires, and the world was headed to war again. Terms and People • appeasement – giving in to the demands of an aggressor to keep peace • pacifism – opposition to all war • Axis powers – Germany, Italy, and Japan • Anschluss – union of Austria and Germany • Sudetenland – a region of Czechoslovakia • Nazi-Soviet Pact – a nonaggression pact uniting Germany and the Soviet Union.