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WWII
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Soviet Union
Russian Civil War results in the creation of the Soviet Union, a Communist state. -
Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini rises to power in Italy. He implimented a totalitarian regime in an attempt to restore Italy's position as a world power. He also created fascism, which is a political movement consisting of a strong central government, led by a powerful dictator. -
Stalin Takes Over
The first leader of the Soviet Union died, and Joseph Stalin took control of the country. Stalin let nothing stand in the way of his goals, and brought great suffering to his people. -
Kellogg-Briand Pact
This is a 1929 treaty in which 64 nations pledged to get rid of war as a means of international dispute. More Information -
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany. At this time, Nazis had more votes than any other party. Nazism is a type of fascism with extreme nationalism. Hitler added the idea that "Aryan" Germans were a "master race" and that all other races were meant to serve them -
President Franklin Roosevelt
When Franklin Roosevelt was first president he recognized the Soviet Union and exchanged ambassadors with Moscow. He also passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act to make foreign trade more efficient. -
Concentration Camps (Genocide)
Genocide- the deliberate and systematic killing of an entire people Concentration camps often seperated families. Life in the camps was an endless cycle of hunger, humilitation and work that ended in death. Prisoners were crammed into crude wooden barracks that held up to 1,000 people each. People shared their living space and minimal food. Prisoners worked from sunruse to sunset seven days a week until they collapsed, and were then killed -
Holocaust (anti-Semitism)
The Holocaust is the systematic murder of 11 million people across Europe, more than half of whom were Jews. Anti-semitism is the hatred of Jews. Anti-Semitism had deep roots in European history. Hilter blamed the Jews for Germany's defeat in WW1, as well as its later economic problems. -
Neutrality Acts
This was a set of 3 acts passed by Congress to keep the United States out of future wars. Acts one and two prohibited arms sales or loans to nations in a war. The third act outlawes arms sales and loans to nations in a cival war. The third acts was made after fighting broke out in Spain in 1936 Neutrality Acts -
Troop Build Up in Ethiopia
Italy invaded Ethiopia in an attempt to build more world power. In the fall of 1935 tens of thousands of Italian Soldiers advanced into Ethiopia. -
Troop Build up in the Rhineland
More Information on Rhineland
In 1935 Hitler went against the Treaty of Versailles when he built up an army. In 1936, he sent troops to the Rhineland. The Rhineland is a German region on the border with France and Belgium. -
Quarantine Speech
Speech President Franklin D. Roosevelt made this speech as a call to end the isolation approach in America. He said that "dangerous" countries like Germany and Italy needed to be quarantined. -
Neville Chamberlain-Peace with Honor
Chamberlain returned home and there were happy crowds of people because he said "My friends...there has come back from Germany peace with honor. I believe it is peace in our time." -
German troops march into Austria
Hitler had a meeting with Kurt von Schuschnigg because he wanted Austrian Nazis in his government. Hitler bullied Schuschnigg into signing an agreement to do so. Schnuschingg then backed out of the agreement, and Hitler forced him to resign. -
Munich Pact
Hitler invited French Premier Eduard Daladier and Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister to sign away Sudetenland to avoid war with Germany. -
Winston Churchhill-Appeasement
Appeasement is giving up principles to pacify and agressor. -
Kristallnact (Crystal Night)
The night that gangs of Nazis attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues throughout Germany. Jews were blamed by the Nazis and more than 20,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps. -
Francisco Franco
Franco led the rebal Nationalist army to victory in Spain, and then gained control in 1939. Nationalism is the idea that countries should focus on their own national issues instead of international issues. -
Nonagression Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union signed an agreement not to fight each other. -
Blitzkrieg
More Information Means lightning war. This is a new military strategy which allowed Germany to take an enemy by suprise and quickly cruch all oppostition with unbeatable force. -
Soviets Invade Finland
Late in 1939, Stalin sent the Soviet army into Finland. Finland resisted and fought harshly for three months. They then surrendered. Attack came after many months of A phony war -
Axis Powers
Japan, Germany and Italy signed a mutual defense treaty called the Tripartite Pact. The pact was aimed at keeping the U.S.A. out of the war. It stated that of one of the three countries was attacked, the other countries would assist them. -
Election of 1940
