DK - World War II Map by Map

32 THE SLIDE TO WAR 1918–1939

Norwegian

Sea

North

Sea

G E

R M

A N Y

F R A N C E Y

U

G

O

S

L

A

V

IA

ROMANIA

T U

R

K

E Y

POLAN

D

Me

dit

err

an

ea

n

Se

a

Bl

ac

k^

S

ea

Balt

ic^ S

ea

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

U

S

S R

S P

A

I

N

P

O

R

T

U

G

AL

UNITED

KINGDOM

IRELAND

NETHERLANDS

FINLAND

NORWAY

SWEDEN

HUNGARY

ALBANIA

AUSTRIA

BOHEMIA

& MORAVIA

GREECE

BULGARIA

SLOVAKIA

LITHUANIA

LATVIA

ESTONIA

I

T

A

L

Y

SWITZERLAND

BELGIUM

DENMARK

LUXEMBOURG

EAST

PRUSSIA

BE

SS

A

R

A

B

IA

Madrid

Stockholm

Tallinn

Riga

Helsinki

Leningrad

Glasgow

Warsaw

Krakow

Bratislava

Budapest

Belgrade

Sofia

Athens

Palermo

Barcelona

Marseille

Bucharest

Vienna

Nuremberg

Amsterdam

Munich

Zurich

London

Dublin

Belfast

Rome

Berlin

Memel

Danzig

Oslo

Copenhagen

Paris

Milan

The threat to world peace intensified through the 1930s as Germany Wilno

and Italy expanded their imperial possessions in Europe, while to

the east Japan entered into conflict with China (see pp.26–27). In

response, the two major democracies in Europe—Britain and

France—abandoned their policy of appeasing Hitler and Mussolini

and moved to deterrence instead. On March 31, 1939, they made

a guarantee to Poland that the western powers would come to its

aid if the country was attacked, and extended similar assurances to

Romania, Greece, and Turkey after the Italian annexation of Albania.

With the emergence of the two rival power blocs, several

European nations grouped together to proclaim their neutrality, but

such diplomatic alliances were nothing next to the announcement in

August 1939 that the two ideological foes of Europe—Nazi Germany

and the Communist USSR—had agreed a mutual nonaggression

pact. Its secret clauses redrew the map of central and Eastern Europe

and absorbed previously independent states into their two spheres of

influence. With the safeguard of nonaggression, Hitler’s Germany

had now cleared the way for a successful invasion of Poland.

COUNTDOWN

IN EUROPE

In a frenzy of diplomatic activity before the war, nations

formed alliances, offered guarantees, and—if not

wishing to fight—proclaimed neutrality. The final piece

of the jigsaw—the Nazi–Soviet Nonaggression Pact—

was the most surprising diplomatic coup of the century.

“In war, whichever side may call itself the

victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.”

NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, 1938

JOSEPH STALIN 1879–1953

Born in Gori, Georgia, Josef

Djugashvili was educated in a

seminary but expelled for holding

revolutionary views. Twice exiled

by the Czarist government to

Siberia, and from 1912 known

as Stalin, or “Man of Steel,” he

helped Lenin during the October

Revolution of 1917, becoming

Commissar for Nationalities in the

Bolshevik government. In 1922 he

became General Secretary of the

Party and used this to build his own

power base. By the late 1920s he

had established a dictatorship that

lasted until his death in 1953.

1

2

3

4

5

TIMELINE

1936 1937 1938 1939 1941

A DIVIDED EUROPE

The rise of Nazi Germany and its alliance with Italy divided Europe into

two camps. One group of nations attempted to remain neutral, while the

USSR reached a surprising understanding with Nazi Germany.

1940

European Axis powers, May 1939

THE AXIS POWERS 1936–1940

On November 1, 1936, after the signing of a new

set of protocols with Germany, the Italian dictator

Benito Mussolini proclaimed the establishment of a

Rome–Berlin “Axis.” Italy and Germany formalized

their alliance in the Pact of Steel on May 22, 1939.

Meanwhile, Germany and Japan had signed the

Anti-Comintern Pact against the USSR on

November 25, 1936, which Italy joined in 1937. The

ties between Japan, Germany, and Italy, who came

to be called the “Axis powers,” were strengthened

by the Tripartite Pact of September 27, 1940.

1

Signatories of Copenhagen Declaration

COPENHAGEN DECLARATION

JULY 1938

In July 1938 Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the

Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, and the three

Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

signed a declaration in the Danish capital,

Copenhagen, stating that they would remain

neutral in any forthcoming European war. Most of

these states, except Belgium, had been neutral or

not yet independent in World War I, and wished

to avoid being drawn into a future conflict.

2

Allies and countries promised Allied assistance

THE END OF APPEASEMENT 1939

After Germany broke the Munich Agreement of

September 1938 (see pp.28–29) and occupied

western Czechoslovakia, Britain and France

offered guarantees to Poland (March 1939),

Romania and Greece (April 1939), and Turkey (May

1939) that they would defend them from attack.

With these guarantees in place, the German

invasion of Poland in September 1939 triggered

a declaration of war against Germany.

3

Jan 26, 1939

General Franco’s

Nationalist troops

capture Barcelona.

Apr 1, 1939

Franco declares

victory in Madrid,

ending the Spanish

Civil War.

Nov 1938 Strikes take place in

France amid tension between

Communists and the far right.

US_032-033_Countdown_to_War.indd 32 22/03/19 2:38 PM