Key Idea: In the 1930s two dictators — Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy — pushed Europe toward war, driven by a violent belief in national greatness and by the money troubles of the Great Depression (the worldwide slump that began in 1929). Hitler tore up the punishing Treaty of Versailles slice by slice while Mussolini hunted for empire. Britain and France answered with appeasement (giving a dictator some of what he wants to avoid a fight), and when that finally failed, Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 began the Second World War in Europe.
🔥 3.2.1 — Why Germany and Italy expanded
Two aggressive movements took over two proud nations. Fascism seized Italy in 1922 under Mussolini, and Nazism (Hitler's racist version of fascism) took Germany in 1933 — both glorified war, hated communism, and believed their country deserved far more land than it had.
Historians sort the causes into two strands that feed each other: ideology set the goals, and economics set the pace. When the 1929 Depression wrecked both economies, building weapons and grabbing land became a way to create jobs and distract people from hardship.
- Ideology: Mussolini dreamed of a new Roman Empire and mare nostrum ('our sea' — Italian control of the Mediterranean); Hitler wanted Lebensraum ('living space' — land seized in the east).
- Versailles grievance: the 1919 treaty took German land, capped the army at 100,000 men and forced Germany to accept war-guilt. Overturning it was Hitler's central aim.
- The Great Depression (from 1929): mass unemployment — about 6 million Germans jobless by 1932 — pushed both states toward rearmament and autarky (self-sufficiency needing no imports).
- Opportunity: a weak, divided League of Nations (the post-WWI peace body) that failed to stop aggressors.
🍰 3.2.2 — Hitler dismantles Versailles (1933–1938)
Hitler broke the treaty a thin slice at a time — historians call these his salami tactics. Each move was kept small enough that Britain and France, desperate to avoid another war, chose not to fight.
The pattern repeated: push a little, see no reaction, then reach for a slightly bigger slice. By September 1938 Hitler had swallowed Austria and part of Czechoslovakia without firing a shot.
- 1933 — Hitler leaves the Disarmament Conference and the League, freeing his hands to rearm.
- 1935 — Germany announces rearmament and conscription; Britain then signs the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, breaking the treaty itself.
- March 1936 — troops re-enter the demilitarised Rhineland; France stays still, so Hitler's gamble pays off.
- 1936 — the Rome-Berlin Axis (with Italy) and Anti-Comintern Pact (with Japan) end Germany's isolation.
- 1938 — the Anschluss (banned union with Austria) in March, then the Munich Agreement hands Hitler the Sudetenland (German-speaking edge of Czechoslovakia) in September — the peak of appeasement.
🏛️ 3.2.3 — Mussolini's hunt for empire
Mussolini wanted empire, glory and a revival of ancient Rome. His invasion of Abyssinia (the old name for Ethiopia) in 1935 was the hinge of the whole story.
The League imposed only weak sanctions — it never banned oil and kept the Suez Canal open — so Italy easily won by 1936. This wrecked the League's credibility, drove Mussolini away from Britain and France, and pushed him toward Hitler.
- Abyssinia (1935–36) — conquered; weak sanctions destroyed the League's authority. This was the turning point.
- Spanish Civil War (1936–39) — Italy and Germany both helped Franco, fighting on the same side and drawing the dictators closer.
- Albania (April 1939) — annexed, giving Italy a foothold in the Balkans.
- Pact of Steel (May 1939) — a full military alliance binding Italy to Nazi Germany.
- June 1940 — Italy finally enters WWII, only once France was already collapsing, hoping to grab easy rewards.
💥 3.2.4 — The road to war, 1939
At Munich Hitler had promised the Sudetenland was his last demand. In March 1939 he broke that promise and seized the rest of Czechoslovakia (marching into Prague) — and because it was not German-speaking, his old excuse collapsed and appeasement died.
Britain and France guaranteed Poland. To avoid a two-front war, Hitler shocked the world with the Nazi-Soviet Pact (August 1939) — a non-aggression deal with Stalin whose secret protocol split Poland. With the USSR neutralised, he invaded.
- March 1939 — Hitler seizes the rest of Czechoslovakia (Prague); appeasement ends.
- March 1939 — Britain and France guarantee Poland's independence.
- August 1939 — the Nazi-Soviet Pact removes the two-front fear and secretly divides Poland (it was a pact, NOT an alliance).
- 1 September 1939 — Germany invades Poland.
- 3 September 1939 — Britain and France declare war. Keep these two dates apart.
🕊️ 3.2.5 — Two failed responses
The democracies tried two ways to keep the peace, and both failed. First came collective security — the League's founding idea that all members would confront an attacker together, first with words, then sanctions, and soldiers only as a last resort.
It collapsed because the big powers put their own interests first: nothing over Manchuria (1931), weak sanctions over Abyssinia (1935), and the shameful leaked Hoare-Laval Pact to hand Mussolini most of Abyssinia. So Britain switched to appeasement under Neville Chamberlain — bargaining directly with Hitler — which peaked at Munich (1938) and died at Prague (1939).
- Collective security = everyone acts together; it failed over Manchuria (1931) and Abyssinia (1935) and was finished as a believable policy by about 1936.
- Hoare-Laval Pact (1935) — a secret Anglo-French plan to give Mussolini most of Abyssinia; the leak ruined the League's good name.
- Appeasement = giving Hitler a few demands to keep the peace, driven by fear of another WWI, weak armies, money troubles and a feeling Versailles was too harsh.
- Munich (1938) was appeasement's high point; Prague (March 1939) exposed it as a failure.
- Historians still debate whether appeasement was a realistic policy buying time to rearm, or a cowardly blunder that rewarded aggression.
✍️ Exam-ready answers
This is a source paper on 'The move to global war'. You get a set of sources plus set questions: a short comprehension, an OPVL value/limitation question (usually 4 marks), a cross-reference/compare question (about 6 marks), and a final 9-mark judgement that blends the sources with your own knowledge. The golden rule for the 9-marker: state a verdict in sentence one, argue both sides, then return to your verdict — never just retell the story.
A source is an extract from a 1939 Hitler speech demanding the return of Danzig. With reference to its origin, purpose and content, assess the value and limitations of this source for a historian studying the causes of war.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Using the sources and your own knowledge, evaluate the extent to which appeasement was responsible for the failure to stop aggression in the 1930s.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
🎯 One-glance recall
Two strands drove expansion Ideology set the goals (national greatness, Versailles grievance, Lebensraum, a new Rome) and economics set the pace (the 1929 Depression, mass unemployment, autarky). The two feed each other.
Hitler's salami tactics, 1933–1938 Left the League (1933), rearmed (1935), remilitarised the Rhineland (March 1936), formed the Axis (1936), took Austria in the Anschluss (March 1938), and gained the Sudetenland at Munich (Sept 1938) — each slice too small to fight over.
Abyssinia was the hinge for Italy Mussolini's 1935–36 conquest of Abyssinia wrecked the League (weak sanctions, no oil ban, Suez open), split him from Britain and France, and drove him toward Hitler — Axis (1936), Pact of Steel (1939), war in June 1940.
1939: appeasement dies, war comes Prague (March 1939) ended appeasement; the Nazi-Soviet Pact (Aug 1939) removed the two-front fear and split Poland. Germany invaded Poland on 1 Sept; Britain and France declared war on 3 Sept 1939.