The election of 1940 was the re-election of Roosevelt. Republican was Wendell Willkie, and he shared many of the same beliefs as Roosevelt. Therefore, the public chose the candidate they knew best. -
Germans Invade Denmark and Norway
The german army, much to the surprise of the rest of the world, invaded Denmark and Norway. Germany said the invasion was neccesary "to protect freedom and independence" for these countries. -
Germans invade Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg
The Germans used the blitzkrieg to overrun Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg -
Germany and Italy Invade France
Allied forces in northern France were cut off and outnumbered by the German forces. Italy then joined the war on Germany's side and invaded France from the south. France surrendered to Germany's conditions: Germans occupied northern France and a Nazi-controlled government would be set up in the South -
Battle of Britain
Germany wanted to control Britain, and their strategy was to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF). Hitler had 2,600 planes at his disposal and bombed the RAF. Then, every night for two months, Germans bombed Britain. RAF used radar to fight back. On September 15, the RAF shot down 56 planes. Hitler then indefinately called of the invasion of Britain. -
Lend-Lease
Created in 1941, this act was a result of cash and carry. Lend-Lease was were the US would lend and lease arms to any countries whose protection was vital to the United States. The act was first used when, on June 22, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union with 3 million troops, ignoring his peace treaty. The United Stated then sent arms to the Soviet Union. -
Atlantic Charter
Specific Points of the Atlantic CharterRoosevelt and Churchill met secretely aboard a warship off the coast of Newfounland. While on the ship, they made a Charter which statedthe causes for why WW 2 was fought. -
A. Phillip Randolph
President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping car Porters, and the leading African American labor leader. On this date, millions of African American flooded Washington with a banner reading "We loyal colored American demand the right to work and fight for our country." -
Hideki Tojo- Leader of Japan
Tojo was a military general turned Prime Minister. Shortly after taking office, he met with Japan's emperor Hirohito. Tojo promised that the government would try for the last time to reserve peace with America. If peace talks failed, Japan would have np choice but to go to war. But on November 5, 1941 while Tojo's "peace" envoy was on its way to Washington, he told tha army to prepare for an attack on the U.S.A. -
Peal Harbor
Japanese dive bombers ascended over the U.S Naval base at Pearl Harbor. The bombing was followed by 180 war planes launched from six aircraft carriers. American aircraft hardly had an impact. At 9:30 am, the last plane soared off, and American saw the utter devestation caused by the attack.. Video Clip -
Selective Service-G.I.
Selective service was the search for a certain kind of soldier. After Pearl Harbor, young men, anxious to become war heroes, crammed registration offices. Eventually, selective services got 10 million soldiers to fit the needs of the armed forces.
G.I.-(government issue) Non-citizens couldn't be soldiers -
War Plan w/ Churchill and FDR
Churchill spent three weeks at the White House working out war plans with FDR.
Deafeting Hitler= top priority because:
-Roosevelt considered Hitler the number one enemy of the US
-Soviet Union, an ally, was desperate to help against invading German forces
-Only after Germany fell could the US look to the Soviet Union and Britain for help in defeating Japan. -
Philippines, Corregidor, Douglas MacArthur
80,000 American and Filipino troops troops commanded by Douglas Arthur held out against 200,000 Japanese troops for four months on the Bataan Island and another month on the Island of Corregidor. In the end MacArthur was forced to retreat. -
Industrial Response
More Information
The government shut down production companies and used them to produce war artillery.
Ex. Automibile plants made tanks, planes, boats, and command cars
Mechanical pencil factory made bomb parts
Soft drink company went from filling bottles with liquid to filling shells with explosives -
Internment of Japanese
Americans questioned the loyalty of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor. The War depertment called for the evacuation of all Japanese American in Hawaii. Delos Emmons, Hawaii general resisted the order because 37% of Hawaiian poulation was Japanese. Removing the Japanese would have destroyed the economy and hindered US military operations there. Eventually the internment of 1444 Japanese Americans, 1% of the total Japanese population, occured. -
The Battle of Coral Sea
American and Australian fleet intercepted a Japanese strike force headed for Australia. All fighting was done by carrier-based airplanes. The Allies lost more ships, but the Japanese ran out f fuel and were forced to turn back. This was the first Japanese invasion that had been stopped. -
Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC)
"There are innumerable duties now being performed by soldiers that can actually be done better by women."
