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- The Great Depression in the United States led to a worldwide depression, and in the 1930s, Americans strongly favored isolationism. With the bitter memory of the first world war and the challenge of economic problems at home, they did not want the nation to become entangled in another war. For this reason, FDR took no direct action against aggressive dictators in Asia and Europe.
- American Isolationism
- In 1938, Hitler turned to Czechoslovakia. About three million German-speaking people lived in the western border regions where a large majority of the population was ethnically German. The Anschluss raised pro-Nazi feeling among Sudenten Germans. In September 1938, Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland be given to Germany. The Czechs refused and asked France for help. The Munich Conference was held on September 29, 1938. The Czechs were not invited. British prime minister Naville Chamberlain believed that he could preserve peace by giving into Hitler's demand. Britain and France agreed that Hitler could take the Sudetenland.
- Germany reclaims the Sudetenland (September 1938)
- Part of Hitler's plans for war involved Stalin, the communist leader of the Soviet Union. Hitler sought an agreement with Stalin to keep the Soviet Union neutral in the coming war. Hitler offered Stalin a nonaggression treaty, and Stalin accepted it. Britain and France asked he Soviet Union to join them in stopping Hitler's aggression. As Stalin talked with Britain and France, he also bargained with Hitler. The two dictators reached an agreement. On August 23, 1939, their leaders signed a nonaggression pact.
- The Nonaggression Pact/Nazi-Soviet Pact (August 1939)
- After the nonaggression pact with the Soviets was repealed, Hitler quickly moved ahead with plans to conquer Poland. His surprise attack took place at dawn on September 1, 1939. German tanks and troop trucks rumbled across the Polish border. At the time, German aircraft and artillery began a merciless bombing of Poland's capital, Warsaw. The German invasion of Poland was the first test of Germany's new military strategy - the blitzkrieg, or "lightning war" The blitzkrieg involved using air strikes, fast tanks, and artillery, followed by soldiers sped onto battle on trucks. France and Great Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, but Poland fell sometime before those nations could make any military response. After his victory, Hitler annexed the western half of Poland. That region had a large German population.
- Invasion of Poland and the Outbreak of World War II (September 1, 1939)
- On September 17, Stalin sent Soviet troops to occupy the eastern half of Poland. Stalin then moved to annex countries to the north of Poland. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia fell without struggle, but Finland resisted, In November, Stalin sent nearly one million Soviet troops into Finland. The Soviets expected to win a quick victory, so they were not prepared for winter fighting. This was a crucial mistake. The Finns were outnumbered and outgunned, but they fiercely defended their country. In the freezing winter whether, soldiers on skis swiftly attacked Soviets positions. In contrast, the Soviets struggled to make progress through the deep snow. The Soviets suffered heavy losses, but they finally won through sheer force of numbers. By March 1940, Stalin had forced the Finns to accept his surrender terms.
- Soviet Union Invades Eastern Poland, Baltic States, and Finland (September 1939 - March 1940)
- With the Balkans firmly in control, Hitler could move ahead with Operation Barbarossa, his plan to invade the Soviet Union. Early in the morning on June 1941,, the roar of German tanks and aircraft announce the beginning of the invasion . The invasion rolled on week after week until the Germans had pushed 500 miles inside the Soviet Union. As the Soviet troops retreated, they burned and destroyed everything in the enemy's path. The Russians had used this scorched-earth strategy against Napoleon. On September 8, German forces put Leningrad under siege. By early November, the city was completely cut off from the rest of the Soviet Union. Impatient with the progress in Leningrad, Hitler looked to Moscow, the capital and heart of the Soviet Union. A Nazi drive on the capital began on October 2, 1941. By December, the Germans had advanced to the outskirts of Moscow. Soviet General Georgi Zhukov counterattacked. German troops dug in about 125 miles west of Moscow. They help the line against the Soviets until March 1943. Hitler's advance on the Soviet union gained nothing but the cost of 500,000 German lives
- Hitler Invades the Soviet Union (June 22, 1941)
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