– March 1936: Germany remilitarized Rhineland – 1936: Germany, Italy, Japan form anti-Comintern pact
Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939
• Germany and Italy supported Francisco Franco, Nationalists’ leader • West proclaimed non-intervention, but many leftists volunteered (won). • USSR supported Popular Front government (lost). • Seen as dress rehearsal for eastern war
German occupied Europe
German-Soviet War, 1941-45
• • • • Mein Kampf (My Struggle) Lebensraum (Living space) Slavs - “subhumans” Poor Soviet Army performance in “Winter war” with Finland • Possibility of Soviet attack • Hitler: “We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down!”
Outbreak of war, 1939
• March 1939: Germany occupied Czechoslovakia • May 1939: Stalin replaced Litvinov with V. Molotov • August 23, 1939: German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (10 years)
Appeasement and Aggression
• March 1938: Anschluss (“joining”) • Austrians warmly greeted Hitler • 1938-39: Appeasement: Neville Chamberlain • Sept. 1938: Munich Agreement • Britain, France, Italy, Germany signed. • Czechoslovakia and USSR not invited. • Stalin realized West powerless or worse.
Katyn massacre, April-May 1940
• 20,000 Polish officers killed, 4400 at Katyn. • Germans discovered graves 1943. • NKVD Lavrenti Beria’s idea • Stalin signed • Only recently admitted.
The Great Patriotic War, 1941-45
PRINCIPAL BELLIGERENTS:
• Axis powers:
Germany Italy Japan

• Allies:
Great Britain United States Soviet Union France China
• Narkom Foreign Affairs, 1930-38 • Jew, anti-Nazi, pro-West • Sept. 1934: USSR joined League of Nations • May 1935: France and USSR sign pact • USSR pledged to help Czechoslovakia, if France first.
• Germans quickly took France (occupied Paris on June 14, 1940) • June 22, 1940, at Rethondes (the scene of the signing of the Armistice of 1918) Franco-German Armistice was signed • Vichy France created: General HenriPhilippe Petain became head of state
Soviet Union’s expansion, 1939
Blitzkrieg: "Lightening War"
• • • • • Panzer Divisions Armored vehicles motorcycles Planes Concentrated attack
Blitzkrieg (cont.)
– Secret protocol divided EE
• Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland • Sept. 3, 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany
• Sept. 17, 1939: Soviet Union attacked Poland • Soviet Union imposed control over Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia • Nov. 1939-March 1940: Soviet-Finnish War or the Winter War
Soviet Foreign Policy, 1934-1938
• Comintern, 1919-1943 • 1933: USA recognized USSR
• W. Bullitt, US ambassador
• Collective Security, 1934-1937
– Maxim M. Litvinov (1876-1951)