View source for Interwar period

{{Short description|1918–1939 period between the World Wars}}
{{Redirect|Between the wars|other subjects|Between the Wars (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2015}}
{{Missing information|the [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]] of Portugal established in 1933|date={{monthyear}}}}
{{Infobox historical era
| name      = Interwar period
| location  = Global
| start     = 1918
| end       = 1939
| image     = {{multiple image|border=infobox|perrow=1/2/2/1|total_width=300
| image1            = Treaty of Versailles Signing, Hall of Mirrors.jpg
| image2            = Crowds gathering outside New York Stock Exchange.jpg
| image3            = Japanese marines during the Battle of Shanghai, 1937.jpg
| image4            = Adolf Hitler in Brno, 1939.jpg
}}
| alt       = 
| caption   = {{resize|100%|'''From top to bottom and from left to right''': {{flatlist|
* Signing of the Treaty of Versailles (1919)
* Crowds gathering outside the [[New York Stock Exchange]] (1929)
* Japanese troops in Shanghai (1937)
* [[Adolf Hitler]] in [[Brno]] (1939)}}}}
| before    = [[World War I|First World War]]
| including = {{hlist|[[Roaring Twenties]]|[[Great Depression]]|[[Timeline of events preceding World War II|Building up to the Second World War]]}}
| after     = [[World War II|Second World War]]
| key_events = {{hlist|[[Revolutions of 1917–1923]]|[[Treaty of Versailles]]|[[March on Rome]]|[[Wall Street crash of 1929]]|[[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]]|[[Enabling Act of 1933|Enabling Act]]|[[Anti-Comintern Pact]]|[[Spanish Civil War]]|[[Second Sino-Japanese War]]|''[[Anschluss]]''|[[Munich Agreement]]|[[Pact of Steel]]|[[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]}}
}}
[[File:BlankMap-World-1921.png|alt=|thumb|296x296px|Global borders in 1920]]
In the [[history of the 20th century]], the '''interwar period''', also known as the '''interbellum''' ({{etymology|la|inter bellum|between the war[s]}}), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of [[World War I]] (WWI) to the beginning of [[World War II]] (WWII). It was relatively short, yet featured many social, political, military, and economic changes throughout the world. Petroleum-based energy production and associated mechanisation led to the prosperous [[Roaring Twenties]], a time of [[social mobility|social]] and [[economic mobility]] for the [[middle class]]. [[Automobile]]s, [[electric light]]ing, [[radio]], and more became common among populations in the [[developed world|first world]]. The era's indulgences were followed by the [[Great Depression]], an unprecedented worldwide economic downturn that severely damaged many of the world's largest economies.

Politically, the era coincided with the rise of [[communism]], starting in Russia with the [[October Revolution]] and [[Russian Civil War]], at the end of WWI, and ended with the rise of [[fascism]], particularly in Germany and Italy. China was in the midst of a half-century of instability and the [[Chinese Civil War]] between the [[Kuomintang]], the [[Chinese Communist Party]], and many warlords. The empires of [[British Empire|Britain]], [[French colonial empire|France]], and others faced challenges as [[imperialism]] was increasingly viewed negatively and independence movements emerged in many [[Colony|colonies]]; in Europe, after protracted low-level fighting [[Irish War of Independence|most of Ireland became independent.]]

The [[Russian Empire|Russian]], [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]], [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]], and [[German Empire]]s were dismantled, with the [[Partition of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman territories]] and [[German colonial empire|German colonies]] redistributed among the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], chiefly Britain and France. The western parts of the Russian Empire, [[Estonia]], [[Finland]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], and [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] became independent nations in their own right, and [[Bessarabia]] (now [[Moldova]] and parts of [[Ukraine]]) [[Union of Bessarabia with Romania|chose to reunify]] with [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]].

In Russia, the [[Bolsheviks]] managed to regain control of Belarus and Ukraine, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, forming the [[Soviet Union]]. In the [[Near East]], [[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Kingdom of Iraq|Iraq]] gained independence. During the [[Great Depression]], countries in [[Latin America]] nationalised many foreign companies (most of which belonged to the [[United States]]) in a bid to strengthen their own economies. The territorial ambitions of the Soviets,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/invasion-poland-september-1939|title=Invasion of Poland, September 1939|date=17 October 2023 |publisher=The National WWII Museum|quote="The result was the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 23 [1939]… the crucial part of the agreement… reshaped the map of Central Europe… Bessarabia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and eastern Poland would become part of Stalin's sphere of influence…"|access-date=2024-06-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240511014822/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/invasion-poland-september-1939|archive-date=2024-05-11}}</ref> Japanese, Italians, and Germans led to the expansion of their domains.

Militarily, the period would see a markedly rapid advance in technology which, alongside lessons learned from WWI, would catalyse new strategic and tactical innovations.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/military-aircraft/Interwar-developments | title=Military aircraft – Interwar, Developments, Technology &#124; Britannica | date=24 June 2024 }}</ref> While the period would largely see a continuation of the development of the technologies pioneered in WWI, debates emerged as to the most effective use of these advancements.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2018/2/28/interwar-airpower-grand-strategy-and-military-innovation-germany-vs-great-britain | title=Interwar Airpower, Grand Strategy, and Military Innovation: Germany vs. Great Britain | date=28 February 2018 }}</ref> On land, discussions focused on how [[armoured warfare|armoured]], [[mechanized infantry|mechanised]], and [[motorized infantry|motorised]] forces should be employed, particularly in-relation to the traditional branches of the [[infantry|regular infantry]], [[horse cavalry]], and [[artillery]].<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/military-innovation-in-the-interwar-period/armored-warfare-the-british-french-and-german-experiences/03DE45DCEB84DDD97B199F782B94A04C | doi=10.1017/CBO9780511601019.002 | chapter=Armored warfare: The British, French, and German experiences | title=Military Innovation in the Interwar Period | date=1996 | last1=Murray | first1=Williamson | pages=6–49 | isbn=978-0-521-55241-7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/33688/64634986-MIT.pdf?sequence=2|title=Innovation, Wargaming, and the Development of Armored Warfare|first=Daniel S.|last=Carter|date=June 2005|degree=M. Poli. Sci.|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}</ref> In the air, the question of allocating [[air forces]] to [[strategic bombing]] versus dedicating such forces to frontline [[close air support]] was the primary contention, with some arguing that [[interceptor aircraft|interceptor]] development was outpacing [[bombers]], and others maintaining that "[[the bomber will always get through]]." In the [[navy|naval]] sphere, the primary question was whether [[battleships]] would maintain their dominance of the seas or be rendered virtually obsolete by [[naval aviation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2019/december/incubate-innovation-aviation-lessons-interwar-period | title=Incubate Innovation: Aviation Lessons from the Interwar Period}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1998/february/innovation-interwar-years | title=Innovation for the Interwar Years}}</ref> 
The military deliberations and controversies characteristic of the interwar period would ultimately find resolution via the events of WWII,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/great-debate |title=The Great Debate }}</ref> which served as a foundation for many of the tenets, [[military doctrine|doctrines]], and strategies of [[modern warfare]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://today.usc.edu/impact-of-world-war-i-shaping-the-modern-world/ |title=How did WWI reshape the modern world? |date=9 November 2018 }}</ref> Overall, the innovations of WWI and the interwar period would see a shift away from traditional [[Line of battle|line-]] and [[front line|front-based warfare]] and towards a significantly more mobile, mechanised, and [[asymmetric warfare|asymmetric]] form of combat.

== Turmoil in Europe ==
{{Main|Aftermath of World War I}}{{Further|European interwar economy}}[[File:Europe in 1923.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Map of Europe in 1923]]
Following the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice of Compiègne]] on 11 November 1918 that ended World War I, the years 1918–1924 were marked by turmoil as the [[Russian Civil War]] continued to rage on, and [[Eastern Europe]] struggled to recover from the devastation of the First World War and the destabilising effects of not just the collapse of the [[Russian Empire]], but the destruction of the [[German Empire|German]], [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]], and [[Ottoman Empire]]s, as well. There were numerous new or restored countries in Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, some small in size, such as [[Lithuania]] and [[Latvia]], and some larger, such as [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] and the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes]]. The United States gained dominance in world finance. Thus, when Germany refused to pay further war reparations to Britain, France and other former members of the [[Entente Cordiale|Entente]], the Americans came up with the [[Dawes Plan]] and Wall Street invested heavily in Germany, which repaid its reparations to nations that, in turn, used the dollars to pay off their war debts to Washington. By the middle of the decade, prosperity was widespread, with the second half of the decade known as the [[Roaring Twenties]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Bärbel |last1=Schrader |first2=Jürgen |last2=Schebera |title=The "Golden" Twenties: Art and Literature in the Weimar Republic |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1988 |isbn=0-300-04144-6 }}</ref>

== International relations ==
{{Main|International relations (1919–1939)}}

The important stages of interwar diplomacy and international relations included resolutions of wartime issues, such as reparations owed by Germany and boundaries; American involvement in European finances and disarmament projects; the expectations and failures of the [[League of Nations]];<ref>{{cite book |first=Allan |last=Todd |title=The Modern World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vlw30T44PS0C&pg=PA58 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |pages=52–58 |isbn=0-19-913425-1 |access-date=19 May 2018 |archive-date=22 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122034250/https://books.google.com/books?id=vlw30T44PS0C&pg=PA58 |url-status=live }}</ref> the relationships of the new countries to the old; the distrustful relations of the [[Soviet Union]] to the capitalist world; peace and disarmament efforts; responses to the [[Great Depression]] starting in 1929; the collapse of world trade; the collapse of democratic regimes one by one; the growth of efforts at economic autarky; Japanese aggressiveness toward [[Republic of China|China]], occupying large amounts of Chinese land, as well as [[Soviet–Japanese border conflicts|border disputes between the Soviet Union and Japan]], leading to multiple clashes along the Soviet and Japanese occupied Manchurian border; fascist diplomacy, including the aggressive moves by Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany; the [[Spanish Civil War]]; Italy's [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War|invasion and occupation of Abyssinia (Ethiopia)]] in the [[Horn of Africa]]; the [[appeasement]] of Germany's expansionist moves against the German-speaking nation of [[Federal State of Austria|Austria]], the region inhabited by ethnic Germans called the [[Sudetenland]] in [[Czechoslovakia]], the [[Remilitarization of the Rhineland|remilitarisation of the League of Nations demilitarised zone of the German Rhineland]] region, and the last, desperate stages of rearmament as the Second World War increasingly loomed.<ref>{{cite book |first=Norman |last=Rich |title=Great Power Diplomacy Since 1914 |location=Boston |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=2003 |isbn=0-07-052266-9 |pages=70–248 }}</ref>

