A History of the World From the 20th to the 21st Century

feeble. He would be the leader, not they. From 1925 to 1928 there were two important devel- opments: a steady but slow growth of ...

won a comfortable majority in the Reichstag. The Nazis in July won 230 seats and 37 per cent of the vote, becoming the largest s ...

silenced and neutralised all opposition to estab- lish a totalitarian regime. The destruction of Weimar democracy, and the civic ...

line with another), a vague all-embracing aim was set out forcibly to subordinate all the activities of German society – governm ...

exempted from dismissal at Hindenburg’s request. Terror was exercised against specific opponents. Dachau was the first concentra ...

would be sure. If he failed on the economic front, he would be likely to fail all along the line. That is why Hitler was prepare ...

It is often said that the Second World War began in China in 1931. And that the global rise of fascism first blossomed into exte ...

reality. To the Western world he nevertheless embodied China; his ambassadors were accredited to other countries and represented ...

special rights and spheres of influence. The second proposition was more a moral hope than real politics. Nevertheless, these pr ...

collision course with Western possessions and economic interests in Asia. Against the European imperialist nations, Japan, thoug ...

of silk plunged in the US. The countryside became the breeding ground for militarism. A strident nationalism, a sort of super Ja ...

sive Japanese government in power ready to use military force in China to prevent northern China from falling under Chiang Kai-s ...

China could first be effectively united, and this became Chiang Kai-shek’s priority. He was there- fore glad of a truce, which t ...

the base he had recently set up in Yenan and smash the ‘bandits’, before turning to meet the Japanese aggression. He sent Zhang ...

adopting such a ruthless style of warfare within the range of Western cameramen. When the League of Nations met to consider Chin ...

emperor. The Japanese navy now played a leading part in putting down the insurrection. But it proved no victory for moderation. ...

In chess what matters is the result, the endgame. The opening moves and the middle play are all directed to achieving such a sup ...

Stresemann’s assumption that another European war with France and Britain would spell Ger- many’s ruin. A realistic objective, h ...

Nations while reassuring the electorate that there would be no extensive rearmament. After another electoral victory in 1935, al ...

bound Britain, France, Germany and Italy, in no more than platitudes of goodwill, to consult with each other within the framewor ...