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Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles left Germany to take the blame for World War 1. And had to pay war reparations. This left the German economy in chaos which could've caused the frustrations. -
The Great Depression
The period before World War II was a time of great economic suffering throughout the world called the Great Depression. Many people were out of work and struggling to survive. This created unstable governments and worldwide turmoil that helped lead to World War II. -
Japanese Expansion
Japan was growing rapidly, they did not have the land or the natural resources to sustain their growth. Japan began to look to grow their empire in order to gain new resources. They invaded Manchuria in 1931 and China in 1937. -
Germany leaves the League of Nations
Germany left because they did not agree with the way they were getting treated and the consequences they had. They wanted to come to power -
Hitler and the Nazi Party
In Germany, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power. The Germans were desperate for someone to turn around their economy and restore their national pride. Hitler offered them hope. In 1934, Hitler became dictator of Germany. Hitler began to rearm Germany. He allied Germany with Mussolini and Italy. Then Hitler looked to restore Germany to power by expanding his empire. -
Failure with appeasement
The nations of Europe did not want another war. When countries such as Italy and Germany became aggressive and began to take over their neighbors and build up their armies, Britain and France hoped to keep peace through appeasement. They tried to make Germany and Hitler happy rather than try to stop him. They hoped that by meeting his demands he would be satisfied and there wouldn't be any war. But that did not stop Hitler -
Fascism
Countries were taken over by dictators who formed powerful fascist governments. Mussolini took control of Italy. Dictators wanted to expand their empires and began to look for new lands to conquer. Adolf Hitler imitated Mussolini in his take over of Germany. -
Stalin's Purge
Soviet leader Josef Stalin begins a purge of Red Army generals. -
Problems with the League of Nations
The main causes of the failure of The League of Nations were not all countries joined, the league had no power, the league had no army, and they couldn't act quickly. -
Germany invaded Poland
When Germany invaded Poland, which led Britain and France to declare war on Hitler's Nazi state in retaliation. This was the start of the war