Disarmament was a very popular public policy. However, the [[League of Nations]] played little role in this effort, with the United States and Britain taking the lead. U.S. Secretary of State [[Charles Evans Hughes]] sponsored the [[Washington Naval Conference]] of 1921 in determining how many capital ships each major country was allowed. The new allocations were actually followed and there were no naval races in the 1920s. Britain played a leading role in the 1927 [[Geneva Naval Conference]] and the 1930 London Conference that led to the [[London Naval Treaty]], which added cruisers and submarines to the list of ship allocations. However the refusal of Japan, Germany, Italy and the USSR to go along with this led to the meaningless [[Second London Naval Treaty]] of 1936. Naval disarmament had collapsed and the issue became rearming for a war against Germany and Japan.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 1889320|title = The "Yardstick" and Naval Disarmament in the 1920's|journal = The Mississippi Valley Historical Review|volume = 45|issue = 3|pages = 441–463|last1 = O'Connor|first1 = Raymond G.|year = 1958|doi = 10.2307/1889320}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=B. J. C. |last=McKercher |title=The politics of naval arms limitation in Britain in the 1920s |journal=Diplomacy and Statecraft |volume=4 |issue=3 |year=1993 |pages=35–59 |doi=10.1080/09592299308405895 }}</ref>

== Roaring Twenties ==
{{Main|1920s|Roaring Twenties|Golden Twenties|Années folles}}
[[File:Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford 02.jpg|upright|thumb|Actors [[Douglas Fairbanks]] and [[Mary Pickford]] in 1920]]

The [[Roaring Twenties]] highlighted novel and highly visible social and cultural trends and innovations. These trends, made possible by sustained economic prosperity, were most visible in major cities like [[New York City]], [[Chicago]], [[Paris]], [[Berlin]], and [[London]]. The [[Jazz Age]] began and [[Art Deco]] peaked.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jody |last=Blake |title=Le Tumulte Noir: modernist art and popular entertainment in jazz-age Paris, 1900–1930 |publisher=Penn State Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-271-02339-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Alastair |last=Duncan |title=Art Deco Complete: The Definitive Guide to the Decorative Arts of the 1920s and 1930s |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-500-23855-4 }}</ref> For women, knee-length skirts and dresses became socially acceptable, as did bobbed hair with a [[Marcelling|Marcel wave]]. The young women who pioneered these trends were called "[[flapper]]s".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Price|first=S|title=What made the twenties roar?|year=1999 |journal=Scholastic Update |volume=131|issue=10|pages=3–18}}</ref> Not all was new: [[Return to normalcy|"normalcy" returned]] to politics in the wake of hyper-emotional wartime passions in the United States, France, and Germany.<ref>{{cite book |first=Charles D. |last=Maier |title=Recasting Bourgeois Europe: Stabilization in France, Germany, and Italy in the Decade After World War I |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1975 |isbn=0-691-05220-4 }}</ref> The leftist revolutions in Finland, Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Spain were defeated by conservatives, but succeeded in Russia, which became the base for [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet communism]] and [[Marxism–Leninism]].<ref>{{cite book|editor=Gordon Martel|title=A Companion to Europe 1900–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UZglcJuJWrYC&pg=PT449|year=2011|pages=449–50|publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9781444391671|access-date=19 February 2017|archive-date=19 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219183128/https://books.google.com/books?id=UZglcJuJWrYC&pg=PT449|url-status=live}}</ref> In Italy, the [[National Fascist Party]] came to power under [[Benito Mussolini]] after threatening a [[March on Rome]] in 1922.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hamish Macdonald|title=Mussolini and Italian Fascism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=221W9vKkWrcC&pg=PT20|year=1998|publisher=Nelson Thornes|page=20|isbn=9780748733866|access-date=12 May 2018|archive-date=15 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215113844/https://books.google.com/books?id=221W9vKkWrcC&pg=PT20|url-status=live}}</ref>

Most independent countries enacted [[women's suffrage]] in the interwar era, including [[Women's suffrage in Canada|Canada]] in 1917 (though [[Quebec]] held out longer), [[Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom|Britain]] in 1918, and the [[Women's suffrage in the United States|United States]] in 1920. There were a few major countries that held out until after the Second World War (such as France, Switzerland, and Portugal).<ref>{{cite book|author1=Garrick Bailey|author2=James Peoples|title=Essentials of Cultural Anthropology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7VcWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA208|year=2013|publisher=Cengage Learning|page=208|isbn=978-1285415550|access-date=19 February 2017|archive-date=19 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219181638/https://books.google.com/books?id=7VcWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA208|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Leslie Hume]] argues:
{{blockquote|The women's contribution to the war effort combined with failures of the previous systems' of Government made it more difficult than hitherto to maintain that women were, both by constitution and temperament, unfit to vote. If women could work in munitions factories, it seemed both ungrateful and illogical to deny them a place in the polling booth. But the vote was much more than simply a reward for war work; the point was that women's participation in the war helped to dispel the fears that surrounded women's entry into the public arena.<ref>{{cite book|author=Leslie Hume|title=The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies 1897–1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K1TlCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT281|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|page=281|isbn=9781317213260|access-date=19 February 2017|archive-date=19 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219180620/https://books.google.com/books?id=K1TlCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT281|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

In Europe, according to Derek Aldcroft and Steven Morewood, "Nearly all countries registered some economic progress in the 1920s and most of them managed to regain or surpass their pre-war income and production levels by the end of the decade." The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Greece did especially well, while Eastern Europe did poorly, due to the First World War and [[Russian Civil War]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Derek Howard Aldcroft|author2=Steven Morewood|title=The European Economy Since 1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s3tlP_6nKCcC&pg=PA44|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|pages=44, 46|isbn=9780415438896|access-date=19 February 2017|archive-date=19 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219175316/https://books.google.com/books?id=s3tlP_6nKCcC&pg=PA44|url-status=live}}</ref> In advanced economies the prosperity reached [[middle class]] households and many in the [[working class]] with [[radio]], [[Car|automobiles]], [[telephone]]s, and [[electric light]]ing and [[Home appliance|appliances]]. There was unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture. The media began to focus on celebrities, especially sports heroes and movie stars. Major cities built large sports stadiums for the fans, in addition to palatial cinemas. The [[Mechanised agriculture|mechanisation of agriculture]] continued apace, producing an expansion of output that lowered prices, and made many farm workers redundant. Often they moved to nearby industrial towns and cities.

== Great Depression ==
{{Main|Great Depression}}
[[File:Unemployed men queued outside a depression soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone, 02-1931 - NARA - 541927.jpg|thumb|Unemployed men outside a [[soup kitchen]] opened by Chicago gangster [[Al Capone]] during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Depression]], 1931]]

The [[Great Depression]] was a severe worldwide [[Depression (economics)|economic depression]] that took place after 1929. The timing varied across nations; in most countries it started in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s.<ref name="Garraty Great Depression">{{cite book |first=John A. |last=Garraty |title=The Great Depression |location=San Diego |publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |year=1986 |isbn=0-15-136903-8 }}</ref> It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite news |first=Charles |last=Duhigg |title=Depression, You Say? Check Those Safety Nets |newspaper=The New York Times |date=23 March 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/weekinreview/23duhigg.html |access-date=20 September 2020 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301125622/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/weekinreview/23duhigg.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The depression originated in the United States and became worldwide news with the [[stock market crash]] of 29 October 1929 (known as [[Wall Street crash of 1929|Black Tuesday]]). Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide GDP fell by an estimated 15%. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the [[Great Recession]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Roger |last=Lowenstein |title=Economic History Repeating |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-hall-of-mirrors-by-barry-eichengreen-1421192283?autologin=y |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=14 January 2015 |access-date=7 March 2017 |archive-date=19 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119090910/https://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-hall-of-mirrors-by-barry-eichengreen-1421192283?autologin=y |url-status=live }}</ref> Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. However, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II.<ref name="Garraty Great Depression" />{{rp|at=ch 1}}

The Great Depression had devastating effects in countries both [[developed country|rich]] and [[developing country|poor]]. [[Personal income]], [[tax revenue]], [[Profit (economics)|profits]], and [[price]]s dropped, while [[international trade]] plunged by more than 50%. [[Unemployment in the United States]] rose to 25% and in some countries rose as high as 33%.<ref name="Frank_Bernanke">{{cite book |last1=Frank |first1=Robert H. |last2=Bernanke |first2=Ben S. |title= Principles of Macroeconomics |publisher=McGraw-Hill/Irwin |year=2007 |edition=3rd |page=98 |isbn= 978-0-07-319397-7 |location=Boston}}</ref> Prices fell sharply, especially for mining and agricultural commodities. Business profits fell sharply as well, with a sharp reduction in new business starts.

