CAUSES OF WWII
1939-1945
Treaty of Versailles
What is a treaty?
Germans are very resentful
about how they were treated by
the Treaty of Versailles.
Germany is hurt by the treaty because…
1. Germany had to take full blame for WWI.
2. Germany had to pay reparations to the
victorious countries.
3. Germany had to reduce their military.
4. Germany lost territory.
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was not something that
happened only in the United States.
The Great Depression caused the world’s
economy to collapse. This caused wide
spread unrest and despair.
Many people in foreign
countries will turn to
dictators to fix their
economic problems.
Dictators Rise to Power
Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini seize (take) power in their
country.
The dictators gained power by using the economic
struggles and unrest in their countries to their
advantage, making promises to rebuild their countries
and make them great again.
Germany and Italy formed the Axis Alliance in 1936.
Japan joins in 1940.
Joseph Stalin – Soviet Union
Adolf Hitler - Germany
Benito Mussolini - Italy
Hideki Tojo - Japan
Dictators Expand their
Territory
Tojo, Mussolini, and Hitler begin rearming
their country and invade nearby countries to
gain more power and resources.
1931 Tojo invades Manchuria and China in
1937.
1936 Mussolini invades Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
1938 Hitler invades Austria and then part of
Czechoslovakia.
Appeasement of Hitler
When Germany threatened to use military
force to take the Sudetenland (a region of
Czechoslovakia), British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain met with Hitler in
Munich, Germany.
The two leaders worked out a compromise
where Hitler promised to stop future
aggression if he was given the Sudetenland.
Prime Minister Chamberlain gave in to Hitler’s
threat of violence by giving him what he
wanted (appeasement).
Munich Agreement
Signing at the Munich
Agreement
Prime
Minister
Chamberlain
Adolf Hitler
Benito
Mussolini
Hitler invades Poland
On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded
Poland.
This was a direct violation of the Munich
Agreement and as a result, France and Great
Britain declare war on Germany and WWII
officially begins.
The U.S. enters the War
Japan needed raw materials from other Asian
countries as well as natural resources, especially
oil.
The United States Navy in the Pacific was the only
obstacle in their way. The Japanese leadership
decided to attack the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941.
The following day the United
States declared war on Japan,
officially brining the United States
into WWII.
USS West Virginia