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History 8 Name ______________________

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Road to War

Chapter 26-1 Abbreviated Lecture Notes

Pages 752 – 755

Have you ever wondered what events led up to World War II? What do you know about Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin? What do you know about the Nazi Party in Germany?

This section focuses on how Europe hoped a policy of appeasement would avoid war.

The Rise of Dictators

Adolf Hitler published his political beliefs in a book called Mein Kampf (My Struggle). Because of Hitler’s popularity in Germany in the late 1920s, he became the leader of the country. He and a few other dictators, leaders who control their countries by force, took advantage of the anger and suffering of the citizens in their countries in the 1920s and 1930s. Anger over the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, and the worldwide depression of the 1930s upset and frustrated some Europeans.

Many Italians also believed they had not won enough in the Treaty of Versailles. Benito Mussolini, known as Il Duce (the leader), appealed to their resentment and rose to power. He popularized fascism, a one-party system of government led by a dictator who supports extreme nationalism and racism. Mussolini’s Fascist Party forced the king of Italy to declare him the leader of the Italian government by 1922. He banned all political parties except the Fascist Party and ended democratic rule in Italy. He ended freedom of the press and all civil liberties. Military organizations taught boys and girls of all ages to be loyal to the regime. Building up the military, Mussolini promised to regain the power Italy enjoyed during the ancient Roman times.

Italian forces invaded Ethiopia, an African country, in 1935. Ethiopia was annexed, or became a territory of Italy. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia asked the League of Nations for help. The League banned trade in weapons and certain other goods with Italy. The League did not have the power to enforce the ban, however. Italy withdrew from the League of Nations and continued to attack other countries. In 1939 Italy attacked and annexed the neighboring country of Albania.

Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany during the Great Depression. The German economy was ready to collapse. Millions of people were out of work. Hitler took advantage of the difficult times faced by the German people. He fueled their resentment over the Treaty of Versailles, which forced Germany to give up some of its territory. The treaty also forced Germany to pay back large sums of money for the damages it caused during World War I.

Hitler became the chairman of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or the Nazi Party, in 1921. The Nazi Party was extremely racist. It believed the Germans were better than all other people. The Nazi Party blamed Jews for Germany’s problems.

This extreme hatred of Jews, or anti-Semitism, eventually led to the imprisonment and murder of many German Jews. Hitler became the chief minister, or chancellor, of Germany in 1933. He ended democracy and formed a totalitarian government in which a single party and its leader suppress any opposing views and controlled peoples’ lives. Ignoring the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler built up the German military and declared Germany’s right to expand its territory. He formed an alliance with Italy in 1936.

Japan’s economic troubles during its depression led to the rise of military leaders in the 1930s. The leaders believed expanding Japanese power in Asia would solve its problems. Japan attacked Manchuria in northeast China in 1931. The attack was condemned by the League of Nations. The League failed to do anything to stop Japanese aggression, however. Japan set up a government in Manchuria. In 1937 Japan continued to invade various regions in China until it controlled most of the country. Japan formed an alliance with Germany and Italy in 1940. The agreement was known as the “Axis.”

Joseph Stalin became the Communist leader of the Soviet Union in the late 1920s. He used force to demand the complete obedience of the people. Stalin had his opponents and their supporters killed and sent millions of Russians to labor camps.

He reorganized the economy of the Soviet Union by forcing millions of people to work on farms owned by the government.

Most Americans wanted to stay out of the international crises and conflicts. Congress approved a series of Neutrality Acts between 1935 and 1937. The Acts banned the sale of weapons to nations at war. They allowed trade only with countries that could pay cash and transport the goods in their own ships. Congress wanted to prevent more debts owed to the United States because many debts from World War I still remained unpaid.

Germany on the March

Hitler ordered his troops into the Rhineland, a German Territory west of the Rhine River. The Rhineland was declared a neutral zone under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. France and Britain complained but did nothing to stop Germany. In March 1938 Hitler sent troops into and annexed Austria, a German-speaking country. Next Hitler sent troops to a German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland and threatened to annex it. He falsely claimed the people of Sudetenland were being persecuted. Czechoslovakia was willing to fight to defend its territory. In an effort to avoid a war in the region, Britain and France called European leaders together at the Munich Conference in September 1938 to find a peaceful solution. Britain and France accepted Germany’s demands in order to avoid a war. They agreed the Sudetenland would be turned over to Germany. Germany promised not to invade any more countries. This agreement or policy became known as appeasement. Germany broke the agreement by taking control of the rest of Czechoslovakia by force in March 1939.

Hitler’s goal was to invade Poland next. He worried that Stalin would try to stop him since Poland bordered the Soviet Union. Hitler and Stalin, bitter enemies, signed the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact in August 1939. In the agreement, the two leaders promised not to attack each other’s country. They secretly promised to divide Poland and other eastern European countries between them. Hitler was now able to attack Poland without fear of retaliation from the Soviet Union. European leaders were shocked by the Nazi-Soviet agreement.

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