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Italy under Mussolini
Mussolini took the position of Prime Minister in 1922, and soon transformed Italy into a Fascist state. He was one of the major influences in Hitler's life that allowed him to come to power as well. -
U.S Stock market Crashes
On what will be referred to as "Black Tuesday", the United States stock market crashed as millions of people rushed to sell thier stocks at plumiting prices. This panic will lead to a worldwide economic struggle. -
Japan invades Manchuria
The Japanese military attacked the Chinese provence of Manchuria in an effort to gain more resources and power. Whilest the Japanese government didn't order the attack, they did very little to stop it. Japan also resigned from the League of Nations after this incident. -
FDR is now president
On election day, millions of people swarmed to the voting poles to make the gr eatest landslide election in history. All states except for six supported FDR's election into the presidency. -
Hitler named Chancellor of Germany
After much political squabbling and voting, Hindenburg reluctently allowed Hitler to take over the position of Chancellor. Nazi troops paraded through the night. -
Stalin rises to power
(Unable to find exact date) Stalin had been joint ruler of the newly formed Soviet Union with Lennin and Trotsky. However, Stalin made himself sole ruler of this new nation in December of 1934 (which is what I want to say his true rise to power was,) and continued till his death in 1953. -
U.S signs Neutrality Act
The United States will pass several Neutrality acts over the time leading up to our entry into WW2. The first one was signed on the 31st of August, 1935 and it embargoed weapons of war from exiting the country. -
Italy invades Ethiopia
Italy has always had a long standing grudge against the African nation of Ethiopia, which has led to several unsuccessful attempts to conquer it. However, using new German made weaponry, Italy was able to strike harder than before. -
Rhineland remilitarized by Germany
On this day, German forces marched unopposed into the area known as the Rhineland, reclaiming it for Germany and adding a key economic and strategic area for the coming war. -
Spanish civil war erupts
Spain was in a turmoil of political disputes. On one side where the Fascists and Nationalists, and on the other where the Communists. Things eventually turned into a civil war because of this. -
Anschluss
On this infamous day, Hitler re-joins the nation of Austria with Germany. -
Munic Conference
The culmination of a long series of demands, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain promised to give the Czech control Sudetenland to Hitler in na effort to keep Hitler from making more demands. -
Occupation of Sudetenland
The basic culmination of the Munich conferance. The Sudetenland was a part of Czechoslovakia with deep German ancestry and heritage. Germany regained this land through the compliancy of the French and British leaders at the time in an effort to appease Hitler. -
Kristallnacht
Translated it means "The night of broken glass". This is an accurate statement, as many shops and homes owned or lived in by Jewish people where broken into and raided or vandalized by Nazis. It was one of the biggest coordinated attacks (Pogrom) ever, lasting two days. -
Nazi-Soviet Non-Agression treaty
A pact signed by Germny and Russia that promised they wouldn't attack each other. This proved useful as it kept Germany from fighting on two fronts untill Operation:Barbarossa. -
Germany invades Poland
Threats made against Germany from powerful countries like Great Britain and France didn't take much hold with Hitler, as he invaded Poland anyways. In the invasion, Hitler utilized a most devastating strategy, the Blitzkrieg (or Lightning War.) German troops struck so hard and fast that many Polish people thought that the German tanks coming into town where their own, back from fighting or retreating battles ended so fast. -
The Phony War, or "Sitzkrieg".
(Date is approximate.) The Phoney war is a period of WW2 in which no major land battle or activity took place on either side. The combined forces of France and England basically stared down the German armies at this time. Also, battle did take place during this 7 month lon wait, but only the ones at sea are worth noting. -
Churchill becomes Prime Minister
(Date is as close as I could figure.) Churchill was unpopular with a lot of the British Parliment, but support from his majesty King George the VI and the former Prime Minister Mr. Chamberlain helped him gain the spot, albiet on unstable ground. -
Miracle at Dunkirk
The evacuation of the French port city of Dunkirk. Soldiers of France, England, and Dutch escaped the oncoming forces of Germany. The evacuation lasted several days and resulted in the saving of a total of 338,226 men. -
France surrenders...
On the 14th of June, German forces occupied an undefended Paris after weeks of heavy fighting. Hitler arrived shortly afterward to have French leaders sign a surrender document, implanting a pro-axis Vishy France. The signing of this document took place in the same street car that Germany signed the treaty of Versailles in several years earlier. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a time of heavy bombardment and attempted destruction of the British peoples will to fight. Bombs fell from the sky almost nightly, entire town where wiped off the map, all to try and soften England for German land invasion, which failed to come to fruition. -
Japan Seizes Indo-China
After Vichy-France was established, the Japanese government pressured them into relenquishing their territory of Indo-China to them. -
Land Lease Act
An act that effectively ended American neutrality in WW2, but had them enter the conflict. It granted money, supplies, territory, and resources to all Allied nations not under German control. -
Atlantic Charter signed
A charter drafted by American and British governments that stated their goals for a post-war world. On December 1st 1942, all allied powers would agree to adhere to it. -
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
An unwarented attack upon American soil by Japanese forces. Several battleships where sunk as well as airfields and drydocks bombed and basic destruction. This attack outraged and terrified Americans into entering WW2.
