Ww2 After gaining power, Hitler aggressively built up the German military and in 1936, occupied the Rhineland, a formerly German area designated as a buffer zone to protect France. Britain and France were preoccupied with Italy's invasion of Ethiopia and made little protest. By 1938, Germany had the most powerful military force in the world. In that same year, Hitler demanded and was given the Sudetanland in Czechoslovakia. It was highly populated with Germans and Hitler claimed …showed first 75 words of 634 total…

…showed last 75 words of 634 total…from power essentially due to military ineptitude. Britain had the Germans beat in the air. Hitler foolishly attacked his ally Russia, creating a war on two fronts and with a foe he could not vanquish. He declared war on the United States after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Hitler should have realized he needed numerous and powerful allies to defeat his opposition. Japan, Germany and Italy were simply no match for the rest of the world.