Significant Events That Led To World War II

World War I ended approximately 20 years before the beginning of World War II; how could another worldwide military conflict occur again after just two decades of peace? WWII was not only confined just to Europe but expanded throughout Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Arabia, and the Mediterranean, making it the most destructive and deadest war the world had ever seen.

These are the events that lead to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the start of the War in the Pacific during WWII.

As the Communist Party became more popular and influential, the government leaders and the public turned to the National Socialist Party to counter the communist from taking control of Germany. On Jan 19, 1933, the top German government officials appointed Hitler as Chancellor, assuming he could be controlled and reasoned with.

When President Hindenburg died, Hitler took the reign of power and combined the President and Chancellor’s positions into one, thus becoming the absolute ruler of Germany with the new title of Fuhrer. At this time of his career, he had a public approval rating of 90 percent.

In 1935, President Franklin D Roosevelt signed a Neutrality Act to assure the public that America would not get involved in another European conflict. Unfortunately, Hitler saw this as a green light and took this into his consideration in his military desire to attack Germany’s bordering nations.

On Oct 3, 1935, Benito Mussolini sent his Italian troops to invade Ethiopia in Africa, ignoring the United Nations’ demands. This demonstrated to the world that the League of Nations was not an organization with any military force that could even stop a small nation from invading another.

On March 7, 1936, Hitler took over the Rhineland, which, after WWI, was designated a demilitarized zone by the Allies. This was a direct violation of the treaty, and the League of Nations, France, and the United Kingdom did nothing to stop Hitler from making the Rhineland part of Germany again.

On Oct 1, 1938, Hitler seized bordering Austria and made it part of Germany. Hitler’s march into Austria was met with welcome parades and only reinforced Hitler’s desire to conquer more of Germany’s neighboring countries.

Hitler’s thirst for more territory continued, and on March 15, 1939, German troops invaded Czechoslovakia, breaking another written treaty with the United Kingdom.

Germany and Japan soon realized that the League of Nations had no real power. They could not enforce treaties or organize a military force to stop larger countries from invading weaker nations.

Hitler and Stalin created a non-aggression pact on August 14, 1939. Hitler wanted Poland and needed this agreement so Russia and England wouldn’t become allies against Germany.

On Sept 1, 1939, Germany overwhelmed Poland’s defenses. England and France declared war on Germany, but Poland fell within weeks of being invaded.

Japan was a valuable ally of the Allied Forces during WWI, receiving Saipan and Tinian from Germany at the war’s end. In the 1920s, its industries desperately needed abundant natural resources to sustain their growth and desire for wealth. With the beginning of the Great Depression, the country moved to a fascist style of government, and its military exerted growing influence over government policies, politicians, and their Emperor.

The military focused on producing arms and weapons to keep Japan’s economy growing, with much of the raw material coming from the United States. Rather than continue this dependence on any foreign country, the military sought resource-rich nations to expand its empire beyond its past conquests of Korea and Formosa.

On Sept 18, 1931, Japan staged an incident at the Japanese-owned South Manchuria Railway Company in which they blamed the Chinese garrison for blowing up the railway. Soon after this incident, Japan sent a massive army into Manchuria.

The League of Nations condemned Japan for invading Manchuria but could not force Japan out. A few months later, Japan formed a new country called Manchukuo and placed the last Emperor of China, Puyi as its puppet leader. Next, Japan invaded the adjacent province of Jehol and added it to Manchukuo.

The Imperial Japan Navy assassinated Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi due to his efforts to try and curb military power in Japanese politics. The country’s rule was given to Admiral Makato, ending the civilian government in Japan.

On Nov 25, 1936, Japan, Germany, and Italy signed a treaty, forming the Axis Powers.

On July 7, 1937, Japan invaded China and soon occupied Shanghai, Nanking, and the southern Shanxi province. The Chinese government and Communist Party came to an uneasy truce, so they stopped fighting and concentrated on fighting the Japanese invasion. By 1940, the war had become a stalemate, in which the Japanese controlled most of the coastline, and the Chinese fighters controlled the interior of the country,

With the German conquest of France, the Japanese saw an opportunity to take over French Indonesia (now known as Vietnam). On Set 22, 1940, Japan occupied French Indonesia and added it to the empire.

During the summer and fall of 1941, the United States supplied advanced fighter planes to a volunteer force of US pilots called the “Flying Tigers.” Defending the skies of China, they shot down over 300 Japanese aircraft while losing only 12.

In August of 1941, the US, Britain, and Netherlands East Indies instituted an oil and steel embargo on Japan unless they left China. However, Japan’s military leaders had no intentions of giving up the territory they conquered in China.

Japan relied on 80 percent of its oil from the US and needed steel to continue its weapon and fleet expansion. They knew if they invaded Netherlands East Indie, it would trigger a war with the US. Thus, the Imperial Japan Navy began planning a secret attack on Pearl Harbor.

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, President Franklin D Roosevelt read a declaration of war against Japan on Dec 8th to Congress and its citizens across the US. A few days later, Hitler declared war on the United States, and now the US was facing battles in the Atlantic, Europe, Mediterranean Ocean, Africa, Pacific, and Asia.