The path to the Second World War

The path to the Second World War (1931-1939)


Japanese steps

towards WWII

German steps

towards WWII

Democratic countries’ reaction

The spark that

triggered the war


1929 Enconomic crisis• End of international harmony• Economic crisis increased international tension

Germany, Italy and Japan• Discontented powers• Set up the Axis, military bloc

Democratic countries• Weak international policy• «Appeasement policy» led by British PM Chamberlain

Soviet Union• Stalin’s «great purges»• After failing a possible alliance with the democratic countries Pact with

Hitler


«Appeasement policy»• Unwillingness of the British,

French and American population to fight again a war

• British thought that the Treaty of Versailles had unfair clauses

• Chamberlain believed that Hitler could be appeased by giving in to certain Hitler’s claims


JAPANESE STEPS TOWARDS THE WAR

1931 Invasion of Manchuria• Inukai Tsuyoshi’s ultranationalist

government

1937 Invasion of China• For some historians, the Sinojapanese

war meant the beginning of WWII


Manchuria’s invasion 1931


Manchuria’s invasion 1931


Inukai Shiyosi and the Emperor


JAPANESE STEPS TOWARDS THE WAR

1931 Invasion of Manchuria• Inukai Tsuyoshi’s ultranationalist

government

1937 Invasion of China• For some historians, the Sinojapanese

war meant the beginning of WWII


1937 Nanjing’s massacre


1937 Japanese invasion of China


GERMAN AND ITALIAN STEPS TOWARDS THE WAR (1)

1933 Germany left the League of Nations

1935 Compulsory military service

1935-36Italy invades Ethiopia

1936 Remilitarisation of Rhineland


1933 Hitler, chancellor of Germany


1933 Germany leaves the League of Nations








1935 Germany: compulsory military service








1935-1936 Italian invasion of Ethiopia


1935-1936 Italian invasion of Ethiopia











1936German and Italian intervention in Spain

1936 Rome-Berlin Axis

1936 Antikomintern Pact (Germany and Japan)


1936 German-Italian intervention in Spain








1936 Rome Berlin Axis







1936 Antikomintern Pact


1936 Antikomintern Pact


HOW DID THE DEMOCRATIC POWERS REACT TO HITLER’S DEMANDS

Failure of the «Appeasement policy»

March 1938 German annexation of Austria (Anschluss)

September 1938 Munich Pact (Hitler obtained Sudetenland)


1931 Lack of reaction to Japan’s attack on Manchuria


1935 Lack of reaction to Italy’s attack on Abyssinia


1936 Lack of reaction to Germany’s remilitarisation of Rhineland


1938 Chamberlain and Von Ribbentrop







1938 German annexation of Austria


1938 German annexation of Austria







1938 Munich Agreement






WHAT WAS THE LAST SPARK THAT TRIGGERED THE WAR?

March 1939 Germany invades Czechosovakia. The end of appeasment.

August 1939Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Treaty

September 1939 Invasion of Poland GB and France declared war on Germany


1939 Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia





First German poster in Prague, 15 March 1939. "Notice to the Population. By order of the Fuhrer and Supreme Commander of the German Wehrmacht. I have taken over, as of today, the executive power in the Land of Bohemia. Headquarters, Prague, 15 March 1939. Commander, 3rd Army, Blaskowitz, General of Infantry."



March 1939 Germany invades Czechosovakia




1939 Nazi-Soviet non agression pact






1939 Nazi-Soviet carved up Poland



March 1939 Germany invades Czechosovakia




1939 Nazi invasion of Poland






Expansionist steps by

Japan

Expansionist steps

by Germany and Italy

Weak reaction

of the democratic powers

Final crisis:

Invasion of Poland1-9-1939


1931 Invasion of Manchuria

1933Germany left the L. of Nations

1935 Compusory Military Service in Germany

1936 Spanish Civil WarRome-Berlin AxisAntikomintern Pact

1935-36Italian invasion of Ethiopia (Abbysinia)


1937 Sinojapanese war

1938AnschlussMunich Agreement

1939Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia

1939 German-Soviet non agression pact

1939 German invasion of Poland

War breaks out

The path to the Second World War

Education