Italian Expansion Before WWII

• Expansionist policies of Italy, Germany, and Japan were major factors leading up to WWII
• The Spanish Civil War is also included because it acted as a testing ground for some WWII tactics and technologies.

Italian Expansion

• The Corfu Incident occurred in 1923 when Italy occupied Corfu after the murder of an Italian diplomat.
• Italy was eventually forced to withdraw by the League of Nations
• The Corfu Incident highlighted Mussolini's willingness to test international responses.
• The Wal-Wal Incident happened in 1934, involving a clash between Italian and Ethiopian troops.
• It was used by Italy as a pretext to invade Abyssinia.
• In 1935, Britain, France, and Italy formed the Stresa Front to oppose German treaty violations.
• The Stresa Front was broken when Italy invaded Abyssinia.
• The Abyssinian Crisis (1935–36) involved Italy's invasion of Abyssinia, exposing the League's weakness
• Italian East Africa was an empire formed in 1936 by uniting Abyssinia, Eritrea, and Somaliland under Italian control.
• The Pact of Steel in 1939 was a military alliance between Italy and Germany.

German Expansion

• Lebensraum, meaning "living space," was the idea of acquiring territory in Eastern Europe for Germans
• Lebensraum was central to Nazi expansionist ideology.
• Hitler rebuilt Germany’s military, violating the Treaty of Versailles.
• In 1935, the Saar region voted to return to Germany (Saar Plebiscite)
• The Saar Plebiscite was a propaganda win for Hitler.
• German troops remilitarized the Rhineland in 1936, violating the Treaty of Versailles.
• Britain and France did not respond.
• The Anschluss in 1938 was the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany.
• During the Sudetenland Crisis, Hitler demanded the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, leading to the Munich Conference.
• At the Munich Conference in 1938, Britain and France allowed Hitler to take the Sudetenland, an example of appeasement.
• The Rome-Berlin Axis in 1936 was an informal alliance between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.
• The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in 1939 was an agreement not to attack each other
• The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact included a secret agreement to divide Poland between the USSR and Germany.
• The Polish Crisis in 1939 was triggered by Germany's invasion of Poland, starting WWII.

Spanish Civil War

• The Spanish Civil War was caused by political polarization, land reform conflict, Church vs state issues, and a military rebellion.
• Francisco Franco led the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War and later became the dictator of Spain.
• The Republicans were a left-wing coalition including socialists, anarchists, and communists.
• Blitzkrieg, meaning “lightning war,” is a tactic using fast, overwhelming attacks.
• Blitzkrieg was tested during the Spanish Civil War and used in WWII.
• Guernica, a Spanish town, was bombed by the German Luftwaffe in 1937 to support Franco, symbolizing civilian suffering.
• The International Brigades were volunteers from around the world who fought for the Republicans.

Japanese Expansion

• The Meiji Constitution in 1889 set up an authoritarian Japanese government under the emperor, which formed the basis for later military expansion.
• The Special Mission ideology was a belief that Japan had a divine right to lead Asia and liberate it from Western colonialism.
• Ultranationalism is extreme nationalism including racial superiority and imperial ambitions, and drove Japan’s militarism.
• Shidehara Diplomacy was a 1920s policy of peaceful internationalism that was rejected by militarists after 1931.
• Zaibatsu were powerful Japanese business conglomerates that supported and profited from imperial expansion.
• The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) resulted in Japan defeating China and gaining Taiwan, a early example of expansion.
• The Kwantung Army was the Japanese army in Manchuria that acted independently to invade the region in 1931.
• Manchukuo was a puppet state set up by Japan in Manchuria.
• The Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937 was a conflict between Chinese and Japanese troops that led to full-scale war.
• The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) was a brutal conflict between China and Japan, part of Japan’s expansion.
• The Nanjing Massacre in 1937 involved atrocities committed by Japanese troops in Nanjing, with mass killings and rape.
• The Tripartite Pact in 1940 was an alliance between Japan, Germany, and Italy.
• The U.S. cut oil exports to Japan (Oil Embargo) in 1941 to punish aggression in Asia.
• The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was when Japan attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet, leading to U.S. entry into WWII.