Commack Schools



Could World War II have been prevented?038417500Directions: Investigate each act of aggression leading up to World War II in 1939. Your task is to describe how each action violated the articles of the Treaty of Versailles and/or the Covenant of the League of Nations. EVENT I: Japan invades the Chinese territory of Manchuria, 1931.The League of Nations condemned the action.Japan withdrew from the League of Nations.EVENT II: Italy attacks Ethiopia, 1935.Italian pilots bombed defenseless cities. Italian armies made extensive use of poison gas on the scantily armed Ethiopians. Casualties were about 20,000 for Italy, 775,000 for Ethiopia. The Ethiopian king, Haile Selassie appealed to the League of Nations for help.The League of Nations stopped selling war materials to Italy, but took no further action. Italy kept Ethiopia as a colony. Hitler takes notice. Praises Mussolini for his great achievement. EVENT III: Hitler sends rebuilt military into the Rhineland- March, 1936.Locate the Rhineland on the map. What countries is it in-between? ____________________________________________________________European democracies do nothing to stop him. EVENT IV: Nazi’s carpet bomb Guernica, Spain, April, 1937Fascist forces unleashed weapons on a civilian population that had no means of defending itself in support of Francisco Franco’s nationalist (fascist) forces during the Spanish Civil War. Nazi’s used the city as a training ground for bomber pilots and practice for its strategy of blitzkrieg. Western democracies refused to counter. Only the Soviet Union provided military aid to the Spanish republicans.EVENT V: Japan invades mainland China, 1937.Japan continued to gain territories in China, and set up a puppet government in the city of Nanjing. Japan commits acts of genocide during the “Rape of Nanjing.” Estimates of 300,000 Chinese killed; 20,000 Chinese women raped.The League of Nations condemned Japan’s actions. The United States imposed a trade embargo on Japan. EVENT VI: Hitler invades Austria to form a “Greater Germany,” March 1938. Hitler promises not to take any more land after annexing Austria (Anschluss). European democracies do nothing to stop him. EVENT VII: The Munich Conference, September 1938.Hitler wants the “Sudentenland,” a portion of the newly created Czechoslovakia with a large population of German speaking people. At the Munich Conference, Britain and France agree, as long as Hitler promises not to take any more land. Promise accepted.The Czech government is never consulted. British Prime Minister returns from the Munich Conference declaring that “Peace for our time” had been reached. EVENT VIII: Hitler occupies the rest of Czechoslovakia, March 1939.European democracies to nothing to stop him. EVENT IX: Mussolini seizes Albania, April 1939.European democracies to nothing to stop him. EVENT X: Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, August 1939.Hitler and Stalin- two sworn and bitter enemies- promise not to attack one another. Hitler wants to attack Poland and he promises land to Stalin if he doesn’t interfere. Stalin sees it as an opportunity to reclaim land lost in the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Britain and France promise to come to Poland’s aid if Germany attacks Poland. EVENT XI: Hitler invades Poland, September 1939.Britain and France declare war on Germany…WORLD WAR II HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!Prior to World War II, European democracies (Britain and France), followed a policy of appeasement, towards Hitler, Mussolini, and Imperial Japan. Based on their actions, define:Appeasement:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ................
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