[[Cities in the Great Depression|Cities all around the world]] were hit hard, especially those dependent on [[heavy industry]]. Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by about 60%.<ref name="USBLS">{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/data/|title=Commodity Data|publisher=US Bureau of Labor Statistics|access-date=30 November 2008|archive-date=3 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603140110/https://www.bls.gov/data/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Cochrane, Willard W.|author-link=Willard Cochrane |title=Farm Prices, Myth and Reality |publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=1958|page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[League of Nations]]|title=World Economic Survey 1932–33| page=43}}</ref> Facing plummeting demand with few alternative sources of jobs, areas dependent on [[Primary sector of the economy|primary sector industries]] such as mining and logging suffered the most.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=Broadus |title=Depression Decade |location=New York |publisher=Rinehart |year=1947 |oclc=179092 }}</ref>

The [[Weimar Republic]] in Germany gave way to two episodes of political and economic turmoil, the first culminated in the [[Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic|German hyperinflation of 1923]] and the failed [[Beer Hall Putsch]] of that same year. The second convulsion, brought on by the worldwide depression and Germany's disastrous monetary policies, resulted in the further rise of [[Nazi Germany|Nazism]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Marks |first=Sally |title=The Illusion of Peace: International Relations in Europe, 1918–1933 |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1976 |isbn=0-312-40635-5 }}</ref> In Asia, [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] became an ever more assertive power, especially with regard to [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-link=C. L. Mowat |editor-first=C. L. |editor-last=Mowat |title=The New Cambridge Modern History |volume=12: The Shifting Balance of World Forces, 1898–1945 |year=1968 }}</ref>

=== The rise of fascism ===
{{Main|Fascism|European interwar dictatorships}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H12943, Münchener Abkommen, Hitler und Mussolini.jpg|thumb|Cheering crowds greet [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]] in Munich, 1938]]

Democracy and prosperity largely went together in the 1920s. Economic disaster led to a distrust in the effectiveness of democracy and its collapse in much of Europe and Latin America, including the Baltic and Balkan countries, Poland, Spain, and Portugal. Powerful expansionary anti-democratic regimes emerged in Italy, Japan, and Germany.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Marc |last1=Matera |first2=Susan Kingsley |last2=Kent |title=The Global 1930s: The International Decade |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |page=192 |isbn=978-0-415-73830-9 }}</ref>

[[Italian fascism|Fascism]] took control of the [[Kingdom of Italy]] in 1922; as the Great Depression worsened, [[Nazism]] emerged victorious in Germany, fascism spread to many other countries in Europe, and also played a major role in several countries in Latin America.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stanley G. |last=Payne |title=A History of Fascism, 1914–1945 |location=Madison |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-299-14870-X }}</ref> Fascist parties sprang up, attuned to local right-wing traditions, but also possessing common features that typically included extreme militaristic nationalism, a desire for economic self-containment, threats and aggression toward neighbouring countries, oppression of minorities, a ridicule of democracy while using its techniques to mobilise an angry middle-class base, and a disgust with [[cultural liberalism]]. Fascists believed in power, violence, male superiority, and a "natural" hierarchy, often led by dictators such as [[Benito Mussolini]] or [[Adolf Hitler]]. Fascism in power meant that liberalism and human rights were discarded, and individual pursuits and values were subordinated to what the party decided was best.<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Soucy |chapter=Fascism |chapter-url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism/Common-characteristics-of-fascist-movements |title=Encyclopaedia Britannica |year=2015 |access-date=2 December 2017 |archive-date=25 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025142743/https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism/Common-characteristics-of-fascist-movements |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Empire of Japan ==
{{Main|Empire of Japan|Japanese colonial empire|List of territories occupied by Imperial Japan|Statism in Shōwa Japan}}
[[File:Pacific Area - The Imperial Powers 1939 - Map.svg|thumb|Political map of the Asia-Pacific region, 1939]]

The Japanese modelled their [[Economy of Japan|industrial economy]] closely on the most advanced Western European models. They started with textiles, railways, and shipping, expanding to electricity and machinery. The most serious weakness was a shortage of raw materials. Industry ran short of copper, and coal became a net importer. A deep flaw in the aggressive military strategy was a heavy dependence on imports including 100 per cent of the aluminium, 85 per cent of the iron ore, and especially 79 per cent of the oil supplies. It was one thing to go to war with China or Russia, but quite another to be in conflict with the key suppliers, especially the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands, of oil and iron.<ref name="FairbankReischauerCraig">{{cite book |first1=John K. |last1=Fairbank |first2=Edwin O. |last2=Reischauer |first3=Albert M. |last3=Craig |title=East Asia: The Modern Transformation |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1965 |pages=501–4 |oclc=13613258 }}</ref>

Japan joined the [[Allies of World War I|Allies of the First World War]] to make territorial gains. Together with the British Empire, it divided up Germany's territories scattered in the Pacific and on the [[Coastline of China|Chinese coast]]; they did not amount to very much. The other Allies pushed back hard against Japan's efforts to dominate China through the [[Twenty-One Demands]] of 1915. Its [[Japanese intervention in Siberia|occupation of Siberia]] proved unproductive. Japan's wartime diplomacy and limited military action had produced few results, and at the Paris Versailles peace conference at the end of the war, Japan was frustrated in its ambitions. At the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] in 1919, its [[Racial Equality Proposal]] led to increasing diplomatic isolation. The 1902 alliance with Britain was not renewed in 1922 because of heavy pressure on Britain from Canada and the United States. In the 1920s Japanese diplomacy was rooted in a largely liberal democratic political system, and favoured internationalism. By 1930, however, Japan was rapidly reversing itself, rejecting democracy at home, as the Army seized more and more power, and rejecting internationalism and liberalism. By the late 1930s it had joined the Axis military alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.<ref name="FairbankReischauerCraig" />{{rp|563–612, 666}}

In 1930, the London disarmament conference angered the [[Imperial Japanese Armed Forces]]. The [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] demanded parity with the United States, Britain and France, but was rejected and the conference kept the 1921 ratios. Japan was required to scrap a [[capital ship]]. Extremists assassinated Japanese Prime Minister [[Inukai Tsuyoshi]] in the [[May 15 Incident]] and the military took more power, leading to rapid [[democratic backsliding]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul W. Doerr|title=British Foreign Policy, 1919–1939|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zumqs15aTfwC&pg=PA120|year=1998|page=120|publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=9780719046728|access-date=16 March 2018|archive-date=17 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117110339/https://books.google.com/books?id=Zumqs15aTfwC&pg=PA120|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek.jpg|thumb|Zhang Xueliang with [[Chiang Kai-shek]] in November 1930.]]

=== Japan seizes Manchuria ===
{{Main|Japanese invasion of Manchuria}}

In September 1931, the Japanese [[Kwantung Army]]—acting on its own without government approval—[[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|seized control of Manchuria]], an area in northeastern China that was controlled by the powerful warlord [[Zhang Xueliang]]. It created the puppet government of [[Manchukuo]]. Britain and France effectively controlled the League of Nations, which issued the [[Lytton Report]] in 1932, saying that Japan had genuine grievances, but it acted illegally in seizing the entire province. Japan quit the League, and Britain and France took no action. US Secretary of State [[Henry L. Stimson]] announced that the United States would also not recognise Japan's conquest as legitimate. Germany welcomed Japan's actions.<ref>{{cite journal |first=David Wen-wei |last=Chang |title=The Western Powers and Japan's Aggression in China: The League of Nations and 'The Lytton Report' |journal=American Journal of Chinese Studies |year=2003 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=43–63 |jstor=44288722 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Shin'ichi |last=Yamamuro |title=Manchuria under Japanese Dominion |publisher=U. of Pennsylvania Press |year=2006 |postscript=; }} online {{cite journal |title=Review |journal=Journal of Japanese Studies |volume=34 |issue=1 |year=2007 |pages=109–114 |doi=10.1353/jjs.2008.0027 |s2cid=146638943 }}</ref>

=== Towards the conquest of China ===
{{Main|Second Sino-Japanese War}}
[[File:First pictures of the Japanese occupation of Peiping in China.jpg|thumb|right|Japanese march into [[Zhengyangmen]] of Beijing after capturing the city in July 1937]]

The civilian government in Tokyo tried to minimise the Army's aggression in Manchuria, and announced it was withdrawing. On the contrary, the Army completed the conquest of Manchuria, and the civilian cabinet resigned. The political parties were divided on the issue of military expansion. Prime Minister Inukai tried to negotiate with China but was assassinated in the May 15 Incident in 1932, which ushered in an era of [[Japanese nationalism|nationalism]] and [[Japanese militarism|militarism]] led by the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] and supported by other right-wing societies. The IJA's nationalism ended civilian rule in Japan until after 1945.<ref>{{cite book |author1-link=James Huffman (historian) |first=James L. |last=Huffman |title=Modern Japan: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Nationalism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YWLhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA143 |year=2013 |page=143 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-63490-2 |access-date=16 March 2018 |archive-date=13 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213140338/https://books.google.com/books?id=YWLhAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA143 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Army, however, was itself divided into cliques and factions with different strategic viewpoints. One faction viewed the Soviet Union as the main enemy; the other sought to build a mighty empire based in Manchuria and northern China. The Navy, while smaller and less influential, was also factionalised. Large-scale warfare, known as the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], began in August 1937, with [[Battle of Shanghai|naval and infantry attacks focused on Shanghai]], which quickly spread to other major cities. There were numerous [[Japanese war crimes|large-scale atrocities]] against Chinese civilians, such as the [[Nanjing massacre]] in December 1937, with mass murder and mass rape. By 1939 military lines had stabilised, with Japan in control of almost all of the major Chinese cities and industrial areas. A puppet government was set up.<ref name="FairbankReischauerCraig" />{{rp|589–613}} In the U.S., government and public opinion—even including those who were isolationist regarding Europe—was resolutely opposed to Japan and gave strong support to China. Meanwhile, the Japanese Army fared badly in large battles with the [[Red Army|Soviet Red Army]] in Mongolia at the [[Battles of Khalkhin Gol]] in summer 1939. The USSR was too powerful. Tokyo and Moscow [[Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact|signed a nonaggression treaty in April 1941]], as the militarists turned their attention to the European colonies to the south which had urgently-needed oil fields.<ref>{{cite book |first=Herbert |last=Feis |title=The Road to Pearl Harbor: The Coming of the War Between the United States and Japan |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1960 |pages=8–150 |oclc=394264 }}</ref>

== Spain ==
{{Main|Second Spanish Republic|Francoist Spain}}

=== Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) ===
{{Main|Spanish Civil War}}

