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→Second Sino-Japanese War
[[CCP]] Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] sent a secret directive to his followers in 1944 which said:
[[CCP]] Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] sent a secret directive to his followers in 1944 which said:
:"The Sino-Japanese war affords our party an excellent opportunity for expansion . . . the first stage is a compromising stage . . . but in reality this will serve as camouflage for the… development of our party. The second [stage]. . . should be spent in laying the foundation of our party's political and military powers . . . until we can match and break the [[Kuomintang]]. The third is an offensive stage . . . in which our forces. . . isolate and disperse…and wrest the leadership from the hands of the Kuomintang."<ref>Documents on the Problem of the Chinese Communist Party (Chungking, 1944).</ref>
:"The Sino-Japanese war affords our party an excellent opportunity for expansion . . . the first stage is a compromising stage . . . but in reality this will serve as camouflage for the… development of our party. The second [stage]. . . should be spent in laying the foundation of our party's political and military powers . . . until we can match and break the [[Kuomintang]]. The third is an offensive stage . . . in which our forces. . . isolate and disperse…and wrest the leadership from the hands of the Kuomintang."<ref>Documents on the Problem of the Chinese Communist Party (Chungking, 1944).</ref>
==Causes: Europe==
The war began with the German invasion of [[Poland]] on the 1st September 1939. Two days later, [[Britain]] and [[France]] declared war on Germany in response. To understand how this came to pass, however, it is necessary to be familiar with the historical context.
===1920s===
The condition of Germany in the aftermath of [[World War I]] is considered to be a contributing factor to their subsequent expansionism. The [[Weimar Republic]] that was founded at the end of WWI was struggling from the beginning. One reason were the harsh terms of [[Versailles]] treaty. Although the terms of the treaty were never fully enforced, the psychological damage was immense, since they were perceived as a grave injustice. The republic was also struggling with the rejection by monarchists, who were still occupying important positions in the state. Many WWI veterans believed that the German forces in WWI were not defeated, but that the social democratic leaders, who founded the Weimar republic to thwart a communist revolution, surrendered to the Allies for political gains. It was known as the "stab-in-the-back myth", and was used to discredit the republic. [http://www.germannotes.com/hist_weimar_dolch.shtml] Although the Weimar Republic enjoyed a time of economic resurgence after the early years of hyper-inflation it failed to gain deep public support. The Weimar Republic was famously called a ''democracy without democrats''.
===1930s===
In the early 1930 Germany was in a permanent political and constitutional crisis, caused by rising unemployment during the [[Great Depression]]. Germany was hit harder than most other countries. The [[National Socialism|National Socialists]], known as the Hitler movement, promised to restore national pride and stature, by disbanding the [[Versailles Treaty]], and reverting the injustices imposed onto Germany on its international enemies. It was common to blame the "International Jewry" for the problems that were afflicting Germany. Part of this ideology was that Germany deserved to be larger, and that in order to survive, it would have to expand its "vital space" (''Lebensraum'') Eastwards, through political pressure and military conquest.
===Reoccupation of the Rhineland===
In 1936, the Germans reoccupied the [[Rhineland]]. This move was met with criticism, but little action was undertaken by France to oppose this move.
===Spanish Civil War===
{{Main|Spanish Civil War}}
At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, both [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Italy]] sent troops to support a Fascist government, which Hitler hoped
would later support him.
===The ''Anschluss''===
Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938 led to tensions between Germany and other nations, as the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany from doing so.
===Munich 1938===
:''Main article [[Munich conference]]''
The [[Locarno Pacts]] formed the background for the events of 1938 when Czechoslovakia was dismembered at Munich. When the guarantee of Locarno became due in 1936, Britain dishonored its agreement, the Rhineland was remilitarized and the way was open for Germany to move eastward. Poland protested vigorously at the refusal to guarantee her frontiers.<ref>[http://sandiego.indymedia.org/media/2006/10/119975.pdf ''Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time''], Carroll Quigley, Collier-Macmillan, 1966, pg. 293.ISBN 0-945001-10-X</ref>
At Munich, Hitler, British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]], [[Mussolini]] and French Premier [[Edouard Daladier]] carved up Czechoslovakia without consulting anyone, least of all the Czechs and Slovaks.<ref>''Tragedy and Hope'', Quigley, pg. 638.</ref> The outlawry of war was relatively meaningless without some sanctions that could compel the use of peaceful methods. Efforts in this direction were nullified by Britain.<ref>''Tragedy and Hope'', Quigley, pg. 296.</ref>
===Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact===
===Finnish War===
===Operation Barbarossa===
==Causes: Middle East==
==Causes: Middle East==