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Mussolini Takes Power In Italy
Mussolini gathered his followers, and threatened to march on Rome if he wasn't given control of the government. At first the government ignored him, and then he marched on Rome and forced the King to name him the leader of the government. All of this was done with little opposition as many in Italy actually turned to back Mussolini. Once in power, Mussolini outlawed any left wing parties and began building his own dictatorship. -
U.S. Stock Market Crashes
This day is known as Black Tuesday, one of the worst days in history. It was the day the Stock Market crashed which is known as the Great Crash, which led to the Great Depression. -
Japan Siezes Manchuria
Japan launched an attack on Manchuria when the Chinese military resistance was weak. This was an unofficial declaration of war on China. -
FDR Is Elected President
The only American president to be elected for more than two terms. He was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, and instituted the New Deal and other programs which were designed to provide relief during the hard times of the Great Depression. -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
Marked a crucial turning point for Germany and, ultimately, for the world. His plan included much of the German population. This was to do away with politics and make Germany a powerful, unified one-party state. -
Italy Invades Ethiopia
Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia, one of the oldest independent nations on the face of the earth, to retaliate for its humiliating defeat 39 years earlier. -
Hitler Defies the Treaty of Versailles
Hitler defied the Treaty of Versailles because he wanted to make Germany great again. The other countries such as France and Britain did not immediately stop them from defying the treaty. -
France Militarizes the Rhineland
The military uprising in Morocco, and different events in Madrid dividing Spain in only a matter of days. -
Civil war Erupts In Spain
The war ended with the victory of the Nationalists, the overthrow of the democratic government, and the exile of thousands of Spaniards. With the establishment of a dictatorship led by Francisco Franco in the aftermath of the Civil War, all right-wing parties were merged into the structure of the Franco regime. -
Japan Invades China
This invasion began the second Sino- Japanese War and initiates World War II in the Pacific. -
Munich Conference
This was an agreement allowing the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland was mostly inhabited by ethnic Germans along the Czech borders. The conference was held in Munich, Germany with all the major powers of Europe without the topic country present; Czechoslovakia. -
Kristallnacht
This was known as “Night of the broken Glass”. The name Kristallnacht has its basis in the untold numbers of broken windows of synagogues, Jewish-owned stores, community centers, and homes raided and destroyed during the pogrom. This is an understatement for the brutal devastation and does not sufficiently convey the suffering it caused. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Non-aggression pact. Paved the way for the beginning of WWII with Hitler assuring his troops would not have to fight a war on two fronts. This Pact stunned the world. -
Germany Invades Poland
This invasion marked the start of World War I when Poland was invaded by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a Slovak contingent. This was one week after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This invasion ended with the Soviet Union and Germany annexing and dividing Poland. -
Phony War
German, French and British troops waited at the Maginot Line and the Siegfried Line waiting for each other to make the first move and begin the battle. This lasted from September 3, 1939- May 10, 1940. This phony war resulted in the Battle of France. -
U.S. Neutrality Act
To preserve the neutrality and the peace of the United States and to secure the safety of its citizens and their interests. The United States, desiring to preserve its neutrality in wars between foreign states and desiring also to avoid involvement therein, voluntarily imposes upon its nationals by domestic regulation the restrictions set out in this joint resolution. -
Churchill is Elected Prime Minister in England
British Conservative politician and statesman known for his leadership during World War II, Winston Churchill, and widely seen as one of the greatest wartime leaders to be elected Prime Minister. -
Miracle At Dunkirk
The British commander-in-chief, General Gort, had been forced to retreat to the coast at Dunkirk. The troops waited, under merciless fire, to be taken off the beaches. A call went out to all owners of sea-worthy vessels to travel to Dunkirk to take the troops off the beaches of Dunkirk. More than 338,000 men were rescued, among them some 140,000 French who would form the nucleus of the Free French army under a little known general, Charles de Gaulle. -
France Surrenders
The French, Marshall Petain, signed an armistice with Germany taking France, which had been devastated, out of the war and into German occupation. -
Battle of Britain
This was the biggest bombing raid and was the first major battle fought by air forces. The German tactics were to bomb important political places, airports, and factories. In the end Britain won against the Luftwaffe. -
Atlantic Charter
Churchill and Roosevelt aboard a war ship off the coast of Newfoundland. This proclamation by the United States and Great Britain declared that they were fighting the Axis powers to guarantee “Life, Liberty, Independence, and the Religious Freedom and to preserve the Rights of man and Justice.” This document set forth several principles like the “renunciation of all aggression, right to self-government, access to raw materials, freedom from want and fear, and freedom of the seas. -
Lend-Lease Act
The United States supplied the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, China, and other allied nations with all the materials needed for war. -
Attack On Pearl Harbor
Sunday December 7, 1941 Japanese messages are intercepted. The Japanese attack force under the command of Admiral Nagumo, consisting of six carriers with 423 planes. At 6 a.m., the first attack of 183 Japanese planes takes off from the carriers located 230 miles north of Oahu and heads for Pearl Harbor. At 7:53 a.m., the first Japanese assault with 51 dive bombers, 40 torpedo bombers, 50 high level bombers and 43 fighters. The Americans are taken by surprise. -
Anschluss
Hitler annexed Austria then demanded the liberation of German people of Czechoslovakia. Neville Chamberlain flew to Germany to attempt a settlement before war broke out.
