Spain was not the only event to happen in 1936, though it was the one that drew everyone's eye. Italy and Germany were not content to simply back the Falangists in Spain, but they also launched endeavors elsewhere. For Hitler, the reunification of Austrian Germans with the German Reich was an issue on which he was extremely interested in. For Mussolini, the expansion of Italian Influence abroad was key. The two dictators would act on these issues while the Entente powers were distracted in Spain.
Since almost his inception as Chancellor, Hitler had been sending agents into the Austrian Republic, agitating Austrian Germans with promises of a great reunification of the German People. At the same time, Hitler funneled money and arms to the Austrian National Socialist Party, which was in opposition to Chancellor Dolfuss' Austrofascist Government. Not only that, but Hitler had secretly been engaging in Talks with Dolfuss' Right hand man, Kurt Schussenig to secretly take over Austria and guide the nation into a merger with Germany. The three pronged approach was especially effective and by June 1936 all the pieces were in place to enact Hitler's master plan for Austria.
First Austrian Nazi Party Paramilitary troops, posing as Communist Paramilitary troops, assassinated Chancellor Dolfuss on June 12th during the Chancellor's lunch at an upscale cafe in Vienna. Next, Schussenig stepped up to take the reigns of the Chancellorship and vowed to bring the traitors to Justice, enacting a month of arrests and deportations which would secretly remove all opposition to the proposed Anschluss from within the government of Austria. Finally, with all the agitation for Anschluss having gone on since 1935, a referendum was passed asking the People whether to pursue the proposed Anschluss, one which passed by a comfortable Margin. Finally in October the Anschluss Treaty was signed between Sussenig and Hitler and Austria began it's Integration into the German Reich.
This series of events completely blindsided Britain and France, who had been so focussed on Spain that the Anschluss seemed to come out of nowhere. Immediately France demanded to see the Ballots from the Referendum, but because Hitler had only tampered with the circumstances that brought the Referendum about and not actually fixed the vote in any way, the French inspection found the Referendum above board. The Entente could do nothing.
Meanwhile Mussolini had been Scheming with the Yemeni Government to expand Italian influence in the Red Sea. The Emir of Yemen, Imam Yahya had seen much of his territory cut away by the British to form the Aden Protectorate and he was desperately searching for a way to gain enough resources and military might to force the British to cede back most of what he had lost. Mussolini felt that this was a good chance to expand Italy's influence in the Area. He sent arms and military advisors to the Imam in exchange for a favorable trade and diplomatic treaty. In essence, making Yemen an Economic puppet of Italy. The Imam, desperate for any great power Backer, agreed to Mussolini's terms and by August 1936, the first Italian Advisors and Weapons shipments reached Yemen, along with Italian Oil and Mineral Exploration Teams. In a speech to the People, Mussolini defended the treaty saying, "As Rome once counted Axum a friend, let Italy now count Yemen one."
Of course this Italian Adventure Greatly Alarmed Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia. Selassie had spent the past decade and a half crushing rebellious vassals and attempting to Modernize his country. Most Recently he had put down a rebellion by the Powerful Noble Gusga Wale, which forced Wale to flee into exile in Yemen. Selassie, fearing the new treaty might see Wale return to plague him with Yemeni and Italian Backing, attempted to nationalize Italian Assets in Eithiopia, including the Italian Owned Addis Ababa-Jimma Railway, which was hugely profitable in that it was the main freight access from the Capitol to the Main Coffee growing areas of Eithiopia.
For Mussolini, this was a golden opportunity which just fell into his lap. He had previously had no intentions of Evicting Sellassie and placing Gusga Wale on the throne, however Sellasie's paranoia had given him an excuse to Meddle and in September of 1936, an Italian Expeditionary Force of 300,000 men arrived along with Gusga Wale from Yemen and began to march on Addis Ababa. For the great Rural Nobles who had been frequent opponents of Sellassie, this seemed like the answer to their prayers and they rallied around Gusga Wale.
Sellassie's response was slow in coming for all that he had been modernizing Ethiopia. There were not many rail networks with which to move troops around and mobilization was slow. On Paper, Ethiopia could field 800,000 troops but by the time Italian Forces reached Dessie, he had only managed to rally some 150,000 troops to defend the City. It didn't help that his frequent attacks on the Provincial Nobility had made him enough enemies outside the Capitol that his defense was hampered by unrest and Sabotage. By the end of September, Sellassie's forces had been driven out of Dessie and the Italians were closing in on the Capitol. By October, Addis Ababa was under siege and all provinces outside the Capitol were in revolt. Haile Sellasie himself was smuggled out of Addis Abbaba just ahead of Italian and Rebel Forces, fleeing incognito to French Djibouti and from there taking ship to London. In his place was a body double in an attempt to trick the defenders into believing their Emperor was still with them. This backfired when on October 16th, a stray Italian shell hit the Palace and the Defenders, believing the explosion had killed the Emperor, began to surrender en masse.
By the 20th of October, 1936 Gusga Wale was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia by his noble and Italian backers. Ethiopia was then forced to sign several treaties with Italy, essentially making them an Economic Puppet of Italy, though the Italian Commander, Prince Amadeo, the Duke of Aosta made sure to leave enough profit in the treaty terms for the Nobles and for Wale, that they would rather keep working for Italian interests rather than abrogate the treaties. Thus with an informal empire in Yemen and Ethiopia secured, Italy's influence rose to new heights.
Meanwhile in China, unrest with the KMT government over the Treaty of Tanggu had been simmering for some time. Chen Jitang, former Warlord and current Governor of Guangdong and head of the 1st Army Group had been rebuilding his power base in Guangdong Province since the Treaty and was furious with Chiang Kai Shek's Government for turning over such a large swathe of Chinese territory to the Japanese. Jitang had been secretly planning revolt for some time, using the wealth from his Province to trade with the British in Hong Kong and modernize the 1st Army Group with British Training and Equipment. In April of 1936 he finally had enough trained and modernized troops to begin a campaign against Chiang.
First, Chen reached out to Li Zhongren and Feng Yuxiang, one the Governor of Guanxi and the other a General. Feng and Li had been planning a revolt of their own when Japan had invaded Manchuria and forced them to unify with Chiang on Policy in the face of the Invader. However both men hated Chiang personally for his self-aggrandizing manner, as well as politically for ceding so much territory to Japan. The two agreed to combine forces with Chen to oust Chiang from power.
Alliance set, the three men launched an all out assault on Nanjing, spearheaded by the powerful and Modernized 1st Army Group. Furious at their insubordination, Chiang ordered Wu Qiwei and the 8th Army Group south from the Japanese Border to defend the Capitol. The two Forces met in July at the Battle of Nanchang, where the Superior Training and Modern Equipment of the Rebel forces, as well as the Experience of Li Zhongren as a commander, managed to encircle and destroy Wu Qiwei's 8th army group South of the City of Nancheng. The City Garrison then defected to the Rebels, who pressed onwards North to Nanjing.
Ironically, when they arrived at Nanjing, they found a mixed group of Soldiers and Police waiting for them, led by Wang Jingwei, the former Premier. Jingwei, seeing the writing on the wall, and also disgusted with Chiang's handling of the Treaty of Tanggu, rallied a force of garrison troops and police to coup Chiang. Li, Feng, Chen, and Jingwei then hammered out an agreement between them and by August 2nd 1936 a new KMT Government had formed in Nanjing, one which was interested in modernization and defeat of Japan. The KMT immediately began importing economic and military advisors from Britain and set about their task.
Meanwhile Tokyo looked on in alarm. . .