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On September 1,1939, Hitler sent the German Army across the German border into Poland. Two days after the German attack, Britain and France declared war on Germany. World War 2 began. The French and British were on one side of the French-German border, behind a series of fortifications known as Maginot Line, and the Germans settled on the other side.

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In June 1940, German forces seized Paris. The French signed an armistice that divided France into two regions, one under German occupation and one under French authority. Despite the German victory, some of the French decided to fight on. In autumn of 1940, a number of French colonies in Africa declared their loyalty to de Gaulle, but they were a small force compared to the German Army. The French did what they could to frustrate the Nazis as the war went on.

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Power passed to Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang soon faced an armed resistance from the growing Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong. In 1927, fearful of the CCP's increasing power, Chiang ordered a purge of CCP members in Shanghai and other Chinese cities. Chiangs troops, known as Kuomintang, or KMT, killed tens of thousands of communists. By 1931 the KMT had almost completely defeated Mao's forces. Hundreds and thousands of soldiers and peasants loyal to Mao were killed or died of starvation.

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In 1937, Japan renewed its attack on China. Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Saito defended the assault as an attempt to bring social and political order to the region. Six months later, Japanese forces controlled all of northern China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and the Chinese capitol of Nanjing. Japanese forces committed horrific war crimes, actions that violate accepted international rules of war, when they killed as many as 300,000 Chinese civilians.

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Across the Atlantic Ocean, Americans watched the onset of World War 2 with interest and alarm. Isolationists continued to argue that the country should stay out of the conflict. Interventionists insisted the United States must enter the fight to halt Hitlers march of conquest. President Roosevelt, felt that the Unites States should more to help Britain. He pressed lawmakers to amend the Neutrality Act to lift the ban on arms sales and allow the US to provide weapons to the nations threatened by Germany.

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In December 1937, Japanese warplanes sank the US gunboat Panay on Chinas Yangtze River, killing 3 Americans and wounding nearly 30. President Roosevelt condemned the attack, but Japan apologized and the nations settled the matter peacefully. The US responded to the Japans continued conquests by pulling back on trade.

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From June through October 1940, British and German forces fought the Battle of Britain. It was primarily an air war, as Britains Royal Air Force (RAF) and Germanys airforce, the Luftwaffe clashed over the skies of Great Britain. While German attacks inflicted heavy damage of British cities, the RAF continued fighting back and eventually forced Germanys air force to retreat