Asia. A Italy leader Benito Mussolini convinced his country they needed a strong leader and government so in 1919 he founded Italy’s Fascist Party. A communist Vladimir Lenin started to gather all of Russia’s weaker territory to form the SovietUnion Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler became dictator of Germany. In Asia, Japanese military leaders took control of a political system that had been weakened by economic stress. The new governments were to help and expand their empires. Germany, Italy, and Japan joined together to create the Axis Powers Americans wanted isolationism, and Congress passed laws to keep the United States out of war. President Roosevelt liked the idea of internationalism, but the public forced him to abandon the idea of taking action against aggressor nations. 11.2 Hitler set out to unite all the Germanspeaking regions of Europe, European leaders hoped to avoid war by following Hitler's demands. When Hitler's demands turned to lands in Poland leaders knew that appeasement had failed. A NaziSoviet pact strengthened Hitler's resolve, and on September 1 1939 Germany invaded Poland. September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany, and World War II was on and going. Unable to stand the German blitzkrieg, Poland fell to Hitler. As German forces went through Europe, countries fell into German control. When German troops went through the Maginot Lines. A evacuation at Dunkirk saved Allied troops. The Allies couldn’t save France from the German siege, and France soon gave up. Winston Churchill was unwilling to give up the fight, even when German bombers blasted London. 11.3 The Nazi persecution of Jews turned into the Holocaust. While Nazis persecuted anyone who opposed them, their hatred for Jews led them to force horrific antiJew policies like the Nuremberg Law. When the Nazis first took power, they…
