Interwar Period: 1919-1939

League of Nations Overall the League was weak and ineffective No control of major conflicts No progress in disarmament No military force

Japanese Agression 1931- Japan seized Manchuria which was part of China Manchuria was rich in iron and coal League of Nations protested actions Japan dropped out of the League of Nations Hideki Tojo: Militaristic dictator who controlled the military and nation by 1941

Italian Aggression 1926- Benito Mussolini starts fascist dicatorship 1935- Italy reinvades Abyssinia (Ethiopia) Use brutal chemical warfare Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie plead to League of Nations about aggression

The Soviets and Stalin USSR was established in 1922 Joseph Stalin takes over in 1924 after Lenin dies Focused on agricultural production and modernizing industry 5-Year Plan: Collectivized farming that led to massive deaths Great Purge: Stalin’s restructuring of USSR that led to millions of deaths

German Resentment Bitter from Treaty of Versailles Militaristic, territorial, and financial penalties Dolchstrosslegende:German military felt “stabbed in the back” by politicians and public

Postwar Germany Weimar Republic = liberal democracy Massive Inflation = Economic misery Weimar Republic fails after 14 years

Hitler's Rise Corporal in WWI (won two Iron Crosses for bravery) National Socialist German Worker’s Party Wrote Mein Kampf while serving prison sentence for inciting a riot Ran for President in 1932 but lost Served as Chancellor to the president

Nazi Party Hitler took over after president’s death in 1934 Consolidated chancellor and president position into one = dictator Rigged elections, took away self-government to states, blocked out opposing parties

Spanish Civil War 1936- Coup d’etat by militant group led by fascist leader Francisco Franco Soviet Union and Mexico sided with the Republican Gov. Italy and Germany sided with fascist Franco War served as a warm up for WWII

Brink of War Appeasement- international policy used to avoid conflict through satisfying enemy needs This was policy of Britain and Prime Minister Chamberlain 1938- Annexed Austria and Sudetenland 1939- Invaded Poland = Britain/France declare war on Germany