The video titled "La 2eme Guerre Mondiale en Couleur 01sur13 Le temps des dictatures" by Veridique vrai provides a detailed narration of the events leading to World War II, focusing on the rise of dictatorship in Germany and Italy, the socio-political landscape of Europe, and the international responses to aggression. The duration of the video is 51 minutes.
"In this chaos, a myth was born: that of a German army victorious on the battlefield, betrayed by those on the home front, the politicians."
"The aggression against Abyssinia revealed two things: first, the impotence of states incapable of guaranteeing peace for humanity; second, the lack of resolve of France and Great Britain."
The video "La 2eme Guerre Mondiale en Couleur 01sur13 Le temps des dictatures" serves as a foundational exploration of the factors leading to World War II, focusing on the rise of dictatorship, international politics, and the failures of the League of Nations. It effectively highlights the interconnectedness of economic conditions, ideological movements, and military aggressions that characterized the period leading up to the war. This analysis underscores the importance of understanding these historical dynamics to comprehend the complexities of global conflicts.
September 1, 1939, the German army invaded Poland in a swift and effective offensive. Twenty years earlier, the grandfathers of these now victorious men had known the humiliation of defeat. In November 1918, after four years of war, Emperor Wilhelm II had been forced to abdicate. His army had been defeated by the French, British, and American allies. His people were starving. In this chaos, a myth was born: that of a German army victorious on the battlefield, betrayed by those on the home front, the politicians. On November 11, 1918, at 11:00 a.m., the First World War ended. In the months that followed, Woodrow Wilson, then President of the United States, pledged to work towards the creation of a new world order. He persuaded most of the heads of state to join him in forming The League of Nations: The Treaty of Versailles officially establishes this international institution. From now on, conflicts must be resolved through dialogue. War is outlawed in Europe. Several peoples finally taste freedom. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, allies of defeated and dismembered Germany, sees eight new nations emerge: Austria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Germany itself is deprived of part of its territory. This dismemberment foreshadows future conflicts. In Czechoslovakia, significant German minorities already harbor a dream: the reunification of their land with the motherland. For the German population, ruin is added to the humiliation of defeat. The country must pay reparations to France and the United Kingdom. The bill is exorbitant: 6.5 billion pounds. The country is far from recovering; the wound will never heal. Not so soon. When he returned to the United States, Wilson understood that his dream was far from being realized. The American Congress refused to allow the country to join the League of Nations. An irony! America, frightened by the prospect of another conflict, isolated itself from the rest of the world. A doctrine was born: isolationism. The war profoundly altered the German political landscape. The military monarchy was swept away, and the country became a democracy. But the government of this so-called Bellemare Republic struggled to cope with the tensions shaking society. Street battles pitted the far right against the communists, who, inspired by the Russian example, attempted a revolution in 1923. Prices increased by several hundred percent in a few months. The currency was worth only the paper on which it was printed. Small savers watched helplessly as their savings vanished. Undoubtedly, this was the fertile ground in which a man would ignite protest against politicians deemed responsible for all the people's misfortunes. Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. He participated in the Great War, during which he distinguished himself, even receiving the Iron Cross. After his demobilization, he settled in Munich. His oratorical skills allowed him to take control of a small group, the National Socialist Party. In October 1923, Hitler and his men attempted to overthrow the Weimar Republic. It was too soon; the coup failed. Hitler was sentenced to nine months in prison. He used his confinement to write a book, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). This profession of faith condemns the Jews, considered the evil of the German nation. Hitler also demanded the return of the eastern territories. Upon his release from prison, Adolf Hitler had only one goal: to unite the Nazis within an implacable political machine. The man was cunning; he used the democratic system to consolidate his power. For five years, Germany healed its wounds, prosperity returned, and extremist parties of both the left and the right grew stronger. He only needs one opportunity to assert himself in the game of power. In October 1929, the American stock market collapses. The tsunami of economic depression sweeps the world. Six million Germans find themselves unemployed. In this chaos, extremist parties embody the hope and rage that distrusts Adolf Hitler. In 1931, the Nazi party has transformed into a mass movement. It has its own militias in brownshirts. These three million men, recruited in Hesse, take to the streets. In the 1932 elections, the Nazi party becomes the leading political force in the Reichstag. The German parliament, by refusing to join a coalition, makes it clear that it will paralyze