1) Several dictators rose to power in the 1930s and threatened world peace, including Stalin in the Soviet Union, Mussolini in Italy, and Hitler in Germany. 2) Hitler began expanding German territory by annexing Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia. Britain and France appeased him with the Munich Pact despite warnings it would lead to war. 3) Hitler launched WWII by invading Poland in 1939. The Soviet Union also invaded Poland and the two countries later signed a non-aggression pact. Germany then conquered several European countries using blitzkrieg warfare. 4) Under Hitler, the systematic genocide of Jewish people and other groups known as the Holocaust resulted in the murders of over 11 million people