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Japanese army seizes Manchuria
In 1931, the Japanese army seized Manchuria, despite objections from the Japanese parliament. The Japanese attacked Manchuria and this was the first direct challenge to the League of Nations. In the early 1930s, the League’s members were all major democracies but not the United States. The League also included the three countries that posed the greatest threat to peace. -
Hitler Defines Treaty of Versailles
Hitler had promised to make Germany great again so he began to rebuild the German army. In 1935 Hitler announced that Germany would not follow the Treaty of Versailles, but the League of Nations only issued a small condemnation. Since nobody stopped Hitler from rebuilding his army he was convinced he should continue his plans to rebuild and reconquer all the land Germany had lost in WWI. -
Mussolini Attacks Ethiopia
Mussolini was still bitter about the Ethiopian victory over the Italians in 1890 so he attacked Ethiopia in 1935 as a way of revenge. Italy won easily because they had modern weapons the Ethiopians did not have. The League of Nations did nothing to stop Mussolini. Europeans hoped that by giving Mussolini Africa it would keep peace in Europe, but it only gave Mussolini more power and hunger for more land. -
Germany Invades the Rhineland
Since the League of Nations did not stop Germany from rebuilding their army he was encouraged to push even more to fight the Treaty of Versailles. German troops invaded the chunk of land that was a buffer between Germany and France, known as the Rhineland, on March 7, 1963. The French were surprised, but still did not want a war so they did not attack the German troops. -
Spain Erupts into War
Spanish General Fancisco Franco wanted to overthrow the Spanish monarchy. Franco and other army leaders that joined in his revolt wanted Fascist government for Spain. Mussolini and Hitler wanted another Fascist country on their side so they sent troops, tanks, and airplanes to help Franco in the Spanish civil war. The Fascist party won and took control of Spain with Franco as dictator. -
Nanjing fell to the Japanese
Beijing and other northern cities as well as the capital, Nanjing, fell to the Japanese in 1937. Japanese troops killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Nanjing. They were forced to retreat westward, Jiang Jieshi and set up a new capital at Chongqing. During this time, Chinese guerrillas that were led by China’s Communist leader, Mao Zedong, continued to fight the Japanese. This was also considered the Nanking massacre. -
Anschluss
Germany and Austria were not allowed to unite under the Treaty of Versailles, however, just like most other parts of the treaty, Hitler ignored that. German troops marched into Austria early in March of 1938, there was little Austrian resistance since many supported the unity between Germany and Austria. -
Hitler Demands the Sudetenland
Hitler wanted more land for Germany and demanded that the Sudetenland be given to him. This land was the outer parts of Czechoslovakia, and the Czechs refused. However, Britain and France gave Hitler the Sudetenland after he pledged not to take over the rest of Czechoslovakia. -
Hitler Invades Czechoslovakia
Hitler could not even wait six months time before breaking his promise not to invade Czechoslovakia. Hitler broke his promise and invaded Czechoslovakia in March of 1939. Hitler had promised to give Germany their land back and that is exactly what he was doing, with little effort to stop him from other countries, he continued his rampage for more and more land. -
Mussolini takes Albania
Italy invaded Albania on April 7, 1939 and quickly conquered the country. The Albanian King was forced into exile and Albania became part of Italy's territory. -
Hitler Attacks Poland
Hitler and his troops began their surprise attack on Poland at dawn on September 1, 1939. This was the last straw for many nations who had been trying to avoid war. Nations declared war on Germany, but Poland fell before they had time for military action. -
Britain and France Join the War
After hearing of Hitlers invasion of Poland, Britain and France decided that was enough. They declared war on Germany and entered World War II. They did not have time to send military help before Poland fell under the Nazi occupation. -
The Fall of France
In May, the German forces occupied Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.Hitler had a strategy to strike at France. When they were on their way to France. Germans trapped over 400,000 British and French soldiers,then after the French surrendered when Italy entered the war on the side of Germany. And eventually in June 1940 France and most of Europe was conquered by Germany. Which left Britain alone against Hitler. -
The Battle of Britain
Following the Battle of France, Hitler attempted to invade Britain. This was Hitler's effort to control the airspace over southern Britain and the English Channel by destroying British aircrafts and bombing British cities. German air forces invaded Britain but then the British Royal Air Force drove them out with the help of the new invention radar that let them know where the German planes were. In the end Britain fought off the German attack and was considered the first major allied victory and -
Pearl Harbor
Japan did this because America has been trying to stop all of its conquests to try and take Southeast Asia the year before and been wanting to catch America by surprise. The effect is that Japan sunk and damaged 19 ships, including 8 battleships, moored in Pearl Harbor. This sneak attack killed 2,300 American and more than 1,000 people were wounded. Japan also bombed British colony of of Hong Kong and American-controlled Guam. -
Battle at Battaan
The Japanese landed in the Philippines because they wanted to take control of the power there. They thought the Phillipines was an easy target and succeeded. This happened throughout January - April of 1942. Somehow the Japanese knew where the head people were during the fight. The Philipine governement easily surrendered. -
Burma
The Japanese moved to Burma. They planned to attack India, which was the largest of Great Britain’s colonies. When Burma fell, Japan had taken control of more than 1 million square miles of Asian land, and about 150 million people lived in this area. -
The Bataan Death March
After the Battle at Bataan, Japan captured most of Asia. The Japanese were very cruel and treated the Ally soldiers that were captured with the worst sort of punishments. They even made the soldiers walk 50 miles which is now called the Bataan Death March. The Japanese did this because they wanted to let the Filipino and American soldiers to be weakened, demoralized, and it is a way for them to die off. The Japanese also did this because the two countries decided to be allies.