the institutions. To break this deadlock, President Hindenburg appoints him Chancellor. It is January 1933. Hitler is head of government. A month later, the Reichstag burns. It is time to act. Hitler accuses the communists and demands full powers. The hunt for opponents began in August 1934. President Hindenburg gave Hitler a free hand. He seized power by force and became the sole leader of the country. He was the supreme leader, the Führer. He quickly consolidated his dictatorial power by focusing all the country's efforts on strengthening the German economy. For three years, he invested millions in public works. The construction of 7,500 kilometers of highways reduced some of the unemployment, but these grand projects barely concealed the main focus of the Führer's policy: rearmament. According to the Treaty of Versailles, the German army was supposed to number only 100,000 men and possess neither air force, nor armored vehicles, nor submarines. In 1935, Hitler emerged from the shadows. Europe learned that 300,000 Germans were under arms, and above all, the German air force, the Luftwaffe, had 2,500 aircraft—more than England or France. The decline in the German population was also evident. Unemployment made the Nazi party incredibly popular, supported by its people. Hitler could begin his strategy of reconquest in 1935. The League of Nations returned the Saarland, a border region with France, to him. A year later, he sent his troops to reoccupy the Rhineland, a demilitarized zone since the Treaty of Versailles. International opinion preferred to believe that Hitler was simply restoring his nation to the stature it possessed before the Great War. Moreover, neither France nor England protested. Berlin even hosted the 1936 Olympic Games. Many in Germany and elsewhere considered that the Führer was restoring German pride, which ultimately harmed no one. And yet, some signs already proved the contrary. In 1935, the so-called Nuremberg Laws forbade Jews from marrying Aryan women. They were also deprived of their citizenship. The storm of war was brewing. The imprints refuse to see the warning signs; it looks elsewhere. In Asia, another power will crush its neighbors. At the beginning of the 20th century, Japan was already a military power. In 1905, it defeated the Russians, and its troops fought alongside the Allies during the First World War. Japanese forces even seized the German port of Qingdao in China and several Pacific islands. At the end of the conflict, there was no doubt that Japan had established itself as a great power. It was on this basis that it logically joined the League of Nations. But the country is far from being a democracy. Traditional structures are well established. The emperor occupies the summit of Japanese society. The Japanese consider him a living god; he is their true guide. The archipelago is facing an increasingly pressing problem: its growing population. Raw materials must be sought outside its territory because Japan is poor in natural resources. The targets are quickly defined: Manchuria is an ideal prey, rich in fields of grain and... Mineral deposits Japanese troops are already stationed there, but the Japanese leaders have a big appetite and are eyeing Western possessions in the region: the three British colonies of Virginia, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, but also Indochina, ruled by the French, and the Dutch East Indies. However, they must be very careful not to offend the other superpower present in the Pacific: the United States. Despite appearances and an anti- imperialist policy, the United States dominates an unofficial empire in the Pacific Ocean. The Philippines, the island of Guam, and several other archipelagos are controlled by the American administration. There is no doubt that Japan dreams of eliminating this very troublesome rival, but America is not worried. Since the end of the Great War, the country is entertained; it dances. It is the golden age of jazz, and since the beginning of the 1920s, the nation has been working to exploit resources that then seemed inexhaustible. Economic growth seems to be... There's no end to fortunes being made in industry and on the New York Stock Exchange, so why worry? Japan's expansionist ambitions are far removed from American concerns. At the end of the First World War, the government even signed a fleet reduction treaty with France, the United Kingdom, and Japan. The Japanese didn't really implement it; their navy dominated the Pacific. At the slightest weakness, American possessions would become prey. It was in these circumstances that the Great Depression of 1929 struck. It devastated everything in its path. A quarter of the American population lost their jobs. Tens of thousands of unemployed found themselves with nothing. Entire families were thrown into the streets. America saw slums grow; it had neither the time nor the inclination to look beyond its borders. Japan's time had come. In 1931, Japanese troops present in Manchuria seized the capital, Mukden, and deployed throughout the rest of the country. A puppet state is born, the world is being played out, co-directed by a puppet, the last emperor of China, Pouilly, whom the Japanese have dragged out of hiding. In 1911, at its Geneva headquarters, the League of Nations faced its first major crisis. It was a test; Japan was condemned. But the response from the person concerned was clear: Japan could not accept the conclusions adopted by this assembly, and the Japanese representatives withdrew with their heads held high, leaving the League of Nations bewildered. It could do nothing to save Manchuria. Certainly, Japan was