Map A. - Expansion in Europe
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The mid-1930s was marked by a time when totalitarian leaders in Germany and Italy expanded their empires. Adolph Hitler dreamed of a third German empire. He annexed Austria in 1938 and then parts of Czechoslovakia in 1939. Benito Mussolini also dreamed of returning Italy back to the glory of the Roman empire and expanded into the Balkans occupying Albania. In addition to Albania, Mussolini also invaded Ethiopia.
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Map B. - Expansion in AsiaMap C - German and Italian Military Campaigns |
Much like Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy, Emperor Hirohito expanded the Japanese empire during the mid-1930s. Japan had limited amounts of nature resources and looked to expand their empire to support their growing industrialization. While Germany and Italy were expanding their empires in Europe, Japan moved into parts of China, Korea, and Manchuria.
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