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End of WWI
By the war's end, four major imperial powers—the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires—had been militarily and politically defeated. The latter two ceased to exist. The revolutionized Soviet Union emerged from the Russian Empire, while the map of central Europe was completely redrawn into numerous smaller states.The League of Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The European nationalism spawned by the war and the breakup of empires, and the -
Hitler joins the Nazi party
The party's last leader, Adolf Hitler, was appointed Chancellor of Germany by president Paul von Hindenburg in 1933. Hitler rapidly established a totalitarian regime known as the Third Reich. -
Fascist Party established under Mussolini in italy
Italian Fascism denotes the authoritarian, nationalist, Fascismo via which Prime Minister Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy, from 1922 until 1943. -
establishment of the USSR
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Mussolini takes over Italy
Mussolini became the 40th Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by 1925. After 1936, his official title was "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire". Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced -
Death of vladimir Lenin; control of USSR to Joseph Stalin; deaths of 8 - 13 million Russians
Stalin assumed the leading role in Soviet politics after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924, and gradually marginalized his opponents until he had become the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union. -
Us and 61 other countries sign Kellogg- Briand Pact
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Soviet Union and all three Baltic States further signed non-aggression treaties. The Soviet Union also confirmed that it would adhere to the Kellogg-Briand Pact with regard to its neighbors, including Estonia and Latvia, and entered into a convention defining "aggression" that included all three Baltic countries. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria by the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan, beginning on September 19, 1931, immediately followed the Mukden Incident. The Japanese occupation of Manchuria lasted until the end of World War II. -
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany, establishing the Third Reich
Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, refers to Germany from 1933 to 1945 when it was governed by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP)[, commonly known in English as the Nazi Party (from the German Nazi, abbreviated from the pronunciation of Nationalsozialist) -
Roosevelt takes office
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945; pronounced /ˈroʊzəvəlt/ ROE-zə-vəlt;[1] also known by his initials, FDR) was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. The only American president elected to more than two terms, he forged a durable coalition that realigned American politics for decades. -
US begins passing Neutrality Acts
The Neutrality Acts were laws that were passed by the United States Congress in the 1930s, in response to the growing turmoil in Europe and Asia that eventually led to World War II. They were spurred by the growth in isolationism and non-interventionism in the US following its costly involvement in World War I, and sought to ensure that the US would not become entangled again in foreign conflicts. -
Civil War begins in Spain under Francisco Franco
The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. It began after a military rebellion by a group of conservative generals led by Francisco Franco against the established Government of the Second Spanish Republic, then under the leadership of President Manuel Azaña. The rebel coup was supported by the conservative groups including the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas, or CEDA), monarchists known -
German troops invade Rhineland
he Remilitarization of the Rhineland by the German Army took place on March 7, 1936 when German forces entered the Rhineland. -
Italian troops conquer Ethiopia
Italian troops captured the Ethiopian capital of Addis Abeba in the spring of 1936, and, on May 9, 1936, Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed Emperor of Ethiopia. This war was extremely popular in Italy, but it pointed out the weakness of the League of Nations, whose economic sanctions only irritated the Italians. It demonstrated the disarray of French and British foreign policy, and moved Italy in the direction of Nazi Germany, who supported Italy throughout the conflict. -
Hitler begins military buildup
In 1935, Hitler created an army for all boys and men, created an air force, and started to build submarines. The Treaty of Versailles kept Germany from having more than a 100,000 man-army, but Hitler soon had 600,000 men waiting for battle. Despite the Treaty, Great Britain and France ignored the German threat by allowing Germany to have an army and air force. Great Britain and France believed that if Germany was strong it would prevent the Soviet Union from attacking them. By allowing Germany t -
Japan invades China
In 1931, the Japanese Kwangtung Army attacked Chinese troops in Manchuria in an event commonly known as the Manchurian Incident. Essentially, this was an attempt by the Japanese Empire to gain control over the whole province, in order to eventually encompass all of East Asia. This proved to be one of the causes of World War IIs -