ostracized by the nations, but no matter, its leaders had other ambitions. Their voracity drove them towards other conquests, towards China. The invasion would not be complicated. The country descended into chaos. The government of the nationalist general Chiang Kai-shek confronted the communist rebellion led by Mao Zedong. It was civil war. In 1936, the Japanese signed a pact with Adolf Hitler. Germany pledged to intervene if The Soviet Union reacted militarily to the impending invasion of China in July 1937. The Japanese used an incident with Chinese soldiers as a pretext to invade the country. Initially taken by surprise, China rallied. The communists joined the Minh Tang coalition in a common front against the aggressor. Japan counterattacked by landing more and more troops. By the end of 1937, the north of the country and the entire coast were occupied. The Japanese army displayed extreme brutality. Cities were violently bombarded. Western powers evacuated commercial centers like the port of Shanghai. The city would be besieged for three months. [ Music] The consequences were terrible. The Japanese forces showed no mercy when cities fell into their hands. After the fall of Nanjing on December 17, 1937, six weeks of rape, orgies, and killings began in the Chinese capital. Japanese soldiers would massacre 300,000 civilians, regardless of sex or age , even attacked American and British warships sent to protect the evacuation of their citizens. The most serious incident occurred on December 1, 1937. The American ship, having broken down, was sunk by Japanese bombs. 50 men lost their lives in this attack. Despite this, the Western powers refused to intervene, and the League of Nations remained powerless. The new American president, Theodore Roosevelt, attempted to impose a naval blockade of Japan, but the British, fearing war, refused to approve this initiative. In desperation, Roosevelt offered Chiang Kai-shek $25 million to buy weapons . As the communist troops fought alongside the Kuomintang, the Soviet Union also pledged to provide assistance but ultimately limited itself to a few skirmishes along its own border with Manchuria. China was abandoned; it found itself alone facing the invader during In 1938, the Japanese occupied this canton and pushed the Chinese forces ever further west. The grand speeches of the League of Nations were in vain; none of the promises made in the name of peace were kept. The fires of war are spreading; they are now approaching Europe, which will be the next victim. In hindsight, one can smile at the swaggering antics of Benito Mussolini. The fascist dictator of Italy may appear as a sinister clown; in 1922, this was not the case. A few years earlier, like Germany, Italy had descended into anarchy. The country was torn apart by demonstrations and struggles between regions, and as in Germany, the authorities had proven utterly powerless to stem these phenomena. It was in this context that Benito Mussolini, a veteran of the Great War and a journalist by profession, intervened in political life by founding the Fascist Party in In 1922, Italy was completely paralyzed by a general strike. This was the opportunity Mussolini seized. He marched on Rome surrounded by his supporters, fearing a civil war. King Victor Emmanuel II asked him to form a government. Master of the country, he silenced all opposition and assumed absolute power. The Italian peninsula was now under his control. By 1928, his political position was firmly established. Parliament was made up of cowards, and all power was in the hands of the Fascist Grand Council. There, as Hitler would do a few years later, Mussolini took measures that made him popular. Public works programs provided jobs for the unemployed and profoundly altered the country's infrastructure. Corruption was fought, and the Mafia was more or less eliminated. The Italian army was considerably strengthened by acquiring a modern air force. In the Mediterranean, Mussolini launched an armada larger than the French and British fleets combined. When the Great Depression hit, Italy was at its peak, especially since Mussolini inspired other dictators. For Adolf Hitler, the fascist system was a model whose strength contrasted with the chronic weakness of democracies like France and Great Britain. But Mussolini wasn't content with being idolized by the masses; he dreamed of rebuilding the Roman Empire. He had already chosen the first stage of this great conquest: Abyssinia, present-day Ethiopia. Italy possessed colonies along its border in Eritrea and Somalia. In December 1934, Italian troops provoked a skirmish with the Abyssinian army. The incident took place at the Gadenne oasis in Abyssinian territory. Yet, after sending reinforcements to Eritrea and Somalia, Mussolini demanded... Reparations. The Emperor of Abyssinia, Haile Selassie, appeals to the League of Nations. This is the ultimate test, the unpredictable scenario: a small country is unjustly attacked by a great power, a member of the League of Nations. The ideal that presided over the creation of this institution demands a reaction, but nothing happens. The British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, offers his mediation to draft a peace treaty, which Mussolini disregards. At the end of October 1935, the Italian army crosses the borders of Eritrea and Somalia. What can the meager forces of Abyssinia do against a powerful, disciplined army equipped with tanks and artillery? The Italian aircraft control the airspace. They harass their adversaries and drop chemical bombs, despite the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, which had denounced