To one degree or another, Spain had been unstable politically for centuries, and in 1936–1939 was wracked by one of the bloodiest civil wars of the 20th century. The real importance comes from outside countries. In Spain the [[Conservatism|conservative]] and [[Catholic Church in Spain|Catholic]] elements and the army revolted against the newly elected government of the [[Second Spanish Republic]], and full-scale civil war erupted. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany gave munitions and strong military units to the rebel [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist faction]], led by General [[Francisco Franco]]. The [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican (or "Loyalist") government]], was on the defensive, but it received significant help from the Soviet Union and Mexico. Led by Great Britain and France, and including the United States, most countries remained neutral and refused to provide armaments to either side. The powerful fear was that this localised conflict would escalate into a European conflagration that no one wanted.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stanley G. |last=Payne |title=The Spanish Revolution |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1970 |pages=262–76 |isbn=0-297-00124-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Hugh |last=Thomas |title=The Spanish Civil War |location=New York |publisher=Modern Library |edition=2nd |year=2001 |isbn=0-375-75515-2 }}</ref>

The Spanish Civil War was marked by numerous small battles and sieges, and many atrocities, until the Nationalists won in 1939 by overwhelming the Republican forces. The Soviet Union provided armaments but never enough to equip the heterogeneous government militias and the "[[International Brigades]]" of outside [[Far-left politics|far-left]] volunteers. The civil war did not escalate into a larger conflict, but did become a worldwide ideological battleground that pitted all the [[Communism|Communists]] and many [[Socialism|socialists]] and [[Liberalism|liberals]] against [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], conservatives and fascists. Worldwide there was a decline in [[pacifism]] and a growing sense that another [[world war]] was imminent, and that it would be worth fighting for.<ref>{{cite book |first=E. H. |last=Carr |title=The Comintern and the Spanish Civil War |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1984 |isbn=0-394-53550-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Robert H. |last=Whealey |title=Hitler and Spain: The Nazi Role in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 |year=2005 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=0-8131-9139-4 }}</ref>

== Great Britain and British Empire ==
{{Main|Interwar Britain|War Plan Red}}
[[File:British Empire 1921.png|thumb|upright=1.8|The Second British Empire at its territorial peak in 1921]]

The changing world order that the war had brought about, in particular the growth of the United States and Japan as naval powers, and the rise of independence movements in India and Ireland, caused a major reassessment of British imperial policy.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Judith |editor-last=Brown |editor2-first=Wm Roger |editor2-last=Louis |title=The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume IV: The Twentieth Century |year=1999 |pages=1–46 }}</ref> Forced to choose between alignment with the United States or Japan, Britain opted not to renew the [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]] and instead signed the 1922 [[Washington Naval Treaty]], in which Britain accepted naval parity with the United States. The issue of the empire's security was a serious concern in Britain, as it was vital to the British pride, its finance, and its trade-oriented economy.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen J. |last=Lee |title=Aspects of British Political History, 1914–1995 |year=1996 |page=305 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=0-415-13102-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=William Roger |last=Louis |title=Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez and Decolonization |year=2006 |pages=294–305 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan Limited |isbn=1-84511-347-0 }}</ref>

[[File:ImperialConference.jpg|thumb|[[George V]] with the British and Dominion prime ministers at the [[1926 Imperial Conference]]]]

[[British Raj|India]] strongly supported the Empire in the First World War. It expected a reward, but failed to get [[self-government]] as the government was still kept in control of British hands and feared another rebellion like [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|that of 1857]]. The [[Government of India Act 1919]] failed to satisfy demand for self-rule. Mounting tension, particularly in the [[Punjab region]], culminated in the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre|Amritsar Massacre]] in 1919. [[Indian nationalism]] surged and centred in the [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]] led by [[Mahatma Gandhi|Mohandas Gandhi]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Donald Anthony |last1=Low |first2=Rajat Kanta |last2=Ray |title=Congress and the Raj: Facets of the Indian Struggle, 1917–47 |publisher=Oxford UP |year=2006 |isbn=0-19-568367-6 }}</ref> In Britain, public opinion was divided over the morality of the massacre between those who saw it as having saved India from anarchy and those who viewed it with revulsion.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Derek |last=Sayer |title=British reaction to the Amritsar massacre 1919–1920 |journal=Past & Present |issue=131 |year=1991 |pages=130–64 |doi=10.1093/past/131.1.130 }}</ref><ref name="Mowat 12">{{Cite book |last1=Mowat |first1=C. L. | author-link = C. L. Mowat |title=The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 12: The Shifting Balance of World Forces, 1898–1945 |url=https://archive.org/stream/iB_CMH/12#page/n3/mode/1up |year=1968 |edition=2nd}} – 25 chapters; 845 pp</ref>

Egypt had been under [[History of Egypt under the British|''de facto'' British control]] since the 1880s, despite its nominal ownership by the [[Ottoman Empire]]. In 1922, the [[Kingdom of Egypt]] was granted [[Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence|formal independence]], though it continued to be a [[client state]] following British guidance. Egypt joined the League of Nations. Egypt's [[Fuad I of Egypt|King Fuad]] and his son [[Farouk of Egypt|King Farouk]] and their conservative allies stayed in power with lavish lifestyles thanks to an informal alliance with Britain who would protect them from both secular and Muslim radicalism.<ref>{{cite book |first=Hugh |last=McLeave |title=The Last Pharaoh: Farouk of Egypt |location=New York |publisher=McCall |year=1970 |isbn=0-8415-0020-7 }}</ref> [[Mandatory Iraq]], a British [[League of Nations mandate|mandate]] since 1920, gained official independence as the [[Kingdom of Iraq]] in 1932 when [[Faisal I of Iraq|King Faisal]] agreed to British terms of a military alliance and an assured flow of oil.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gerald |last=De Gaury |title=Three Kings in Baghdad, 1921–1958 |location=London |publisher=Hutchinson |year=1961 |oclc=399044 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bulliet |first1=Richard |others=et al. |title=The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History. Vol. 2: Since 1500 |year=2010 |publisher=Cengage Learning |edition=5th ed Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1439084755}} excerpt pp. 774–845</ref>

In [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]], Britain was presented with the problem of mediating between the [[Palestinians|Palestinian Arabs]] and increasing numbers of [[Yishuv|Jewish settlers]]. The [[Balfour Declaration]], which had been incorporated into the terms of the mandate, stated that a national home for the [[Jews|Jewish people]] would be established in Palestine, and Jewish immigration allowed up to a limit that would be determined by the mandatory power. This led to increasing conflict with the Arab population, who openly [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine|revolted in 1936]]. As the threat of war with Germany increased during the 1930s, Britain judged the support of Arabs as more important than the establishment of a Jewish homeland, and shifted to a pro-Arab stance, limiting Jewish immigration and in turn triggering a [[Jewish insurgency in Palestine|Jewish insurgency]].<ref name="Mowat 12" />{{rp|269–96}}

The Dominions (Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Irish Free State) were self-governing and gained semi-independence in the World War, while Britain still controlled foreign policy and defence in all except Ireland. The right of the Dominions to set their own foreign policy was recognised in 1923 and formalised by the 1931 [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]]. The Irish Free State effectively broke all ties with Britain in 1937, leaving the Commonwealth and becoming an [[Republic of Ireland|independent republic]].<ref name="Mowat 12" />{{rp|373–402}}

== French Empire ==
[[File:FrenchEmpire1946.png|upright=1.35|thumb|The French Empire from 1919 to 1949]]
[[File:Paris_expo_1937.jpg|thumb|Place de Varsovie in [[Paris]] during the [[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne|World Expo]] in 1937 ([[Agfacolor]] photo)]]
{{Main|Interwar France|French colonial empire}}

French census statistics from 1938 show an imperial population with France at over 150 million people, outside of France itself, of 102.8 million people living on 13.5 million square kilometers. Of the total population, 64.7 million lived in Africa and 31.2 million lived in Asia; 900,000 lived in the [[French West Indies]] or islands in the South Pacific. The largest colonies were [[French Indochina]] with 26.8 million (in five separate colonies), [[French Algeria]] with 6.6 million, the [[French protectorate in Morocco]], with 5.4 million, and [[French West Africa]] with 35.2 million in nine colonies. The total includes 1.9 million Europeans, and 350,000 "assimilated" natives.<ref>Herbert Ingram Priestley, ''France overseas: a study of modern imperialism'' (1938) pp 440–41.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insee.fr/fr/ppp/bases-de-donnees/irweb/sd2008/dd/excel/sd2008_t1_fm.xls|title=Tableau 1 – évolution générale de la situation démographique
|author=INSEE|access-date=3 November 2010|language=fr|author-link=INSEE
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://projetbabel.org/gl/cog49d.htm|title=Code Officiel Géographique – La IIIe République (1919–1940)|author=Statistique générale de la France|access-date=3 November 2010|language=fr}}</ref>

=== Revolt in North Africa against Spain and France ===
{{Main|Rif War}}

The Berber independence leader [[Abd el-Krim]] (1882–1963) organised armed resistance against the Spanish and French for control of Morocco. The Spanish had faced unrest off and on from the 1890s, but in 1921, Spanish forces were massacred at the [[Battle of Annual]]. El-Krim founded an independent [[Rif Republic]] that operated until 1926, but had no international recognition. Eventually, France and Spain agreed to end the revolt. They sent in 200,000 soldiers, forcing el-Krim to surrender in 1926; he was exiled in the Pacific until 1947. Morocco was now pacified, and became the base from which [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Spanish Nationalists]] would launch their [[Spanish Civil War|rebellion]] against the [[Second Spanish Republic|Spanish Republic]] in 1936.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alexander Mikaberidze|title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjQfo3a1eVMC&pg=PA15|date=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=15|isbn=9781598843361|access-date=13 April 2018|archive-date=22 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622142436/https://books.google.com/books?id=WjQfo3a1eVMC|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Germany ==
{{Main|2 = History of Germany}}

=== Weimar Republic ===
{{Main|Weimar Republic}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-K0623-0502-001, Berlin, Tanztee im "Esplanade".jpg|thumb|The "[[Golden Twenties]]" in Berlin: a jazz band plays for a tea dance at the hotel Esplanade, 1926]]

