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Treaty of versailles
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Period: to
Between the Wars
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Senate rejects League
The Senate refuses to ratify the Versailles Treaty or authorize United States participation in the League of Nations. -
German Reparations
Germany, burdened by reparations payments imposed by Treaty of Versailles, suffers hyperinflation. One American dollar is now worth 7,000 German marks. -
Stock Market Collapse
The American stock market collapses, signaling the onset of the Great Depression. The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaks in September 1929 at 381.17—a level that it will not reach again until 1954. The Dow will bottom out at a Depression-era low of just 41.22 in 1932. -
The London Naval reduction Treaty
The London Naval Reduction Treaty is signed into law by the United States, Great Britain, Italy, France, and Japan, to take effect on January 1, 1931. It would expire on December 31, 1936. -
Combating Depression
In order to combat the growing depression, President Herbert Hoover asks the U.S. Congress to pass a $150 million public works project to increase employment and economic activity. On the New York City docks, out of work men wait for food and jobs during the Great Depression, an outcome of the Stock Market crash of 1929 after the prosperous decade of the 1920's. 1931 -
Reconstruction
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation is established to stimulate banking and business. Unemployment in 1932 reached twelve million workers. -
Franklin Rosevelt defeats Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats President Hoover in the presidential election for his first term. The landslide victory, 472 Electoral College votes to 59 for Hoover began the era of FDR that would lead the nation through the vestiges of the Great Depression and the ravages of World War II. -
Plague in the midwest
In South Dakota, a strong dust storm strips topsoil from depression era farms. It was one in a series of such storms to plague the Midwest during 1933 and 1934. -
America remains nuetral
The United States declares its neutrality in the European war after Germany invaded Poland, effectively beginning World War II after a year of European attempts to appease Hitler and the aims of expansionist Nazi Germany. -
pearl harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, started at 7:55 a.m. when Japanese fighter planes launched a surprise attack on United States soil, destroying the U.S. Pacific Fleet docked at the base. This attack led to the entry of American troops into World War II. One day later, the United States of America declares war on Japan, -
Declaration of War
On December 11, 1941, the United States declares war on Germany and Italy, responding to their declaration of war against America.