their use as a crime against humanity. Six months later, Abyssinia fell to the Italians. Emperor Haile Selassie flew to London; his exile began in Geneva. The League of Nations attempted to impose economic sanctions, which had little effect. The aggression against Abyssinia revealed two things: first, the impotence of states incapable of guaranteeing peace for humanity; second, the lack of resolve of France and Great Britain, nations paralyzed by the fear of war. These two countries had paid a heavy price in the First World War, and their economies had not truly recovered. Both experienced significant social unrest; strikes and demonstrations followed one another well before the depression. Both countries were already suffering from unemployment. The management and control of their respective colonial empires constituted an additional burden, especially since, since 1919, they had to administer the territories confiscated from Germany and the Ottoman Empire. Finally, and this is undoubtedly the most important reason, France and The British were deeply scarred by the horrors of the Great War, and successive governments became obsessed with avoiding another armed conflict. Despite the trauma caused by the war, Great Britain had managed to modernize its conscript army. It even went so far as to transform it into a police force dispersed throughout the colonial empire. During the Great Depression, all attempts to modernize or reorganize the troops were abandoned. On the eve of another war, the country was considerably weakened economically and militarily. During the First World War, French losses had been greater than those of its allies. But distrust of the German neighbor justified keeping a large number of men in the army. Throughout the 1920s, the birth rate continued to decline. It became clear that the country would experience a serious population deficit. By the middle of the following decade, France could not compete with the vitality and sheer size of the German armies. From then on, the French thought of only one thing: self-defense. the m line A series of fortifications built in the 1930s embodies this banking mindset. A fortified trench faces the German border in Belgium. A similar line of defense theoretically takes over, but this new tactic betrays France's military weakness. The country is on the defensive; it declares itself barely capable of attacking Italy, and even then, it needs England's unconditional support. Donors know that in case of conflict, their fleet will not have an easy time in the Mediterranean. Mussolini's ships, Kadri, and the sector are also affected. When Italy subjugates Abyssinia, the two great powers look the other way, pretending to ignore the dangers looming over Europe. Not even afraid. The Great Depression of 1929 delivers the final blow. France and England are ravaged by the crisis. They are two diminished nations watching the new troops of the German army march by. This time, war seems to be knocking at their door, and it knocks all the harder. They fear that another dictator will come and violate democracy before their very eyes. Franco will bring the Spanish Republic to heel. 1936 Spain is torn apart by civil war. It will pit families, brothers, neighbors, communists against fascists, atheists against believers. In 1931, a left-wing government seized power, thus dethroning the old Spanish monarchy. The king was forced into exile. The republic was declared. In the February 1936 elections, to defeat the right-wing forces, the left-wing parties united in a Popular Front. The Front won by a narrow margin, but it did win. Its reform program remained modest, but general strikes and especially land confiscations for the benefit of poor peasants multiplied. The right feared the establishment of a communist power. Within the army, a bastion of conservatism and defender of the Catholic faith, some general officers considered military intervention. Among them was General Franco, a former chief of staff. In disgrace, exiled to the Canary Islands In July 1936, units of the Spanish army stationed in the Moroccan colonies mutinied. The following day, Franco took command of the rebellion and announced the birth of a nationalist movement determined to fight communism. Some regiments on the mainland mutinied in turn. The Popular Front reacted immediately, calling on Spaniards to volunteer to defend the Republic in danger. The war could begin, but Franco had to solve a major problem: how to land his troops, isolated in North Africa? How to cross the Strait of Gibraltar? He would find the solution by turning to one of the only people who could help him: Adolf Hitler. In less than a month, the Luftwaffe airlift allowed General Franco's elite troops to establish themselves in southern Spain. Hitler's transport planes landed and dropped off thousands of men and their equipment. The Republic held firm; it even had the advantage because The mutinies in Madrid and Barcelona were quickly crushed. The legitimate government controlled most of the country. Facing them, the Nationalists were confined to the southeast and northeast, but not for long. The situation changed radically when Hitler and Mussolini decided to provide the mutineers with support and resources. For the Führer, it was the perfect opportunity to test his tactics in a theater of operations. The grand maneuvers were his goals. He sent twelve thousand soldiers and his first Panzer tanks. The Luftwaffe deployed bombers and the new Condor Legion fighter planes. Mussolini dispatched a corps of 50,000 men, supposedly volunteers, and more than 700 combat aircraft to Spain. It was in vain that the Republic called