-
FDR declares Good Neighbor Policy (stated in inauguration speech)
The Good Neighbor Policy terminated the US Marines occupation of Nicaragua in 1933 and occupation of Haiti in 1934. It led to the annulment of the Platt Amendment and the negotiation of compensation for Mexico's nationalization of foreign-owned oil assets in 1938. The major goal of the Good Neighbor Policy was to build better relations with central and south American nations -
FDR declines invitation to London Economic Conference
Roosevelt condemned the efforts being made to stabalize the international economy; the response from France, Britain, and other nations was very negative, and the rejection sparked stronger feelings of nationalism. -
US recognizes Soviet Union
The United States was the only major power that had not yet recognized the Soviet Union; Roosevelt felt that recognition would help ties and also benefit the economy which was still stabalizing. -
Tydings-McDuffie Act
Provided for self-government of the Philippines and for Filipino independence from the United States after a period of ten years. It also established strict limitations on Filipino immigration. We wanted to be rid of the Phillipines more than we desired their own freedom -
Reciprocal Trade Agreements
Gave the president power to negotiate trade agreements with other countries. The policies that resulted from this persist to this day. -
Neutrality Act of 1935
Imposed a general embargo on trading in arms and war materials with all parties in a war. It also declared that American citizens travelling on warring ships travelled at their own risk. The act was set to expire after six months. -
Mussolini invades Ethiopia
Italy ultimately takes over control of Ethiopia; this "victory" was lauded by some leaders and led to the alliance between Germany and Italy. -
Neutrality Act of 1936
Passed in February of that year, renewed the provisions of the 1935 act for another 14 months. It also forbade all loans or credits to belligerents -
Period: to
Spanish Civil War
fought between the Republicans, who were loyal to the democratically elected Spanish Republic, and the Nationalists, a rebel group led by General Francisco Franco. The Nationalists won, and Franco ruled Spain for the next 36 years -
Neutrality Act of 1937
Included the provisions of the earlier acts, this time without expiration date, and extended them to cover civil wars as well. Furthermore, U.S. ships were prohibited from transporting any passengers or articles to belligerents, and U.S. citizens were forbidden from traveling on ships of belligerent nations -
Japan invades China
Japan seeks to take over China; Japan's imperialistic goals become clear -
Panay incident
Japan attacked an American gunship but said they did not see the American flags; they paid an indemnity. However, public opinion began to go against Japan -
Hitler seizes Austria
Hitler enters and is greeted with relative pleasure; he quickly annexes Austria; Hitler will continue to be appeased, though -
Munich Conference
Settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation "Sudetenland" was coined -
Hitler seizes all of Czechoslovakia
Following the Anschluss of Nazi Germany and Austria, in March 1938, the conquest of Czechoslovakia became Hitler's next ambition. The incorporation of the Sudetenland into Nazi Germany left the rest of Czechoslovakia weak and it became powerless to resist occupation. Germany's goals to essentially take over the world finally become clear to those nations that had been appeasing him -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Representatives from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union met and signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, which guaranteed that the two countries would not attack each other. -
Beginning of WWII in Europe
Germany invaded Poland under the false pretext that the Poles had carried out a series of sabotage operations against German targets. Subsequently, two days later on 3 September, France and United Kingdom followed by the fully independent dominions of the British Commonwealth – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa – declared war on Germany -
Neutrality Act of 1939
Allowed for arms trade with belligerent nations (Great Britain and France) on a cash-and-carry basis; this ended the arms embargo -
Fall of France
On 22 June, an armistice was signed between France and Germany, which resulted in a division of France whereby Germany would occupy the north and west and Italy would control a small Italian occupation zone in the southeast -
Period: to
Battle of Britain
air campaign waged by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940; The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date -
Destroyer deal with Britain
Fifty mothballed destroyers were transferred to the United Kingdom from the United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions -
US invokes first peacetime draft
Burke-Wadsworth Act was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men between the ages of 21 and 35 register with local draft boards -
Lend-lease Act
Program under which the United States supplied Great Britain, the USSR, Free France, the Republic of China, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and August 1945 -
Hitler attacks Soviet Union
Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, in the largest German military operation of World War II; broke previous deal not to attack one another -
Fair Employment Practices Commission
Required that companies with government contracts not discriminate on the basis of race or religion. It was intended to help African Americans and other minorities obtain jobs in the homefront industry during World War II -
Atlantic Charter
Defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by the leaders of Britain and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies. The Charter stated the ideal goals of the war: no territorial aggrandizement; no territorial changes made against the wishes of the people; restoration of self-government to those deprived of it; reduction of trade restrictions; global cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for all; freedom from fear and want; free seas -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese surprise attack on an American military base; led to our involvement in the war -
US Declares War on Japan
direct result of Pearl Harbor -
Japan conquers the Philipines
Began after Pearl Harbor and led to the Bataan Death March -
Germany declares war on US
direct result of the US war declaration against the Japanese -
Japanese-Americans interned
Internment in "War Relocation Camps" of over 110,000 people of Japanese heritage who lived on the Pacific coast of the United States. Done as a response to Pearl Harbor but blatantly racist and simply wrong -
Period: to
Battle of Coral Sea
major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other -
Period: to
Battle of Midway
the United States Navy decisively defeated an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy; very important battle -
US invades North Africa
An attack on French North Africa would clear the Axis powers from North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare for an invasion of Southern Europe in 1943 -
Japanese driven from Guadalcanal
decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allied (primarily United States) and Imperial Japanese forces during the months-long Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands during World War II -
Casablanca Conference
held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II -
Allies invade Italy
The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign. The main invasion force landed around Salerno on the western coast in Operation Avalanche, while two supporting operations took place in Calabria; began the victories for the allies -
Teheran Conference
another strategy meeting between the allies focused on deciding where to go and what to do from this point forward -
Korematsu v. US (month and day not exact)
called into question the iternment camps -
D-Day
Landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II Major turning point in the war -
Period: to
Battle of Marianas
decisive naval battle of World War II which eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions -
Period: to
Battle of the Bulge
German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France and Luxembourg. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard and became the costliest battle in terms of casualties for the United States, whose forces bore the brunt of the attack, but it also severely depleted Germany's war-making resources -
Period: to
Iwo Jima and Okinawa
Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland (coded Operation Downfall). Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army and two Marine Divisions fought on the island. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces. -
Truman assumes the presidency
Roosevelt's health declined until this date when he died and Truman took over -
Potsdam Conference (end date)
gathered to decide how to administer punishment to the defeated Nazi Germany, which had agreed to unconditional surrender nine weeks earlier, on 8 May -
Atomic Bombs Dropped (second bomb on the 9th)
the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians -
Japanese Surrender
end of the war