-George Marshall
Under this bill, women who volunteered for the Army would not recive the same rank, pay, or benefits of men doing the same job. -
The Battle of Midway
Chester Nimitz intercepted a Japanese Message that said 110 ships were headed toward Midway, a strategic island in the Pacific. Even though they were outnumbered 4 to 1 in both ships and planes, Nimitz ordered a surpise attack. The damage to Japanese forces a devestaing. -
Guadalcanal
!9,000 marines stormed Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese abandoned the island six months later, calling it the Island of Death. There were many casualties on both sides from nature. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
<a href='http://www.2worldwar2.com/stalingrad.htm' >More Information</aBy 1942 Hitler's invasion into the Soviet Union had stalled in Moscow. Hitker changed his strategy and decided that he would conquer Stalingrad. Germany came in and destroyed the town fairly easily. Then the Soviets launched a major counterattack. Even though the German army was losing, Hitler told the, to fight to the last man. The battle continued into winter until the Germans surrendered on this date. over 200,000 German soldiers died, as well as 1,250,00 Soviets. -
North African Front
Operation Torch was the invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa, led by American general Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Allied troops arrived in Africa in Novermber, 1942, and after many months of intense fighting, the Axis Afrika Korps, led by General Erwin Rommel (Desert Fox), surrendered. -
The Battle of the Atlantic
After Pearl Harbor, Hitler started an attack on America's East Coast. Germany destroyed a total of 681 Allied ships in the Atlantic. The Allies used radar on planes and boats to track submarines, which enabled them to destroy U-boats faster than Germany could make them.Then in 1943, Americans rapidly built 140 Liberty ships every month. By June, the Battle of the Atlantic had turned to the allies' favor. -
The Battle of Leyte Gulf & Kamikazes
The Japanese unveiled their kamakaze tactic during this battle. Kamikazes are suicide planes laden with bombs. The pilot would drive the plane into allied ships. Despite the success of the suicide planes, the battle was a disaster for Japan. From then on the Imperial Navy had a minor role in protecting Japan. -
D-Day
The day on which the Allied launched an invasion of the European mainland during WW2. It was postponed for a day because of poor weather. It was the largest land-sea-air operation in history. Despite many deaths, the allies held the beach heads. This was the start of freeing many European nations controlled by Axis powers. By September 1944, the Allies had freed France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the Netherlands. -
The Battle of the Bulge
Germans broke through weak American defenses along an 80-mile front. The Allied forces were weakened, and the last-ditch offensive was given the name Battle of the Bulge. The American general recieved a surrender demand from the Germans and simply replied "Nuts!!" The battle raged for a month and it seemed that German troops hadn;t changed. But in fact, they lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks and assult guns, and 1600 planes in the battle. They couldn't replace what they had lost and had to retreat -
Potsdam
Meeting between Truman, Churchill and Stalin. Stalin had promised to alllow free election in Poland, but when the time came, he went back on hi word and outlawed democratic election. Truman confronted him about it in Potsdam, but nothing came of it. -
Yalta
Roosevelt, Chirchill and Stalin met in this Soviet city to discuss important issues about the future. Called the Yalta Conference, the leaders agreed to a set of measures to be put into place after Germany was defeated. These included the creation of the United Nations (UN), based on the principles of the Atlantic Charter. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
Taking over the island of Iwo Jima was critical for the United States. Taking it over would allow heavily loaded bomber to travel to Japan. Even though it was guarded with 20,700 Japanese troops, American troops managed to conquer it. -
Harry Truman Becomes President
President Roosevelt was posing for a portrait in Warm Springs, Georgia when he died of a stroke. He never saw the final battles that occured in the Pacific. After his death, Harry S. Truman became president. -
The Italian Campaign
Allies decided to attack Italy.
On July 25,1943 Benito Mussolini was stripped of his power by King Victor Emmanuel II. He was arrested as soon as he left the palace, and Italians then celebrated the end o the war. However, Hitler then invaded Italy and reinstalled Mussolini as leader. It took 18 months of horri fighting for Allied forces to finally drive the Germans from Italian soil. On April 28 1945, Mussoliniwas found disguised as a German soildier. the next day he was shot and hung. -
Unconditional Surrender/ V-E Day
By April 25, 1945, Soviet troops had invaded Berlin. Hitler then decided he would kill himself instead of surrendering, along with his new wife. A week later General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. The allied celebrated Victory over Europe Day on this date. -
The Battle of Okinama
In the ferocious battle that took place on Okinawa, 7,600 Americans, and an unfathomable 110,000 japanese died. This includes the deaths of two Japanese generals who choose ceremonial suicide over surrender. In the end America exited victorious. -
The Manhattan Project
The project, which included 600,000 Americans at its height, was the most secretive project during the entire war: The creation of an atomic bomb. The project began in 1942, and ended on this date when the first atomic bomb was detonated near Alamogordo, New Mexico. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On this date an atomic bomb was dropped over Hirishima, a vital Japanese military center. After a cataclysmic explosion the town had been reduced to nothing. After three days Japan hadn't surrendered and another bomb exploded in Nagasaki, leveling half the city. By the end of ther year around 200,000 people died as a result of the bombs. -
Nuremberg War Trials
Twenty-two Nazi leaders were tried at these trials. Twelv of them were given the death sentence, and the majority were sentenced to life in prison. In all, around 200 Nazis were found guilty of war crimes like crimes against the peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was the first time a nation's leaders were held legally responsible for wartime actions.
