Battleship

Description: In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming bolder. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria, again provoking little response from other European powers.Encouraged, Hitler began making claims on the Sudetenland; France and Britain conceded these for a promise of no further territorial demands. Germany soon reneged. In March 1939 Germany and Hungary... ( +expand to view full text )

Description: In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming bolder. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria, again provoking little response from other European powers.Encouraged, Hitler began making claims on the Sudetenland; France and Britain conceded these for a promise of no further territorial demands. Germany soon reneged. In March 1939 Germany and Hungary fully occupied Czechoslovakia. Alarmed, and with Hitler making further demands on Danzig, France and Britain guaranteed their support for Polish independence; when Italy conquered Albania in April, the same guarantee was extended to Romania and Greece. Shortly after the Franco-British pledges to Poland, Germany and Italy formalized their own alliance with the Pact of Steel. The Soviet Union attempted to ally with France and Britain, but was rebuffed due to western suspicions about Soviet motives and capability. Since France and Britain were unwilling to create a formal military alliance with the USSR and apprehensive of a possible war with Hitler while the Western powers remained neutral or tacitly favorable to Hitler,the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, named after the foreign secretaries of the two countries, on August 23, with Germany, including a secret agreement to split Poland and Eastern Europe between them.