Expansionism and Imperialism

Japanese Empire ^[1]

Japan was expansionist, and determined to build an empire by invading neighboring regions such as Manchuria in 1931. Japan and Germany entered the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936; Italy joined a year later. This pact opposed the spread of communism, which was seen as a threat by the Soviet Union. In 1937, the Kwantung Army of the Japanese Empire invaded the Republic of China.

The U.S.S.R. also had a long history of imperialism and expansionism. The U.S.S.R. entered the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany in order to maneuver an invasion of Poland and reclaim territory lost in the 1920s.

For the most part, the expansionism that caused World War II was carried out by countries that felt cheated by the treaties of World War I.

Page Notes:

^[1] Source: This image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Japanese_Empire2.png is licensed under the terms of the GNU License Agreement.