It's 1937, two years before the begining of World War II, and three dictators are in power. Their goal is to take over the world.

• Benito Mussolini (Italy)

• Emperor Hirohito (Japan)

• Adolf Hitler (Germany)

Countries are beginning to take sides...

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Benito Mussolini

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Italy

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Emperor Hirohito

Japan​

Adolf Hitler

Germany

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THE AXIS

​Joseph Stalin

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The Soviet Union​

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​Winston Churchhill

​​Great Britain

Charles de Gaulle

France

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Franklin Delanor Roosevelt (FDR)

United States

THE ALLIES

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

Timeline of events:

• 1935: Mussolini (Italy) takes over Ethiopia.

• 1936: German armies began taking lands back that they had lost in World War I. Britain and France ask Hitler to stop, but they do not stop him.

• 1937: Japan invades China and controls much of the territory in the Pacific.

• 1938: Germany takes control of Austria.

• 1939: (September) Nazi forces move into Poland. Britain and France declare war on Germany- WORLD WAR II BEGINS.

Timeline of events continued:

• 1939: Germany invades smaller, more defenseless countries. By May, they have made it all the way to the English Channel. The Allies, Britain and France, try to keep them at bay, but the German army is too powerful.

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• 1940: (June) Germany invades and takes control of France. Paris falls in less than three weeks of fighting. At this time, Italy also declares war on the Allies.

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** The United States is not involved in the war just yet, but Britain and France are asking for our help, and we are thinking about going to war again.