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Neutrality Acts of 1935 signed
Congress passed the first Neutrality Act on August 31, 1935.This banned the export of guns, ammunition, and any other piece of equipment of war from the US to foreign nations at war that were in need of those goods. Arms manufacturs in the United States became required to apply for an export license. American citizens traveling in war zones were also advised that they did so at their own risk. On February 29, 1936, Congress renewed the Act until May of 1937. -
Nuremburg Laws
The first Nuremburg Laws are passed in Germany, revoking citizenship from Jews and no longer allowing them to marry non-Jews. This also prohibited the employment of German females under the age of 45 to work in a Jewish household. Jews in Germany were also stripped of their german citizenship and were made sure they knew they were out of place. This essentially formalized these ideals because they were already being practiced. -
Italy invades Ethiopia
Mussolini wanted to create an Italian Empire in the Mediterranean and in North Africa and he didn't hesitate to do so. Italy decided to invade Ethiopia and it didn't take too long before it was annexed into the empire. The League of Nations could not do much of anything though, because they were both parts of The League. So, they could neither help Ethiopia, nor try to control Italy. -
German forces enter Rhineland
Against the laws of The Treaty of Versailles, Hitler sent troops into Rhineland and therefore remilitarized the region. This is the first of Germany's attemps to take over more territory. Hitler ended up being able to keep his troops in the Rhineland and started to move west. -
Spanish Civil War Begins
This all started by the Spanish rebels challenging the Loyalists. The rebels were under the fascist General, Francisco Franco, who got great support from people like Hitler and Mussolini. The US wanted to jump in and help but couldn't because of the Neutrality acts. The rebels won easily and Franco took over Spain and turned it into a dictatorship. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
The Rome- Berlin Axis was created by Mussolini and Hitler as they were both creating powerful Empires and decided to form an alliance. This alliance was dangerous and threatening to the democracies that were still left standing. Both Hitler and Mussolini had large armies that were occupying weaker nations quickly. Japan ended up later joining in this alliance. -
Anti-Comintern Pact
Japan and Germany sign Anti-Comintern Pact which was basically just an anti communism pact and was directed against the Communist International, aka, the Comintern. Even though it was directed toward the Comintern they mostly created this for the Soviet Union. This was later joined by Italy and many fascist governments. -
Japan Invades China
Japan decided to go into a full invasion of China for all of their natural resources. The first thing they did was bomb the Marco Polo Bridge which was near Beijing. The Soviet Union quickly jumped in to help China so Japan wouldn't get to Siberia. Japan did however manage to get control of China's ports but could not get into mainland China. Japan kept trying to gain this land even though it was against the Treaty of Versailles. -
Quarentine Speech
Roosevelt decided to take matters into his own hands in order to stop a war with the rising aggressions between Italy and Japan. While giving his speech, FDR suggests that democracies work together and quarentine the aggressors economically. He had to completely drop this idea because he unintentionally caused issues when people took this speech the wrong way. -
The Rape of Nanking
The Rape of Nanking is also known as the Nanking Massacre/ Nanjing Massacre. It was a mass murder and war rape. This lasted for six weeks after Japan had captured Nanking. Hundreds of thousands of disarmed chinese soldiers and chinese civilians were murdered by the Japanese army. It was estimated that around 250,000 to 300,000 people were killed. -
Anschluss
Hitler had threatened to take the county of Austria by force if it's chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, didn't agree to all of Hitler's terms. Schuschnigg didn't play around and he aggreed to his terms. Hitler was welcomed by the crowds of Austrians in Vienna. Even though Germany went against the Treaty of Versailles once again, they were not penalized. Austria was annexed by Germany. -
Munich Agreement signed
After gaining Austria, Hitler moved onto a German-speaking location of Czechoslovakia. The leaders in France and Britain thought it might be a good idea to hold a conference in Munich, Germany to peacefully solve this issue. They came up with this agreement which stated that Germany could have Sudetenland as long as they didn't try to claim any more territory. But in about six months, Germany tried to claim the rest of Czechoslovakia. -
Kristallnacht
The Night of Crystal or The Night of Broken Glass was a wave of anti-Jewish riots through Germany, annexed Austria, and Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. This night got it's name because of the shards of broken glass that would line the streets. Jewish owed buisnesses, houses, and synogouges were destroyed in the violence. -
Germany invades Czechoslovakia
Only a half of a year after signing the Munich agreement, Hitler decided to send his troops into the rest of Czechoslovakia. Hitler had broken the agreement and everybody realized he would never stop trying to gain territory. Britain and France had told Germany that if their troops attacked Poland they would have to fight. Eventually the invasion of Poland occured and this was the beginning of the War. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact. This came as a shock to the entire world. Originally Stalin and Hitler were complete enemies because of politics. This was beneficial, however, for both of them for quite some time. They split up Poland so that Germany could have the German speaking sections and the USSR could have the rest of the land. Eventually, this Non-agression pact was broken.