Hitler announces secret plans for lebensraum
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Czechoslovakia falls to Hitler
German occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945) began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by ethnic German populations living in those regions. -
Hitler takes Austria
Hitler began his conquests by occupying Austria in March 1938 and annexing it to Germany. Next he demanded from Czechoslovakia the Sudetenland, a region bordering Germany and peopled mostly by a German-speaking population. By threatening war, he forced England and France, in the Munich Pact, an agreement made at Munich in September 1938, to permit him to seize the Sudetenland. -
Munich Agreement; Sudetenland to Germany
The Munich Pact (Czech: Mnichovská dohoda; Slovak: Mníchovská dohoda; German: Münchner Abkommen; French: Accords de Munich; Italian: Accordi di Monaco) was an agreement permitting Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without the presence of Czechoslovakia. -
Franco is successful in Spain
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975), commonly known as Franco (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko ˈfɾaŋko]), was a Spanish military general and head of state of Spain from October 1936 (whole nation from 1939 onwards), and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November 1975. As head of state, Franco used the title Caudillo de España, por la gracia de Dios, meaning Leader of Spain, by the grace of God. -
Tolitarian government established in USSR
Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state, usually under the control of a single political person, faction, or class, recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible.[2] Totalitarianism is generally characterized by the coincidence of authoritarianism (where ordinary citizens have less significant share in state decision-making) and ideology (a pervasive scheme of values promulgated by inst -
Russian army into Finland (Finns surrender in three months)
In some ways, Soviet leader Josef Stalin became emboldened by Adolph Hitler's actions (and subsequent success) in his capture of several of the smaller nations en route to Poland and France. Not to be outdone - and securing a pact with Hitler's Germany, Stalin moved to expand the Soviet Empire to include the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuanian. With little resistance, the Soviet Army was allowed to set up local garrisons in the respective countries. -
Non-aggression pact; Germany and Russia; divide Poland
On 23 August, 1939, the world was shocked when, suddenly, Russia and Germany signed a 'Non-aggression Pact'.
People would have been even more shocked if they had known at the time that, in addition, the two countries had made a number of a 'secret protocol' agreeing to 'spheres of influence' in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Poland. It amounted to an agreement to invade and divide the countries of eastern Europe between them ... with Poland first on the list. -
German invasion of Poland; bitzkrieg
The Invasion of Poland effectively began the Second World War. German mechanized and airborne components poured over the border in well-coordinated fast-moving land offensives and accurate air attacks in what became known as the "Lightning War" or Blitzkrieg. The Poles put up a valiant defense of their country but they - and soon the whole of Europe - would prove no match for the might of the Nazi war machine. To add insult to injury, the Soviet Red Army assaulted the sovereign nation from the E -
Plans for an invasionof Great Britain: beginning of the Battle of Britain
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British and French defeat at Dunkirk
Denmark resisted the Nazi invasion for 1 day, then surrendered. The British tried to send help to Norway, but the Nazis swept them aside. Then, on 10 May 1940, the Nazis invaded Holland and Belgium. The Allied forces were helpless to stop their ‘Blitzkrieg’ (‘lightning war) tactics. Holland surrendered on 14 May, the same day as the Nazi Army invaded France. British, Belgian and French troops were retreating, but there was chaos. On 21 May, the Nazis captured Amiens -
German invasion of Denmark and Norway
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Defeat of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg by Germany
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and surround the Allied units that had advanced into Belgium. During the fighting, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and many French soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo. -
Italy enters the war on the side of Germany and invades France
During World War II (1939–1945), the Kingdom of Italy had a varied and tumultuous military history. Defeated in Greece, France, East Africa and North Africa, the Italian invasion of British Somaliland was one of the only successful Italian campaigns of World War II accomplished without German support. -
France surrenders to Germany
Hitler unleashes his blitzkrieg invasion of the Low Countries and France with a fury on May 10, 1940. (see Blitzkrieg, 1940) Within three weeks, a large part of the British force, accompanied by some of the French defenders, is pushed to the English Channel and compelled to abandon the continent at Dunkirk.
