WWII Provocations
- In 1933, Hitler´s National Socialist Party (Nazi) ascended into power and ruthlessly consolidated its control of the state. Hitler then began a massive armament campaign that put millions of Germans to work on public works projects and in factories. The depression was over by 1936. Later on, Hitler challenged the treaty of Versailles by invading the industrialized Rhineland in 1936 and annexing German speaking Poland in 1938. He blamed Germany´s plight on the Jews and created its base of his antisemitic crusade.
- A similar program of reform emerged in Italy under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini. Mussolini invaded and conquered Ethiopia in 1935 and Albania in 1939. Mussolini was the leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until he was ousted in 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy and set up a legal dictatorship. Known as Il Duce ("the leader"), Mussolini was the founder of fascism. Mussolini remained in power until he was deposed by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1943. A few months later, he became the leader of the Italian Social Republic, a German client regime in northern Italy; he held this post until his death in 1945.
- Japan invaded Manchuria in 1933 and later, after warnings from the league of nations, Japan invaded Shanghai in 1933. In 1937, Japan launched a full scale invasion of China, occupying most cities along the Chinese coast. Emperor Hirohito sought to create a region entirely dominated by Japan and Japanese business interests, and he saw China as his main competitor.
- To America´s East, in Europe, the continent was on the verge of a full-scale war as aggressors placed their paws in position to attack. To America´s West, in Asia, the two major powers there were locked in a bloody military statement.