The Lead-Up to WWII Explained (20th century explained #3)

+1

The 20th Century

In this series, I explore events that happened during the 20th century. I will be exploring topics ranging from the World Wars to the Cold War, from the Great Depression to the Fall of communism. This is the second of this series. This is about the lead-up to WWII.

In 1933, the Nazi Party had gained major political power when President Paul Von Hindenburg made Adolf Hitler the chancellor of Germany. But when Hindenburg died in 1934, Hitler took over. Almost immediately, he built up the German Army, a complete violation of the Treaty of Versailles. In March of 1938, there was a referendum for Austria on whether or not to join with Germany (Anschluss) or to stay independent. The result was Anschluss. So on March 12, 1938, Germany invaded and annexed Austria. Britain and France didn’t declare war. They had been devastated by WWI and did not want a repeat. Next, Hitler wanted the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia with many Germans there. In the Munich Agreement, Hitler would get Sudetenland, while promising not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia. But he wanted the entirety of Czechoslovakia. So in March of 1939, he invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia.

Japan wanted an empire. It had taken Formosa (Taiwan) and Korea from the Qing Dynasty (Korea was a puppet state) and took Germany’s Pacific colonies after WWI. It started an invasion of China in 1931, a time when China was split in a civil war between the Republicans and the Communists. Chiang Kai-Shek continued the civil war until 1937 when Japan launched a full invasion of China via Manchukuo (the puppet state in northern China), Korea, and Formosa. By the start of 1942, it had conquered Burma, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, and some south pacific countries, as well as more of Japan and the Philippines. It had also forced Thailand to join them as a co-belligerent. 

Italy was unhappy after WWI. It didn’t need to join any side of WWI. However, it chose to join the Allies after promises of Coastal areas along the Adriatic Sea. But after the Paris Peace Conference, they only got part of their promised area. So it decided to invade some other countries. It invaded Albania and Abyssinia (Ethiopia). It also invaded many Mediterranean countries.



Thanks for reading!
+1
Level 55
Sep 14, 2020
This is a much shorter blog, but hopefully, you will like it!
+5
Level 52
Sep 14, 2020
Nice blog!