for help from France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. Once again, Paris and London turned their attention away, fearing war. The two governments decided not to intervene. The With cynicism, Hitler and Mussolini approved this policy, but when their support for the Nationalist troops became evident, Joseph Stalin announced that he would help the Spanish Republic. The Soviet leader viewed the rise of fascism in Germany with suspicion. Hitler, moreover, made no secret of the fact that his crusade was partly directed against the communists. For Stalin, the Spanish front was a way to occupy the Germans and Italians while he himself strengthened his defenses. He sent 700 military advisors to Spain, accompanied by tanks and fighter planes. This assistance was providential but far less than that received by General Franco. In fact, the most important reinforcements would not come from any particular country, but from volunteers, almost all left-wing activists, who rushed to save the Republic. Thirty thousand Americans, British, French, and Germans enlisted in the International Brigades. But the Nationalists opened two fronts: the first headed towards Barcelona through the north; the second, commanded by Franco himself, was to reach Madrid from the south. At the end In 1936, the Spanish capital was practically surrounded, besieged on three sides. The fighting was intense, accompanied by atrocities, with civilians being the first victims. Republicans shot members of the Catholic clergy, while Nationalists executed anyone suspected of being a communist or supporting the Republic. Italian and German bombers pounded all targets, including civilian ones. Madrid was agonizing under the bombs and the Condor Legion's attack. In the small Basque town of Guernica, six thousand civilians died under Nazi bombs. Hitler successfully tested the principles of blitzkrieg. The area controlled by Republican forces shrank day by day. The courage of undertrained and underequipped men was not enough to stop General Franco's armies. What could a few rifles and artillery pieces do against the might of German and Italian weaponry? Madrid soon became the living symbol of the resistance of a small democracy attacked by a fascist dictator. The eyes of European democrats They turn towards the Spanish capital, determined not to succumb, but on the front, the Republican alliance fractures: on one side, Communists and Socialists sacrifice everything for military victory; on the other, the anarchists see in this conflict a means of launching a mass revolution to return the land to the people. The opposition between Communists and Anarchists reaches its peak in the spring of 1937. Militants from both sides clash in violent battles in the heart of Barcelona. These tragic events resonate as the death knell for the Republican cause. By the end of 1938, the Nationalists have confined their adversary to two small enclaves around Barcelona and Madrid. The capital still resists, but the International Brigades have withdrawn, while Franco prepares to deliver the fatal blow. More and more governments recognize him as the legitimate head of Spanish power. On the first day of spring 1939, the defenders of Madrid, exhausted by three long years of struggle, surrender. April 1st Franco officially ends the conflict The wounds of this fratricidal war may begin to heal, but in fact, they will never fully heal. Franco's victory over the Republic is only the prologue to another disaster. The cowardice of the great European democracies in strengthening the power of other dictatorships—Hitler and Mussolini— observed the weakness of France and Great Britain in Moscow. Stalin knows he will have to confront fascism. Is he ready? He is jubilant. He will be able to implement the aggressive strategy he outlined in his book Mein Kampf. Even before the Spanish Civil War ended, he launched troops to assault Europe. Since coming to power in January 1933, Adolf Hitler has never ceased to pursue the same expansionist policy. On February 3 of that same year, he declared to his generals that his ultimate goal was to Germanize the territories. From the east, since that date, the army had been preparing for a war of conquest. Despite the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, which forbade it from possessing tanks, Germany signed a secret treaty of collaboration with the Soviet Union in 1923. This allowed it to experiment with the latest technical and tactical innovations in weaponry. One of the two brilliant young officers, Heinz Guderian, read the strategy manuals written by British specialists such as Colonel John Fuller and Basile Artillery in the 1920s. Some were even able to observe the large-scale maneuvers carried out by British armored troops on Salisbury Plain. It was at this time that German strategists established a theory of the offensive based on the combination of artillery, armored vehicles, and infantry. This unit would be the spearhead of an attack, its firepower allowing it to penetrate deep into enemy lines. Hitler enthusiastically adopted this strategy, his new weapon, and would possess three armored divisions alongside the Panzers. He entrusted the reconstruction of the air force to a World War I ace, Hermann Göring. The Luftwaffe was rebuilt in utmost secrecy, as Germany was not supposed to be truly aware of the true nature of its air force's rebirth. The government relied on the mobilization of civilians; from then on, flying clubs trained future military personnel. In 1935, Adolf Hitler revealed the existence of the Luftwaffe. He also announced that his army numbered 300,000 men. Conscription was