“War in Europe and Pacific.” by Addisyn Basham

Hitler marching troops into Austria

14995_32 — 2025-04-30 14:14:25 UTC

In 1938, German troops marched into neighboring Austria. During this time Hitler also announced the "Anschluss", or better known as the union of Germany and Austria. This added 6 million German speakers to greater Germany.

France and Great Britains appeasement

14995_32 — 2025-04-30 14:19:10 UTC

France and Great Britain decided to take a different approach than Germany, by creating an appeasement- a policy of making political compromises in order to avoid conflict. Neither of these countries had forgotten the horrors of World War I, so they decided to maintain peace at any price.

Germany invades France

14995_32 — 2025-04-30 14:31:56 UTC

In April 1940, the calm came to an explosive end when German forces invaded Denmark and Norway. They quickly conquered both nations and defeated British forces stationed in Norway. The defeat brought down Chamberlains government, and he was replaced as prime minister by British statesman Winston Churchill.

Chinas president Sun Yat-sen

14995_32 — 2025-04-30 14:36:49 UTC

In 1911, a group of revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen overthrew the ruling Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China. Sun was elected Chinas first president, but he struggled to maintain control of the country.

Battle of Britain

14995_32 — 2025-05-01 19:43:09 UTC

From June through October 1940, British and German forces fought the Battle of Britain. It was mainly an air war, as Britain's Royal Air Force and Germany's air force, clashed over the skies of Great Britain. While Germans attacks inflicted heavy damage on British cities, the RAF continued fighting back and eventually forced Germany's air force to retreat. Once Hitler realized he was unable to achieve victory he suspended further attacks on Britain and moved on.

The Purge

14995_32 — 2025-05-01 19:48:09 UTC

In 1927, Chiang ordered a purge of CCP members in Shanghai and other Chinese cities. Chiang's troops, known as the Kuomintang killed tens of thousands of communists. By 1931, the KMT had almost completely defeated Maos forces. Some 700,000 KMT troops encircled communist positions in southeast China, preventing supplies from entering their territory. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and peasants loyal to Mao were killed or died of starvation.

The Japanese warplanes sink

14995_32 — 2025-05-01 20:05:32 UTC

In December 1937, Japanese warplanes sank the U.S. gunboat Panay on Chinas Yangtze River, killing 3 Americans and wounding nearly 30. President Roosevelt condemned the attack, but Japan apologized and the two nations settled the matter peacefully. However, Japan continued to expand its empire. In 1938, Japanese forces annexed European colonies in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull warned that "Japan definitely contemplates securing domination over as many hundreds of millions of people as possible in eastern Asia" The United States responded by pulling back on trade.