Before the War

Triangle with CD inside. Photo Charles Sprague. Nazi swastika. Drawing of Hitler in military dress. — Clockwise from top left: An insignia for U.S. civilian defense; Oregon Governor Charles Sprague; a Nazi swastika; German dictator Adolf Hitler.

World War II was born in the decades before Hitler's 1939 march into Poland. As the United States looked inward, dark forces grew beyond control and aggression went unconfronted. This section follows the path that Oregon and the world took to war.

The Legacy of World War I and the Versailles Treaty
Oregon's Roaring Twenties Bring Mixed Record
Oregon Weathers the Great Depression
A Specter Abroad: The Axis Rises from Turmoil
Isolationism and Appeasement Fail
Preparing for War: The Nation Shifts Gears
The Oregon State Defense Council Takes Action

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