Road to War By tekiwilde 1931 Japanese invasion and occupation of Manchuria (northern China) 1935 Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) 1936 The Rome-Berlin Pact was made between Italy and Germany 1936 The Anti-Comintern Pact was signed by Germany and Japan 1936 German troops reoccupy Rhineland 1937 The Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis was signed by leaders from Italy, Germany and Japan From then on these countries were known as the Axis Powers 1937 Japanese invasion of east China Begins and eight-year war with China 1938 German union with Austria 1938 Germany claims the Sudetenland 1939 Germany occupies the remainder of Czechoslovakia 1939 Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the USSR 1939 German invasion of Poland 1939 Italian invasion of Albania