The peace terms in the [[Treaty of Versailles]] provoked bitter indignation throughout Germany, and seriously weakened the new democratic regime. The Treaty stripped Germany of all of its [[German colonial empire|overseas colonies]], of [[Alsace–Lorraine]], and of predominantly Polish districts. The Allied armies occupied industrial sectors in western Germany including the Rhineland, and Germany was not allowed to have a real army, navy, or air force. [[World War I reparations|Reparations]] were demanded, especially by France, involving shipments of raw materials, as well as annual payments.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Ian |editor-last=Kershaw |title=Weimar: Why did German Democracy Fail? |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1990 |isbn=0-312-04470-4 }}</ref>

When Germany defaulted on its reparation payments, [[Occupation of the Ruhr|French and Belgian troops occupied the heavily industrialised Ruhr district]] (January 1923). The German government encouraged the population of the Ruhr to [[Nonviolent resistance|passive resistance]]: shops would not sell goods to the foreign soldiers, coal mines would not dig for the foreign troops, trams in which members of the occupation army had taken seat would be left abandoned in the middle of the street. Rather than raise taxes, the German government printed vast quantities of paper money, much of which was spent to pay striking workers in the Ruhr and to subsidise inactive factories and mines, causing [[Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic|hyperinflation]], which also damaged the [[Economy of France|French economy]]. The passive resistance proved effective, insofar as the occupation became a loss-making deal for the French government. But the hyperinflation caused many prudent savers to lose all the money they had saved. Weimar added new internal enemies every year, as anti-democratic [[Nazi Party|Nazis]], [[German nationalism|Nationalists]], and [[Communist Party of Germany|Communists]] battled each other in the streets.<ref>{{cite book |first=Eric D. |last=Weitz |title=Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-691-15796-2 }}</ref>

Germany was the first state to establish diplomatic relations with the new [[Soviet Union]]. Under the [[Treaty of Rapallo, 1922|Treaty of Rapallo]], Germany accorded the Soviet Union ''de jure'' recognition, and the two signatories mutually agreed to cancel all pre-war debts and renounced war claims. In October 1925 the [[Treaty of Locarno]] was signed by Germany, France, Belgium, Britain, and Italy; it recognised Germany's borders with France and Belgium. Moreover, Britain, Italy, and Belgium undertook to assist France in the case that German troops marched into the demilitarised Rhineland. Locarno paved the way for Germany's admission to the [[League of Nations]] in 1926.<ref>{{cite book |first=Wolfgang |last=Elz |chapter=Foreign policy |editor-first=Anthony |editor-last=McElligott |title=Weimar Germany |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |pages=50–77 |isbn=978-0-19-928007-0 }}</ref>

=== Nazi era, 1933–1939 ===
{{Main|Nazi Germany|Causes of World War II}}
{{Further|German rearmament}}

Hitler came to power in January 1933, and inaugurated an aggressive power designed to give Germany economic and political domination across central Europe. He did not attempt to recover the lost colonies. Until August 1939, the Nazis denounced Communists and the Soviet Union as the greatest enemy, along with the Jews.<ref>Richard J. Evans, ''The Coming of the Third Reich'' (2005) and Evans, ''The Third Reich in Power'' (2006).</ref>

[[File:1938 Naka yoshi sangoku.jpg|upright|thumb|left|A Japanese poster promoting the [[Axis Powers|Axis cooperation]] in 1938]]

Hitler's diplomatic strategy in the 1930s was to make seemingly reasonable demands, threatening war if they were not met. When opponents tried to appease him, he accepted the gains that were offered, then went to the next target. That aggressive strategy worked as Germany pulled out of the [[League of Nations]], rejected the [[Versailles Treaty]], and began to rearm. Retaking the [[Territory of the Saar Basin]] in the aftermath of a [[1935 Saar status referendum|plebiscite]] that favoured returning to Germany, [[Remilitarization of the Rhineland|Hitler's Germany remilitarised the Rhineland]], formed the [[Pact of Steel]] alliance with Mussolini's Italy, and sent massive military aid to Franco in the Spanish Civil War. [[Anschluss|Germany seized Austria]], considered to be a German state, in 1938, and [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|took over Czechoslovakia]] after the [[Munich Agreement]] with Britain and France. Forming a [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|non-aggression pact]] with the Soviet Union in August 1939, [[Invasion of Poland|Germany invaded Poland]] after Poland's refusal to cede the [[Free City of Danzig]] in September 1939. Britain and France declared war and [[World War II]] began&nbsp;– somewhat sooner than the Nazis expected or were ready for.<ref>Gerhard L. Weinberg, ''Hitler's foreign policy 1933–1939: The road to World War II.'' (2013), Originally published in two volumes.</ref>

[[File:Polish Army Warsaw 1939.jpg|thumb|Polish Army soldier holding last remaining part of a German [[Heinkel He 111]] bomber shot down by Poles over Warsaw when airplane was [[Invasion of Poland|killing civilians]] in September 1939 ([[Kodachrome]] photo)]]
After establishing the "[[Axis powers|Rome-Berlin Axis]]" with [[Benito Mussolini]], and signing the [[Anti-Comintern Pact]] with Japan&nbsp;– which was joined by Italy a year later in 1937&nbsp;– Hitler felt able to take the offensive in foreign policy. On 12 March 1938, German troops marched into Austria, where an [[July Putsch|attempted Nazi coup]] had been unsuccessful in 1934. When Austrian-born Hitler entered [[Vienna]], he was greeted by loud cheers. Four weeks later, 99% of Austrians voted in favour of the annexation ([[Anschluss]]) of their country Austria to the [[German Reich (1933-1945)|German Reich]]. After Austria, Hitler turned to [[Czechoslovakia]], where the 3.5&nbsp;million-strong [[Sudeten Germans|Sudeten German]] minority was demanding equal rights and self-government.<ref name="Donald Cameron Watt 1989">Donald Cameron Watt, ''How war came: the immediate origins of the Second World War, 1938–1939'' (1989).</ref><ref name="R.J. Overy, 2014">R.J. Overy, ''The Origins of the Second World War'' (2014).</ref>

At the [[Munich Agreement|Munich Conference]] of September 1938, Hitler, the Italian leader Benito Mussolini, British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]], and French Prime Minister [[Édouard Daladier]] agreed upon the cession of Sudeten territory to the German Reich by [[Czechoslovakia]]. Hitler thereupon declared that all of German Reich's territorial claims had been fulfilled. However, hardly six months after the Munich Agreement, in March 1939, Hitler used the smouldering quarrel between [[Slovak people|Slovaks]] and [[Czechs]] as a pretext for taking over the rest of Czechoslovakia as the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]]. In the same month, he secured the return of [[Klaipėda Region|Memel]] from [[Lithuania]] to Germany. Chamberlain was forced to acknowledge that his policy of [[appeasement]] towards Hitler had failed.<ref name="Donald Cameron Watt 1989"/><ref name="R.J. Overy, 2014"/>

== Italy ==
{{Main|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}}
{{Further|Second Italo-Ethiopian War|Italian invasion of Albania|History of Greece (1924–1941)}}[[File:Italy aims Europe 1936.png|thumb|Ambitions of Fascist Italy in Europe in 1936.<br />Legend:{{Legend|#073A09|Metropolitan Italy and dependent territories;}}{{Legend|#0F7612|[[Client state]]s;}}{{Legend|#083A39|Claimed territories to be annexed;}}{{Legend|#107776|Territories to be transformed into client states.}} [[Albania]], which was a client state, was considered a territory to be annexed.]]
[[File:Impero italiano.svg|thumb|right|Maximum extent of imperial Italy {{legend|#ff0000|Pre-Second World War}}{{legend|#ff00ff|Captured during the Second World War}}]]
In 1922, the leader of the [[Italian Fascism|Italian Fascist]] movement, [[Benito Mussolini]], was appointed [[Prime Minister of Italy]] after the [[March on Rome]]. Mussolini resolved the question of sovereignty over the [[Dodecanese]] at the 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]], which formalised Italian administration of both [[Italian Libya|Libya]] and the [[Italian Islands of the Aegean|Dodecanese Islands]], in return for a payment to [[Turkey]], the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, though he failed in an attempt to extract a mandate of a portion of Iraq from Britain.

The month following the ratification of the Treaty of Lausanne, Mussolini ordered the invasion of the Greek island of [[Corfu]] after the [[Corfu incident]]. The [[Media of Italy|Italian press]] supported the move, noting that Corfu had been a [[Venetian Ionian Islands|Venetian possession]] for four hundred years. The matter was taken by [[Greece]] to the [[League of Nations]], where Mussolini was convinced by Britain to evacuate [[Royal Italian Army]] troops, in return for reparations from Greece. The confrontation led Britain and Italy to resolve the question of [[Jubaland]] in 1924, which was merged into [[Italian Somaliland]].<ref>Lowe, pp. 191–199{{full citation needed|date=September 2020}}</ref>

During the late 1920s, imperial expansion became an increasingly favoured theme in Mussolini's speeches.<ref name="smith">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Dennis Mack |year=1981 |title=Mussolini |page=170 |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London |isbn=0-297-78005-0 }}</ref> Amongst Mussolini's aims were that Italy had to become the dominant power in the Mediterranean that would be able to challenge France or Britain, as well as attain access to the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Indian Ocean]]s.<ref name="smith"/> Mussolini alleged that Italy required uncontested access to the world's oceans and shipping lanes to ensure its national sovereignty.<ref name="salerno">{{cite book |last=Salerno |first=Reynolds Mathewson |year=2002 |title=Vital Crossroads: Mediterranean Origins of the Second World War, 1935–1940 |isbn=0-8014-3772-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/vitalcrossroadsm00sale/page/106 |pages=105–106 |publisher=Cornell University Press }}</ref> This was elaborated on in a document he later drew up in 1939 called "The March to the Oceans", and included in the official records of a meeting of the [[Grand Council of Fascism]].<ref name="salerno"/> This text asserted that maritime position determined a nation's independence: countries with free access to the high seas were independent; while those who lacked this, were not. Italy, which only had access to an inland sea without French and British acquiescence, was only a "semi-independent nation", and alleged to be a "prisoner in the Mediterranean":<ref name="salerno"/>

