World War II

====Germany====
The German Empire was dissolved in the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]], and a democratic government, later known as the [[Weimar Republic]], was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the political right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the [[Treaty of London (1915)|promises made]] by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into the war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the [[Italian fascism|Fascist]] movement led by [[Benito Mussolini]] seized power in Italy with a nationalist, [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]], and [[class collaboration]]ist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing, and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, promising the creation of a "[[New Roman Empire]]".{{sfn|Shaw|2000|p=35}}

[[File:Nürnberg Reichsparteitag Hitler retouched.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Adolf Hitler]] at a German [[Nazism|Nazi]] political rally in [[Nuremberg]], August 1933]]
[[Adolf Hitler]], after an [[Beer Hall Putsch|unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government]] in 1923, eventually [[Adolf Hitler's rise to power|became the Chancellor of Germany]] in 1933 when [[Paul von Hindenburg]] and the Reichstag appointed him. Following Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler proclaimed himself ''Führer'' of Germany and abolished democracy, espousing a [[New Order (Nazism)|radical, racially motivated revision of the world order]], and soon began a massive [[German rearmament|rearmament campaign]].{{sfn|Brody|1999|p=4}} France, seeking to secure its alliance with Italy, [[Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935|allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia]], which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the [[Territory of the Saar Basin]] was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription.{{sfn|Zalampas|1989|p=62}}