Europe, late 1930s
The 1930s drew to a close, and Europe stood on the edge of catastrophe.
The lessons of the Spanish Civil War had been clear, but many powers chose appeasement over confrontation.
In 1938, Hitler demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland, a German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia.
At the Munich Conference, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French leaders agreed to Hitler's demands, believing it would secure "peace for our time."
But Hitler's ambitions were far from satisfied.
In March 1939, Germany violated the Munich agreement and occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia.
The world watched in growing alarm.
Meanwhile, in Poland, tensions escalated.
Hitler sought to reclaim territories lost after World War I.
The Soviet Union and Germany stunned the world by signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939, a non-aggression treaty that secretly divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence.
With this dark alliance in place, Hitler felt emboldened.
On September 1, 1939, German forces invaded Poland, unleashing the fury of blitzkrieg—lightning war.
Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany.
World War II had begun.
Across Europe, governments mobilized, civilians braced for the worst, and soldiers prepared to fight once again.
A British soldier penned in his diary:
"The nightmare we thought had ended has returned—darker, deadlier."
The echoes of fire were roaring louder than ever.