EUROPE ON THE BRINK OF

WARAgain . . .

NEW ASIAN POWERHOUSE!

• Japan is Asia’s industrial leader• Japan is ready to rival the Europeans for

power and influence in Asia

ITALY TO BE GREAT AGAIN!• Mussolini wants to return Italy to the

greatness of Rome• Says Italy will rule the Mediterranean Sea

FRANCE UNWILLING TO END GERMAN REPERATIONS!

• France believes Germany must continue to pay reparations from WWI

• France has no sympathy for Germany, even as they struggle in economic depression

STALIN INDUSTRIALIZES USSR

• Stalin’s Five-Year plans are turning the USSR into an industrial power

• Soviet Union is no longer the backwards nation of Russia

JAPANESE MILITARISTS IN CHARGE

• Military leaders take command of Japanese government

• Japan looking to expand its empire in Asia

BRITAIN DETERMINED TO HOLD ON TO EMPIRE

• Britain is drained after World War I

• Britain knows their wealth and power depend on holding on to colonies in Africa and Asia

USA WANTS ISOLATION!

• Most Americans have no desire to get involved in another European war

• USA pledges to stay out of new conflicts in Europe

HITLER OUT TO BREAK TREATY!• Hitler claims Treaty of Versailles ending

World War I is unfair to Germany.• Hitler wants to end reparations• Hitler will rebuild German military

MANCHURIA ATTACKED!

• Japanese military conquer Manchuria, the northeast portion of China

• Rest of China prepares for Japanese invasion

USSR LOOKING TO SPREAD COMMUNISM!

• Stalin creates the Communist International to spread Communism around the world

• Much of Europe and America fearful of the ‘Red Menace’

HITLER WANTS ‘LIVING ROOM’• Hitler wants to unite all

Germans in Europe in one large country

• Hitler desires Lebensraum (living room) for German people

• Hitler looks to Eastern Europe for this land

ITALY INVADES ETHIOPIA!• Mussolini wants to

expand the Italian empire

• League of Nations does nothing to stop Italy from conquering small African nation

HITLER PUTS PEOPLE TO WORK!

• Jobless Germans get work building highways and other public projects

• Millions of Germans working in factories producing weapons

FRANCE BUILDS MAGINOT LINE!• Defensive wall will

keep the Germans out of France . . . . finally!

• Maginot Line holds nearly 1 million French soldiers ready for a German attack

HITLER INCREASES GERMAN ARMY!

• 2 Million men ready to fight!

• Hitler breaks Treaty of Versailles terms which allowed for only 100,000 men in German army

HITLER DENOUNCES JEWS!• German Parliament

passes laws restricting rights of Jews

• Germans asked to boycott Jewish businesses

• Germans no longer allowed to marry Jews

ITALIAN ARMY IN POOR SHAPE!

• Italian troops are badly trained and poorly equipped

• Mussolini promotes those loyal to him over good military leaders

GERMANY CONQUERS AUSTRIA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA!

• Austria joins Germany in 1938

• First the Sudetenland, then all of Czechoslovakia join Germany in 1939

• Britain and France do nothing to stop Hitler

BRITISH NAVY STILL LARGEST IN WORLD!

• 15 Battleships and 181 Destroyers protecting Britain’s vast empire

• 7 new Aircraft Carriers ready for action

RED ARMY OF TWO MILLION!• Soviet Union has

nearly 2 million soldiers ready to fight if the Nazis attack

• With many officers executed, USSR lacks good military leadership

US ARMY NOT READY FOR WAR

• Only 175,000 soldiers in American Army• US Navy is more prepared, with 15

battleships and over 100 submarines

JAPAN BUILDING HUGE NAVY!

• 10 new Japanese Aircraft Carriers are ready for battle

• 10 new battleships launched• Hundreds of other warships ready for war

AXIS Alliance Formed

• September 27, 1940

• Germany, Italy and Japan sign a military alliance

Japan 1939

Italy 1939

Germany 1939

IS THE WORLD READY FOR

WAR?Again . . .

PICTURE CREDITS• http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/resource/wwii.htm• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JlowSp.jpg• http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-rroot240.html• http://hamlethamster.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/war-nazi-hitler-widerstandskampfer-im-3-reich/• http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/005347.html• http://www.britannica.com/eb/art/print?id=73266&articleTypeId=1• http://abagond.wordpress.com/2006/06/10/british-empire/• http://www.iol.ie/~dluby/history.htm• http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/baker_00/03/baker-mc-03/ethiopia.htm• http://www.forties.net/files/migrant_mother_1936__great_depression.jpg• http://mysticbourgeoisie.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_archive.html• http://www.theblogthatatemiami.com/pinecrest/• http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ihs/alex/Maginot_Line_1944_small.jpg• http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/files/Infl3.png• http://snarkmarket.com/blog/snarkives/20060527_fdr.jpg• http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/csl0663l.jpg• http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/explorers_history/Hideki_Tojo.jpg• http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/2658897.jpg• http://college.hmco.com/history/west/mosaic/chapter15/images/stalin.jpg• http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/images/stalin.jpg• http://splinteredsunrise.wordpress.com/2007/09/29/in-his-own-inimitable-style-senator-harris-

gives-the-unionist-party-the-benefit-of-even-more-of-his-advice/• http://www.lindsayfincher.com/russia/redsquare.html• http://www.prisonplanet.com/images/march2007/270307cornwall.jpg• http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC062606/jpg/Akagi_1.jpg• http://giochinscatola.it/catalog/images/Luftwaffe-2ed_box.jpg• http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9577/wehrmacht008833gdf2iq4.jpg• http://staffdev.henrico.k12.va.us/~woodwatw/images/usii_6a_1.jpg