Revolution, World Wars, and Depression h 223tory. Fascism in Italy under Benito Mussolini hoped to restore the lost glories of the state. In
Japan, competition among extreme nationalists led to the rise of military rule in the 1930s.
Military expansionist policies during the depression created the stage for war:
- In 1931, the Japanese invaded Manchuria. The goal was to create a buffer zone between
the Soviet Union and the Japanese and to make Manchuria’s coal and iron deposits
available to resource-poor Japan. - In 1935, Hitler began to rearm Germany.
- In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia.
- In 1936–1939, the Spanish Civil War brought into power the fascist regime of Fran-
cisco Franco. It served as a dress rehearsal for World War II, as Germany and Italy aided
Franco, while the Soviet Union sent supplies and advisers to his republican opponents.
Pablo Picasso expressed his view of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War in his painting
Guernica. - In 1937, the Japanese invaded China, whose opposition was a threat to their presence in
Manchuria. The event signaled the beginning of World War II in Asia. - In 1938, Hitler proclaimed Anschluss, or the unifi cation of Austria with Germany.
- In 1938, Hitler annexed the Sudetenland, the German-speaking Western portion of
Czechoslovakia. - In 1938, the Munich Conference followed a policy of appeasement, in which Great
Britain and France accepted Hitler’s pledge to not take any further territory. - In 1939, Hitler annexed all of Czechoslovakia.
- In 1939, Hitler signed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union.
- On September 1, 1939, Hitler attacked Poland, marking the beginning of World War
II in Europe.
The Opposing Sides
Two opposing sides arose, with the major powers including:
- The Axis Powers––Germany, Italy, and Japan.
- The Allied Powers––Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
The Course of War
World War II was fought in two theaters: the Pacifi c and the European, which included
the Middle East and Africa. In an effort to control the oil reserves of Southeast Asia, Japan
seized Indochina from France and attacked Malaysia and Burma. When the United States
imposed an embargo against Japan as a result of these actions, Japan retaliated by attack-
ing the U.S. fl eet anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. The Japanese
attack brought the United States and its greater industrial power into the war on the side
of the Allied powers.
The early years of the war showcased Axis strength. In 1941, the tide began to turn in
favor of the Allies when Hitler undertook an unsuccessful winter invasion of Russia and the
United States entered the war. When Hitler was forced to withdraw his forces from Russia
in 1942, Soviet armies began their advance through Eastern Europe and into Germany.
After deposing Mussolini, Allied forces pushed into France and met in Germany in April
- Hitler’s subsequent suicide was followed by Allied victory in Europe in May 1945.
After victory in Europe, the Soviet Union assisted in the Allied effort against Japan.
After the U.S. use of atomic bombs against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, ending World War II.
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