reinstated. Great Britain and France offered only weak protests against what constituted a blatant breach of the Treaty of Versailles. The two countries reluctantly began a slow process of rearmament. Until then, Hitler had remained cautious; he had been content to recapture the German contingents along the Rhine, in Sari and the Rhineland. But his appetite went far beyond that. He cast a hungry eye on his native Austria. As early as 1934, the Austrian Nazis had unsuccessfully attempted to seize the He wanted to unify their country with their large neighbors. While Austria and Germany are German-speaking, the two territories had always been independent. In February 1938, another Nazi plot and toys: the Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg sent a protest to Hitler. The Führer took the opportunity to denounce the mistreatment allegedly suffered by Austrian Nazis. They also demanded the annexation of Austria. Schultz League called for a referendum. Austrians must choose independence or unification. Fearing a result contrary to his will, he clearly did not let the ballot box speak. The day before the vote, his troops crossed the border. The surprise attack, supported by a sympathy movement orchestrated by the Austrian Nazis, transformed this annexation into a peaceful invasion. Without waiting, the Führer announced the incorporation of Austria into the Third Reich. A nation that had been completely sovereign until then had just been subjugated by force. More would be needed. To stir the major Western powers, an awkward silence followed the invasion during the summer of 1938. Hitler attacked his next prey: Czechoslovakia. A significant German-speaking minority occupied the northwest of the country in the Sudetenland region. In 1919, following the dismantling of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, these populations found themselves isolated within a new country, Czechoslovakia. By indiscriminately carving up Europe, the signatories of the Treaty of Versailles had left behind a veritable time bomb. Hitler had a free hand. They encouraged the inhabitants of the Sudetenland to demand their autonomy and threatened the Czech government with military intervention if this request was not granted. The Czech government had no other choice but to order mobilization. Its army was large and well-equipped, with an imposing system of fortifications along the border with Germany. Hitler changed his mind. Europe without The stench of war hung in the air in early September 1938. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain offered his mediation to achieve a peaceful solution. He met with Hitler twice. The Führer was certain that if he obtained the annexation of the Sudetenland, he would have no other territorial ambitions in Europe. The game of bluff began in Munich on September 29, 1938, under the benevolent gaze of a key witness, Benito Mussolini. France and Great Britain signed an agreement that was, in fact, a fool's bargain. The Sudetenland was handed over to the Third Reich. Hitler promised to stop there, but who believed him? Chamberlain believed him. Upon his return to London, barely off the plane, he brandished the peace agreement in the gusts of wind. On October 1, German troops occupied the Sudetenland and seized the Czech fortification line without a fight. Hitler could continue his policy of conquest. His new target: Poland. Once again The ineptitude of certain clauses of the Treaty of Versailles is at issue. A German-speaking minority is enclave within Polish territory. Hitler demands that the port of Dancing, a former Prussian possession, be annexed to the motherland. Poland refuses once again. Hitler hesitates; if his army is not quite ready, he must above all complete the work undertaken in Czechoslovakia. In this recently created country, he plays on the ethnic differences between Czechs and Slovaks. In March 1939, the Slovaks, settled in the east of the country, ask him for support to obtain their independence. Hitler summons the Czechoslovak Prime Minister, Emil Achates, to Berlin and orders him to place himself under the protection of the Reich. A few weeks later, the Wehrmacht enters the country without a fight. Most of the territory is annexed. Slovakia becomes a protectorate. This is the first time. Keatley Rose seized territories populated by non-German-speaking populations, but this invasion provoked no real reaction. France and Great Britain were content once again to offer only weak protests. At the end of March 1939, Hitler again demanded Poland's attachment to the German territory of the port of Dancing. This time, the French and British declared that any attack would constitute a cause of war, but Hitler did not hesitate. He had repeatedly observed the weakness and indecision of his adversaries and ignored all threats. In Russia, Joseph Stalin was worried about the Nazi expansion eastward. In April 1939, he proposed an alliance to France and Great Britain, but negotiations stalled, and Stalin had only one option left: to buy time by dealing directly with Hitler. On August 23, the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, the two mortal enemies, signed a non-aggression pact. In secret, the two powers sealed Poland's fate. Hitler and Stalin divided the spoils. The Russians seized Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. Hitler finally had a free hand. He put his troops in battle formation. The invasion of Poland was imminent. On August 31, 1939, the Wehrmacht finally gave the sum. The Führer had just made the decision that would plunge the world into war. e
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