16.1 Lead up to WWII

Storms in Europe• Stalin’s type of Communism in Russia was

totalitarian: govt. totally controls citizens’ lives– He had appox. 8-13 million of his own citizens killed

when the didn’t cooperate

• Mussolini opposed Communism in Italy, he was a very charismatic (dynamic) leader.

Storms in Europe• Hitler also was very charismatic– convinced Germans that they needed to expand

Germany in to a larger, more powerful country

• As the Depression hit Germany, he was chosen as chancellor, then he took apart the democratic govt.– His Third Reich would be a Fascist dictatorship

Storms in Europe• Spain’s civil war in the late 1930s would be a

“dress rehearsal” for WWII– U.S. & Soviet Union helped the Spanish govt., Germany

& Italy helped the fascist rebel leader Franco– Franco & his fascist forces ended up winning,

Storms Across the Globe

• Mussolini’s Italian troops invaded Ethiopia, one of the few un-colonized countries in Africa

• Militarists (who believe in militarism) gained power in Japan– Japan invaded Manchuria (Northern China) in

1931

Storms Across the Globe• 1937 Japan committed the Massacre/Rape

of Nanking, then China’s capital– Approx. 250,000-300,000 people were killed,

mass rape and looting was common– China has been bitter towards Japan ever since

U.S. on the Sidelines

• U.S. held onto isolationism– even passed the Neutrality Acts to ban the sale

of weapons to countries currently in wars.