{{blockquote|The bars of this prison are [[Corsica]], [[French protectorate of Tunisia|Tunisia]], [[Crown Colony of Malta|Malta]], and [[British Cyprus|Cyprus]]. The guards of this prison are [[Gibraltar]] and [[Suez Canal|Suez]]. Corsica is a pistol pointed at the heart of Italy; Tunisia at Sicily. Malta and Cyprus constitute a threat to all our positions in the eastern and western Mediterranean. Greece, Turkey, and [[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]] have been ready to form a chain with Great Britain and to complete the politico-military encirclement of Italy. Thus Greece, Turkey, and Egypt must be considered vital enemies of Italy's expansion&nbsp;... The aim of Italian policy, which cannot have, and does not have continental objectives of a European territorial nature except Albania, is first of all to break the bars of this prison&nbsp;... Once the bars are broken, Italian policy can only have one motto—to march to the oceans.|Benito Mussolini|The March to the Oceans<ref name="salerno"/>}}

In the [[Balkans]], the Fascist regime claimed [[Dalmatia]] and held ambitions over [[Albania]], [[Slovenia]], [[Croatia]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]], and [[Greece]] based on the precedent of previous Roman dominance in these regions.<ref name="Robert Bideleux 1998. Pp. 467">{{cite book |first1=Robert |last1=Bideleux |first2=Ian |last2=Jeffries |title=A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |page=467 |isbn=0-415-16111-8 }}</ref> Dalmatia and Slovenia were to be directly annexed into Italy while the remainder of the Balkans was to be transformed into Italian client states.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Allan R. |last1=Millett |first2=Williamson |last2=Murray |title=Military Effectiveness |volume=2 |edition=New |location=New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |page=184 }}</ref> The regime also sought to establish protective patron-client relationships with [[Austria]], [[Hungary]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], and [[Bulgaria]].<ref name="Robert Bideleux 1998. Pp. 467"/>

In both 1932 and 1935, Italy demanded a [[League of Nations mandate]] of the former [[German colonial empire|German Cameroon]] and a free hand in the [[Ethiopian Empire]] from France in return for Italian support against Germany in the [[Stresa Front]].<ref name="burgwyn">{{cite book |last=Burgwyn |first=James H. |year=1997 |title=Italian Foreign Policy in the Interwar Period, 1918–1940 |isbn=978-0-275-94877-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PNHxISN-dmQC&pg=PA68 |page=68 |publisher=Praeger |access-date=24 May 2017 |archive-date=9 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209191350/https://books.google.com/books?id=PNHxISN-dmQC&pg=PA68 |url-status=live }}</ref> This was refused by French Prime Minister [[Édouard Herriot]], who was not yet sufficiently worried about the prospect of a German resurgence.<ref name="burgwyn"/> The failed resolution of the [[Abyssinia Crisis]] led to the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]], in which Italy annexed Ethiopia to its empire.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Italy's stance towards Spain shifted between the 1920s and the 1930s. The Fascist regime in the 1920s held deep antagonism towards Spain due to [[Miguel Primo de Rivera]]'s pro-French foreign policy. In 1926, Mussolini began aiding the [[Catalan separatism|Catalan separatist movement]], which was led by [[Francesc Macià]], against the Spanish government.<ref name="Robert H. Whealey 2005. P. 11">{{cite book |first=Robert H. |last=Whealey |title=Hitler And Spain: The Nazi Role In The Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 |edition=Paperback |location=Lexington |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2005 |page=11 |isbn=0-8131-9139-4 }}</ref> With the rise of the left-wing Republican government replacing the [[Monarchy of Spain|Spanish monarchy]], Spanish monarchists and fascists repeatedly approached Italy for aid in overthrowing the Republican government, in which Italy agreed to support them to establish a pro-Italian government in Spain.<ref name="Robert H. Whealey 2005. P. 11"/> In July 1936, [[Francisco Franco]] of the Nationalist faction in the [[Spanish Civil War]] requested Italian support against the ruling Republican faction, and guaranteed that, if Italy supported the Nationalists, "future relations would be more than friendly" and that Italian support "would have permitted the influence of Rome to prevail over that of Berlin in the future politics of Spain".<ref>{{cite book |first1=Sebastian |last1=Balfour |first2=Paul |last2=Preston |title=Spain and the Great Powers in the Twentieth Century |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=1999 |page=152 |isbn=0-415-18078-3 }}</ref> Italy intervened in the civil war with the intention of occupying the [[Balearic Islands]] and creating a [[client state]] in Spain.<ref>{{cite book |first=R. J. B. |last=Bosworth |title=The Oxford Handbook of Fascism |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |page=246 }}</ref> Italy sought the control of the Balearic Islands due to its strategic position—Italy could use the islands as a base to disrupt the lines of communication between France and its [[French North Africa|North African colonies]] and between [[Gibraltar|British Gibraltar]] and [[Crown Colony of Malta|Malta]].<ref>{{cite book |first=John J. |last=Mearsheimer |title=The Tragedy of Great Power Politics |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2003 |isbn=0-393-32396-X }}</ref> After the victory by Franco and the Nationalists in the war, Allied intelligence was informed that Italy was pressuring Spain to permit an Italian occupation of the [[Balearic Islands]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Road to Oran: Anglo-Franch Naval Relations, September 1939 – July 1940 |page=24 }}</ref>

[[File:Unione tunisi 31octobre1938.jpg|thumb|Italian newspaper in Tunisia that represented Italians living in the [[French protectorate of Tunisia]].]]

After Great Britain signed the Anglo-Italian [[Easter Accords]] in 1938, Mussolini and Foreign Minister [[Galeazzo Ciano]] issued demands for concessions in the Mediterranean by France, particularly regarding [[French Somaliland]], [[French protectorate of Tunisia|Tunisia]] and the French-run [[Suez Canal]].<ref name="Reynolds Mathewson Salerno 1940. p82-83">{{cite book |first=Reynolds Mathewson |last=Salerno |title=Vital Crossroads: Mediterranean Origins of the Second World War, 1935–1940 |publisher=Cornell University |year=2002 |pages=82–83 |isbn=0-8014-3772-5 }}</ref> Three weeks later, Mussolini told Ciano that he intended for an Italian takeover of Albania.<ref name="Reynolds Mathewson Salerno 1940. p82-83"/> Mussolini professed that Italy would only be able to "breathe easily" if it had acquired a contiguous colonial domain in Africa from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans, and when ten million Italians had settled in them.<ref name="smith"/> In 1938, Italy demanded a [[sphere of influence]] in the Suez Canal in [[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]], specifically demanding that the French-dominated [[Suez Canal Company]] accept an Italian representative on its board of directors.<ref name="LIFE 1938. Pp. 23">{{cite magazine |title=French Army breaks a one-day strike and stands on guard against a land-hungry Italy |magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |date=19 December 1938 |page=23 }}</ref> Italy opposed the French monopoly over the [[Suez Canal]] because, under the French-dominated Suez Canal Company, all merchant traffic to the [[Italian East Africa]] colony was forced to pay tolls on entering the canal.<ref name="LIFE 1938. Pp. 23"/>

Albanian Prime Minister and President [[Zog I of Albania|Ahmet Zogu]], who had, in 1928, proclaimed himself [[King of Albania]], failed to create a stable state.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Jason |last=Tomes |title=The Throne of Zog |journal=History Today |volume=51 |issue=9 |year=2001 |pages=45–51 }}</ref> Albanian society was deeply divided by religion and language, with a border dispute with Greece and an undeveloped, rural economy. In 1939, Italy [[Italian invasion of Albania|invaded and annexed Albania]] as a separate kingdom in [[personal union]] with the Italian crown. Italy had long built strong links with the Albanian leadership and considered it firmly within its sphere of influence. Mussolini wanted a spectacular success over a smaller neighbour to match Germany's [[Anschluss|annexation of Austria]] and [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakia]]. Italian King [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy|Victor Emmanuel III]] took the [[King of Albania|Albanian crown]], and a [[Italian protectorate of Albania (1939–1943)|fascist government]] under [[Shefqet Vërlaci]] was established.<ref>{{cite book |first=Bernd J. |last=Fischer |title=Albania at War, 1939–1945 |publisher=Purdue UP |year=1999 |isbn=1-55753-141-2 }}</ref>

== Regional patterns ==

=== Balkans ===
The [[Great Depression in Romania|Great Depression]] destabilised the [[Kingdom of Romania]]. The early 1930s were marked by social unrest, high unemployment, and strikes. In several instances, the Romanian government violently repressed strikes and riots, notably the 1929 miners' strike in [[Valea Jiului]] and the strike in the [[Grivița]] railroad workshops. In the mid-1930s, the [[Economy of Romania|Romanian economy]] recovered and the industry grew significantly, although about 80% of Romanians were still employed in [[Agriculture in Romania|agriculture]]. French economic and political influence was predominant in the early 1920s but then Germany became more dominant, especially in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite journal | first=William A. Jr. |last=Hoisington |title=The Struggle for Economic Influence in Southeastern Europe: The French Failure in Romania, 1940 |journal=Journal of Modern History |volume=43 |issue=3 |year=1971 |pages=468–482 |doi=10.1086/240652 |jstor=1878564 |s2cid=144182598 }}</ref>

