Germany
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, after the First World War in hopes of preventing future wars and aggression. In reality, however, the treaty only made the losers of WWI angry and became a major cause of WWII. Germany had lost a lot of their land and was forced to pay a lot of money to the Allies. As a result, Germany was hit especially hard during the Depression in 1929 and wanted to take back its land and regain lost pride.
National Socialism, also known as Nazism, was founded in 1920 and led by Adolf Hitler. By 1933, the party had gained control of the German state and established a dictatorship. Hitler blamed all of Germany’s problems on the Versailles Treaty, as well as other races (specifically the Jews).
The Treaty of Versailles also created the League of Nations to keep peace and prevent war. The United States decided not to join, so Great Britain and France were the two major countries involved. They were unwilling to fight foreign wars because of their losses in WWI. This gave aggressors like Italy, Japan, and Germany the chance to expand their territory in the late 1920’s and 1930’s. Hitler watched as Japan attacked Manchuria and the League of Nations did nothing to stop them. He also watched as Italy invaded Ethiopia, and once again, the League sat aside. So Hitler became convinced that the League would do nothing to stop him either.
Adolf Hitler
In 1935, Hitler began to rebuild the German army. A year later, that army crossed the Rhineland, imitating the actions of aggressors such as Italy and Japan. By the end of 1938, Austria had been taken by Germany and Hitler was demanding the Sudetenland (half of Czechoslovakia). Once again, Great Britain and France did nothing to stop German expansion, fearing another war. However, they did sign the Munich Agreement, making Hitler promise he would take no more land after the Sudetenland. In March of 1939, Hitler broke the agreement and took the rest of Czechoslovakia. Great Britain and France were shocked and knew they had to interfere if he took any more territory in Europe. They were forced to take action when Hitler decided to invade Poland, a nation that Great Britain had promised to defend. They declared war on Germany two days later.
Japan’s attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, brought the US into the war. In support of Germany’s fellow Axis Power, Hitler immediately declared war on the US.
In June of 1944, Allies invades German-held France and were able to retake Paris by August. A German counteroffensive almost succeeded in retaking Belgium, but was beaten back after heavy fighting with Allied reinforcements as what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. In April of 1945, Soviets conquered German capital after house-to-house fighting in Berlin. Hitler committed suicide on May 2, 1945, and five days later, German government issued unconditional surrender to Allied forces. Today, this is known as V-E Day, or Victory in Europe.
Karyn Borcherding