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Europe Moves Towards War
Objectives
134. Identify the nations aligned in the Axis Powers.
135. Describe the results of the Munich Conference in 1938.
136. Describe the appeasement strategy of dealing with Germany.
137. Explain the nonaggression pact between Germany and the
Soviet Union.
138. Identify the event that sparked the Second World War.
139. Identify nations that were part of the Allied Powers.
German Expansion: 19361939
After taking the office of
chancellor, Hitler quickly
moved to occupy several
regions between 1936 and
1939, including:
• The Rhineland
•Austria
•The Sudetenland
Objective 134: Identify the nations aligned in the
Axis Powers.

In 1936, Italy and
Germany formed the Axis
Powers. They were later
joined by Japan.
Objective 135: Describe the results of the Munich
Conference in 1938.
September 1938
In an attempt to solve conflicts peacefully, Hitler
and Mussolini met with Neville Chamberlain and
Edouard Daladier to discuss the Sudetenland.
These four leaders met in Munich, Germany.
•To avoid a large scale military conflict, Chamberlain
and Daladier allowed Germany to occupy the
Sudetenland.
Hitler had only reluctantly agreed to the Munich Conference, and he regarded the agreement
signed there as a setback. His goal was war, not compromise. His negotiating partners,
however, hoped to prevent a European conflict through a policy of appeasement. The
photograph shows (front, from left to right) the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain,
French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini, and Italian Foreign Minister
Galeazzo Ciano.
Objective 136. Describe the appeasement strategy of
dealing with Germany.

Chamberlain and Daladier adopted the policy of
appeasement - giving into Hitler’s demands to avoid a
larger conflict.

However, while this plan was
praised as a solution that did not
result in warfare, a precedent was
set: by British and French leaders
appeasing the Axis leaders, they
encouraged Hitler to expand
further...after all, who would oppose
him?
Objective 137. Explain the nonaggression pact between
Germany and the Soviet Union.
As Germany became an increasing threat to Europe, Great Britain
and France vowed to declare war if Germany moved to occupy
Poland. The sought support from the U.S.S.R.
However, what these nations didn’t know was that
the Soviet Union had signed a nonaggression
pact with Germany. In this pact:
•Germany and the U.S.S.R. agreed not to attack
one another.
•The two nations agreed to divide Poland
between them.
Objective 138: Identify the event that sparked the Second World
War.

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.

Two days later, Britain and France lived up to their
words by declaring war on Germany.
Objective 139: Identify nations that were part of the Allied Powers.

Britain and France joined together as the Allied
Powers to fight Germany.

Unlike in World War I, the Soviet Union (Russia)
was not part of the Allied Powers. As we’ve seen
through the nonaggression pact they signed, the
Soviets were concerned with their own welfare.
Objective 139: Identify nations that were part of the Allied Powers.
As Germany invaded Poland in the east, the
Soviet Union invaded Poland in the west,
taking Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania along
the way, followed by an invasion of Finland.
Europe,
19391940