In the [[Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939)|Albanian Kingdom]], [[Zog I of Albania|Zog I]] introduced new civil codes, constitutional changes and attempted [[Land reform in Albania|land reforms]], the latter which was largely unsuccessful due to the inadequacy of the [[Banking in Albania|country's banking system]] that could not deal with advanced reformist transactions. Albania's reliance on Italy also grew as Italians exercised control over nearly every Albanian official through money and patronage, breeding a colonial-like mentality.<ref name="Gerwarth">{{cite book |last1=Gerwarth |first1=Robert |title=Twisted Paths: Europe 1914–1945 |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1992-8185-5 |pages=242–261 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ts4SDAAAQBAJ |access-date=14 October 2020 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417234641/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ts4SDAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ethnic integration and assimilation was a major problem faced by the newly formed post-World War I Balkan states, which were compounded by historical differences. In the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] for instance, its most influential element was the pre-war [[Kingdom of Serbia]] but also integrated states like Slovenia and Croatia, which were part of [[Austria-Hungary]]. With new territories came varying legal systems, social structures and political structures. Social and economic development rates also varied as for example Slovenia and Croatia was far more advanced economically than Kosovo and Macedonia, which had substantial [[Persecution of Albanians in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Albanian populations that faced persecution]]. Redistribution of land led to social instability, with estate seizures generally benefiting Slavic Christians.<ref name="Gerwarth" />

=== China ===
{{Main|Republic of China (1912–1949)|Warlord Era|Nanjing decade|Chinese Civil War}}
{{Empty section|date=May 2022}}

=== Latin America ===
The United States launched [[Banana Wars|minor interventions]] into Latin America. These included military presence in [[Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)|Cuba]], Panama with the [[Panama Canal Zone]], [[United States occupation of Haiti|Haiti]] (1915–1935), [[United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916–1924)|Dominican Republic]] (1916–1924), and [[United States occupation of Nicaragua|Nicaragua]] (1912–1933). The [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]] began to specialise in long-term military occupation of these countries.<ref>Lester D. Langley, ''The Banana Wars: United States Intervention in the Caribbean, 1898–1934'' (2001)</ref>

The [[Great Depression in Latin America|Great Depression]] posed a great challenge to the region. The collapse of the world economy meant that the demand for raw materials drastically declined, undermining many of the economies of Latin America. Intellectuals and government leaders in Latin America turned their backs on the older economic policies and turned toward [[import substitution industrialisation]]. The goal was to create self-sufficient economies, which would have their own industrial sectors and large middle classes and which would be immune to the fluctuations of the global economy. Despite the potential threats to United States commercial interests, the [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt administration]] (1933–1945) understood that the United States could not wholly oppose import substitution. Roosevelt implemented a [[Good Neighbor policy|Good Neighbour policy]] and allowed the nationalisation of some American companies in Latin America. Mexican President [[Lázaro Cárdenas]] [[Mexican oil expropriation|nationalised American oil companies]], out of which he created [[Pemex]]. Cárdenas also oversaw the [[Land reform in Mexico|redistribution of a quantity of land]], fulfilling the hopes of many since the start of the [[Mexican Revolution]]. The [[Platt Amendment]] was also repealed, freeing Cuba from legal and official interference of the United States in its politics. The Second World War also brought the United States and most Latin American nations together, with Argentina the main hold out.<ref>{{cite book |first=Victor |last=Bulmer-Thomas |title=The Economic History of Latin America since Independence |publisher=Cambridge University Press |edition=2nd |year=2003 |pages=189–231 |isbn=0-521-53274-4 }}</ref>

During the interwar period, United States policy makers continued to be concerned over German influence in Latin America.<ref name=Goebels>{{cite journal |last1=Goebel |first1=Michael |date=2009 |title=Decentring the German Spirit: The Weimar Republic's Cultural Relations with Latin America |journal=[[Journal of Contemporary History]] |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=221–245 |doi= 10.1177/0022009408101249|s2cid=145309305 }}</ref><ref name=Penny2017>{{cite journal |last1=Penny |first1=H. Glenn |date=2017 |title=Material Connections: German Schools, Things, and Soft Power in Argentina and Chile from the 1880s through the Interwar Period |journal=[[Comparative Studies in Society and History]] |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=519–549 |doi=10.1017/S0010417517000159|s2cid=149372568 }}</ref> Some analysts grossly exaggerated the influence of Germans in South America even after the First World War when German influence somewhat declined.<ref name=Penny2017/><ref name=Carlos2011>{{cite book |last1=Sanhueza |first1=Carlos |language=es |date=2011 |chapter=El debate sobre "el embrujamiento alemán" y el papel de la ciencia alemana hacia fines del siglo XIX en Chile |chapter-url=http://publications.iai.spk-berlin.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/Document_derivate_00000510/BIA%20146%20Sanhueza.pdf |title=Ideas viajeras y sus objetos. El intercambio científico entre Alemania y América austral. Madrid–Frankfurt am Main: Iberoamericana–Vervuert |pages=29–40 }}</ref> As the influence of United States grew all-over the Americas Germany concentrated its foreign policy efforts in the [[Southern Cone]] countries where US influence was weaker and larger German communities were at place.<ref name=Goebels/>

The contrary ideals of ''[[indigenismo]]'' and ''[[hispanismo]]'' held sway among intellectuals in [[Hispanic America|Spanish-speaking America]] during the interwar period. In Argentina the ''[[gaucho]]'' genre flourished. A rejection of "Western universalist" influences was in vogue across Latin America.<ref name=Goebels/> This last tendency was in part inspired by the translation into Spanish of the book ''[[Decline of the West]]'' in 1923.<ref name=Goebels/>

== Sports ==
Sports became increasingly popular, drawing enthusiastic fans to large stadiums.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=David M. K. |editor-last=Sheinin |title=Sports Culture in Latin American History |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-8229-6337-0 }}</ref> The [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC) worked to encourage Olympic ideals and participation. Following the 1922 Latin American Games in Rio de Janeiro, the IOC helped to establish national Olympic committees and prepare for future competition. In Brazil, however, sporting and political rivalries slowed progress as opposing factions fought for control of [[international sport]]. The [[1924 Summer Olympics]] in Paris and the [[1928 Summer Olympics]] in Amsterdam had greatly increased participation from Latin American athletes.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Cesar R. |last=Torres |title=The Latin American 'Olympic Explosion' of the 1920s: causes and consequences |journal=International Journal of the History of Sport |volume=23 |issue=7 |year=2006 |pages=1088–111 |doi=10.1080/09523360600832320 |s2cid=144085742 }}</ref>

English and Scottish engineers had brought futebol (soccer) to Brazil in the late 19th century. The International Committee of the YMCA of North America and the Playground Association of America played major roles in training coaches.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Claudia |last=Guedes |title='Changing the cultural landscape': English engineers, American missionaries, and the YMCA bring sports to Brazil–the 1870s to the 1930s |journal=International Journal of the History of Sport |volume=28 |issue=17 |year=2011 |pages=2594–608 |doi=10.1080/09523367.2011.627200 |s2cid=161584922 }}</ref> Across the globe after 1912, the [[Fédération Internationale de Football Association]] (FIFA) played the chief role in the transformation of association football into a global game, working with national and regional organisations, and setting up the rules and customs, and establishing championships such as the World Cup.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Paul |last=Dietschy |title=Making football global? FIFA, Europe, and the non-European football world, 1912–74 |journal=Journal of Global History |volume=8 |issue=2 |year=2013 |pages=279–298 |doi=10.1017/S1740022813000223 |s2cid=162747279 }}</ref>

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  from:1929 till:1939 text:[[Great Depression|Depression]]
  bar:Machine color:era
  from:1900  till:1945  text:[[Machine Age]]
  bar:World.Wars color:era
  from:1914  till:1918  text:[[WWI]]
  from:1918  till:1939  text:Interwar period
  from:1939  till:1946  text:[[WWII]]
</timeline>

== End of an era ==
The interwar period ended in September 1939 with the [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[invasion of Poland]] and the start of [[World War II]].<ref name=Overy-2016>{{cite book |last=Overy |first=R J |author-link=Richard Overy |title=The Inter-war Crisis, 1919–1939 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phthPgAACAAJ |edition=2nd revised |year=2015 |publisher=Routledge |location=London, New York |isbn=978-1-1381-379-36 |orig-year=1st pub. 2010:Longman |oclc=949747872 |access-date=11 August 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)]]
* [[Aftermath of World War I]]
* [[1920s]]
* [[Jazz age]]
* [[Roaring Twenties]]
* [[1930s]]
* [[International relations (1919–1939)]]
* [[Diplomatic history of World War I]]
* [[Diplomatic history of World War II]]
* [[Causes of World War II]]
* [[Interwar Britain]]
* [[European Civil War]]
* [[European interwar dictatorships]]
* [[Interwar United States]]
* [[Lost Generation]]
* [[Interbellum Generation]]
* [[Greatest Generation]]
* [[Interwar Poland]]
* [[Interwar Belgium]]
* [[Second Thirty Years' War]]
* [[1920s in Western fashion]]
** [[1930–45 in Western fashion]]
* [[Great Depression]]
*** [[Great Depression in the United States]]
*** [[European interwar economy]]
*** [[Causes of the Great Depression]]
*** [[Cities in the Great Depression]]
*** [[Dust Bowl]]
*** [[Entertainment during the Great Depression]]
*** [[Timeline of the Great Depression]]
* [[Political history of the world]]
* ''[[Apocalypse: Never-Ending War 1918–1926]]''

=== Timelines ===
* [[Timeline of the 20th century]], since 1900
* [[Timeline of events preceding World War II]]
** [[Events preceding World War II in Europe]]
** [[Events preceding World War II in Asia]]
{{Div col end}}

== Notes ==
* For a guide to the reliable sources see Jacobson (1983).<ref>Jon Jacobson, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1864590 Is there a New International History of the 1920s?]". ''American Historical Review'' 88.3 (1983): 617–645. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103225109/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1864590 |date=3 November 2020 }}.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Morris, Richard B. and Graham W. Irwin, eds. ''[[iarchive:harperencycloped00morr|Harper Encyclopedia of the Modern World: A Concise Reference History from 1760 to the Present]]'' (1970)
* Albrecht-Carrié, René. ''A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna'' (1958), 736pp; a basic introduction, 1815–1955 [https://archive.org/details/diplomatichistor0000albr_b4c1 online free to borrow]
* Berg-Schlosser, Dirk, and Jeremy Mitchell, eds. ''Authoritarianism and democracy in Europe, 1919–39: Comparative Analyses'' (Springer, 2002).
* [[Sheri Berman|Berman, Sheri]]. ''The Social Democratic Moment: Ideas and Politics in the Making of Interwar Europe'' (Harvard UP, 2009).
* Bowman, Isaiah. ''The New World: Problems in Political Geography'' (4th ed. 1928) sophisticated global coverage; 215 maps; [https://archive.org/details/newworldproblem00bowmgoog online]
* Brendon, Piers. ''The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s'' (2000) a comprehensive global political history; 816pp

