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Once they came to power, both Hitler and Mussolini took total control of their nations. Elections ended. Newspapers that spoke out against the dictators were closed.
The Nazis and the Fascists jailed or killed those who disagreed with them. Fear silenced most of their opponents. Both dictators rebuilt their nation’s armed forces, and in 1936, they formed a partnership called the Rome-Berlin Axis. Four years later, Japan joined them. Throughout the 1930s, all three conquered weaker nations. When democratic countries like Britain, France, and the United States did little to stop them, the dictators grew bolder. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France then declared war on Germany. World War II had begun.
