Aggression in Europe and Asia, 1930-1939

Japan Invades Munchuria

Sep 1, 1931

It was part of the second Sino-Japanese War. Invasion came after the Mukden Incident, a staged event by rogue Japanese military personsel.

Italy Attacks Ethiopia

Oct 1, 1935

Part of the second Italo-Ethiopian War. Exposed weaknesses in The League of Nations.

Germany Occupies Rhineland

Mar 1, 1936

Violated Treaty of Versailles by Hitler. Purpose to gain more territory.

Japan Invades China

Jul 1, 1937

Occupied Munchuria until end of WWI. After taking control they formed it into a puppet state called Munchukuo.

Germany Annexes Austria

Mar 1, 1938

German troops march into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich. Austrian Nazis conspired for the second time in four years to seize the Austrian government by force and unite their nation with Nazi Germany.

Germany Takes Sudetenland

Sep 1, 1938

The Sudetenland is the German name to refer to those northern, southwest, and western areas of Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by German speakers. Began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions.

Germany Seizes Czechoslovakia

Mar 1, 1939

Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact, which sealed the fate of Czechoslovakia. It handed Czechoslovakia over to Germany with peace.

Italy Conquers Albania

Apr 1, 1939

Result of the imperialist policies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Ruler, King Zog I, forced into exile and the country was made part of the Italian Empire.