* Bridges, Mary. ''Dollars and Dominion: US Bankers and the Making of a Superpower'' (Princeton University Press), 1900 to 1940 [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=61536 online review of this book]

* Cambon, Jules, ed ''The Foreign Policy of the Powers'' (1935) Essays by experts that cover France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.130997 Online free]
* Clark, Linda Darus, ed. ''Interwar America: 1920–1940: Primary Sources in U.S. History'' (2001)
*  Cohrs, Patrick O. "The First 'Real' Peace Settlements after the First World War: Britain, the United States and the Accords of London and Locarno, 1923–1925." ''Contemporary European History'' 12.1 (2003): 1-31.
* Costigliola, Frank C. ''Awkward dominion: American political, economic, and cultural relations with Europe, 1919–1933'' (Cornell University Press, 2018).
* Dailey, Andy, and David G. Williamson. (2012) ''Peacemaking, Peacekeeping: International Relations 1918–36'' (2012) 244 pp; textbook, heavily illustrated with diagrams and contemporary photographs and colour posters.
* Doumanis, Nicholas, ed. ''The Oxford Handbook of European History, 1914–1945'' (Oxford UP, 2016).
* Duus, Peter, ed., ''The Cambridge History of Japan, vol. 6, The Twentieth Century'' (1989) pp 53–153, 217–340. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-cambridge-history-of-japan/4D00F02EF55AC774AD0F5BD8D1887BD4 online]
* Feinstein, Charles H., Peter Temin, and Gianni Toniolo. ''The World Economy Between the World Wars'' (Oxford UP, 2008), a standard scholarly survey.
* Freeman, Robert. ''The InterWar Years (1919–1939)'' (2014), brief survey
* Frieden, Jeff. "Sectoral conflict and foreign economic policy, 1914–1940". ''International Organization'' 42.1 (1988): 59–90; focus on US policy. {{doi|10.1017/S002081830000713X}}.
* Garraty, John A. ''[[iarchive:greatdepressioni0000garr/page/n7/mode/2up|The Great Depression: An Inquiry into the Causes, Course, and Consequences of the Worldwide Depression of the Nineteen-1930s, As Seen by Contemporaries]]'' (1986).
* Gathorne-Hardy, Geoffrey Malcolm. ''A Short History of International Affairs, 1920 to 1934'' (Oxford UP, 1952).
* {{Cite book |last1=Grenville |first1=J. A. S. |title=[[A History of the World in the 20th Century|A History of the World in the Twentieth Century]] |year=2000 |pages=77–254}} [https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%28J%20A%20S%20Grenville%29 Online free to borrow]
* Grift, Liesbeth van de, and Amalia Ribi Forclaz, eds. ''Governing the Rural in Interwar Europe'' (2017)
* Grossman, Mark ed. ''Encyclopedia of the Interwar Years: From 1919 to 1939'' (2000).
* Hasluck, E. L. ''Foreign Affairs 1919 to 1937'' (Cambridge University Press, 1938).
* Hicks, John D. ''Republican Ascendancy, 1921–1933'' (1960) for USA [https://ia800302.us.archive.org/23/items/republicanascend001161mbp/republicanascend001161mbp.pdf online]
* {{Cite book |last1=Hobsbawm |first1=Eric J. |title=The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914–1991 |year=1994}} – a view from the Left.
* Kaser, M. C. and E. A. Radice, eds. ''The Economic History of Eastern Europe 1919–1975: Volume II: Interwar Policy, The War, and Reconstruction'' (1987)
* {{Cite book |last1=Keylor |first1=William R. |title=The Twentieth-Century World: An International History |edition=4th |year=2001}}
* Koshar, Rudy. ''Splintered Classes: Politics and the Lower Middle Classes in Interwar Europe'' (1990).
* {{cite book|last=Kynaston|first=David|author-link=David Kynaston|title=Till Time's Last Sand: A History of the Bank of England, 1694–2013|year=2017|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]]|place=New York|pages=290–376|isbn=978-1408868560}}
* Luebbert, Gregory M. ''Liberalism, Fascism, Or Social Democracy: Social Classes and the Political Origins of Regimes in Interwar Europe'' (Oxford UP, 1991).
* {{Cite book |last1=Marks |first1=Sally |title=The Ebbing of European Ascendancy: An International History of the World 1914–1945 |publisher=Oxford UP |year=2002 |pages=121–342}}
* Matera, Marc, and Susan Kingsley Kent. ''The Global 1930s: The International Decade'' (Routledge, 2017) [https://books.google.com/books?id=-gkqDwAAQBAJ excerpt]
* {{citation|last=Mazower|first=Mark|title=Minorities and the League of Nations in interwar Europe|journal=Daedalus|volume=126|issue=2|year=1997|pages=47–63|jstor=20027428}}
* {{cite book|last=Meltzer|first=Allan H.|author-link=Allan H. Meltzer|title=A History of the Federal Reserve – Volume 1: 1913–1951|year=2003|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|place=Chicago|pages=90–545|isbn=978-0226520001}}
* [[Mowat, C. L.]] ed. (1968). ''The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 12: The Shifting Balance of World Forces, 1898–1945'' (2nd ed.). – 25 chapters by experts; 845 pp; the first edition (1960) edited by David Thompson has the same title but numerous different chapters.
* Mowat, Charles Loch. ''Britain Between the Wars, 1918–1940'' (1955), 690pp; thorough scholarly coverage; emphasis on politics. [https://archive.org/details/britainbetweenwa0000mowa_f7k1/page/n8/mode/1up online]
* Murray, Williamson and Allan R. Millett, eds. ''Military Innovation in the Interwar Period'' (1998)
* Newman, Sarah, and Matt Houlbrook, eds. ''The Press and Popular Culture in Interwar Europe'' (2015)
* Overy, R. J. ''The Inter-War Crisis 1919–1939'' (2nd ed. 2007)
* Rothschild, Joseph. ''East Central Europe Between the Two World Wars'' (U of Washington Press, 2017).
* Seton-Watson, Hugh. (1945) ''Eastern Europe Between The Wars 1918–1941'' (1945) [https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.183358/2015.183358.Estern-Europe-Between-The-Wars-1918-1941.pdf online]
* {{Cite book |last1=Somervell |first1=D.C. |title=The Reign of King George V |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.176466 |year=1936}} – 550 pp; wide-ranging political, social and economic coverage of Britain, 1910–35
* [[Raymond James Sontag|Sontag, Raymond James.]] ''A Broken World, 1919–1939'' (1972) [https://archive.org/details/brokenworld1919100sont online ]; wide-ranging survey of European history
* Steiner, Zara. ''The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919–1933''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
* Steiner, Zara. ''The Triumph of the Dark: European International History 1933–1939''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
* Toynbee, A. J. ''Survey of International Affairs 1920–1923'' (1924) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15363 online];  ''Survey of International Affairs'' annual 1920–1937 [https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28affairs%29%20AND%20creator%3A%28toynbee%29 online]; ''Survey of International Affairs 1924'' (1925); ''Survey of International Affairs 1925'' (1926) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.179756 online]; ''Survey of International Affairs 1924'' (1925) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15364 online]; ''Survey of International Affairs 1927'' (1928) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15361 online]; ''Survey of International Affairs 1928'' (1929) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15349 online]; ''Survey of International Affairs 1929'' (1930) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15362 online]; ''Survey of International Affairs 1932'' (1933) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.16978 online]; ''Survey of International Affairs 1934'' (1935), focus on Europe, Middle East, Far East; ''Survey of International Affairs 1936'' (1937) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.17001 online]
* Watt, D. C. et al., ''A History of the World in the Twentieth Century'' (1968) pp.&nbsp;301–530.
* Wheeler-Bennett, John. ''Munich: Prologue To Tragedy,'' (1948) broad coverage of diplomacy of 1930s
* Zachmann, Urs Matthias. ''Asia after Versailles: Asian Perspectives on the Paris Peace Conference and the Interwar Order, 1919–33'' (2017)

=== Historiography ===
* Cornelissen, Christoph, and Arndt Weinrich, eds. ''Writing the Great War – The Historiography of World War I from 1918 to the Present'' (2020) free download; full coverage for major countries.
* Jacobson, Jon. "Is there a New International History of the 1920s?". ''American Historical Review'' 88.3 (1983): 617–645.
* [[Raymond James Sontag|Sontag, Raymond James.]] "Between the Wars". ''Pacific Historical Review'' 29.1 (1960): 1–17, {{JSTOR|3636283}}.

=== Primary sources ===
* Keith, Arthur Berridale, ed. ''Speeches and Documents on International Affairs Vol-I'' (1938) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.143217/page/n2/mode/1up online vol 1; all in English translation] ; also see [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.52978/page/n5/mode/1up volume 2]

== External links ==
* [https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar.htm wide range of diplomatic documents from many countries]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307130226/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar.htm |date=7 March 2021 }}. Mount Holyoke College edition.
* [https://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Britain_1919_to_the_present "Britain 1919 to the present"] Several large collections of primary sources and illustrations
* [http://www.historyteacher.net/APEuroCourse/WebLinks/WebLinks-Inter-WarYears.htm Primary source documents]

{{History of Europe}}
{{Great Depression}}
{{United States–Commonwealth of Nations recessions}}
{{Financial bubbles}}
{{Financial crises}}
{{Western world}}
{{Eastern world}}
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[[Category:Interwar period| ]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War I|.]]
[[Category:Former countries of the interwar period|.]]
[[Category:Chronology of World War II]]
[[Category:Periodization]]
[[Category:Former countries by period]]