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Mussolini takes power in Italy
With his rising to power as 27th prime minister of Italy, he brought about the idea of fascism, which promotes such ideas as nationalism and militarism, organizing the country along heirarchical authoritarian lines. picture source: http://schoolnet.gov.mt/history/Options/Italy/RiseFascism.htm -
Stalin comes to power in Russia
When Lenin died in 1924, everybody expected Trotsky to take over his position. Instead, Joseph Stalin schemed his way into power, using his position as General Secretary, and a series of ruthless political moves. -
Stock Market Crash
Known as "Black Tuesday", this was the worst day for the stock market in American history. This was the event that sparked the Great Depression. -
Japan invades Manchuria
The Japanese Kwangtung Army attacked Chinese troops in Manchuria, in an event commonly called the Manchurian Incident. This was an unsuccessful attempt by the Japanese empire to gain control over the whole province. Should this have been successful, they would have moved on to eventually encompass all of East Asia. -
FDR is elected president
After the beginning of the Great Depression, Hoover, who was president at the time, was blamed for the event. This caused Franklin Delanor Roosevelt to win his first term in office by the greatest victory margine in American history. -
Hitler is named chancellor of Germany
In the economic turmoil of WWI in Germany, Adolf Hitler was able to rise to power, with big promises for the struggling nation. -
U.S. passes Neutrality Act
With the fascist governments in Europe starting to show signs of war, this was an expression of interest of the U.S. to stay out of any action that might involve [the U.S.] in the war. -
Italy invades Ethiopia
Mussolini's main motivation in invading Ethiopia was to boost Italian national prestige, -
Germany remilitarizes the Rhineland
The significance of this is that it violated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties, making it the first time since the end of WWI that German troops had been in this region. -
Civil war erupts in Spain
This was between the Rpublicans, who were loyal to the established Spanish republic, and the Ntionalists, a rebel group led by Francisco Franco. The Nationalists prevailed, and Franco ruled Spain for the next 36 years. -
Anschluss
This was the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938. -
The Munich Confrence
This was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of Czechoslovokia. -
Germany occupies Sudetenland
As a result of the Munich agreement, a portion of Czechoslovokia known as Sudentenland was now in German posession. -
Kristallnacht
Also known as the night of broken glass, Kristallnacht was a series of attacks on the jews carried out by SA paramilitary and civilians. German authorities overlooked these attacks. By the time the attacks ended, on the morning of 10 Nov. 1938, 91 jews were killed and an additional 30,000 jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
This garaunteed that the two countries would not attack each other. This pact was broken when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union nearly two years later, on 22 June, 1941. -
The "Phony War"
This was a phase in early WWII that was marked by a lack of military operations by the Western Allies against the German Reich. -
Germany invades Poland
German forces bombard Poland, on land and from air, as Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. This is the event that started WWII. -
Churchill is elected prime minister of England
Churchill served as prime minister of England from 1940-45, then again from 1951-55. -
Miracle at Dunkirk
British troops rescued more than 300,000 allied troops from Dunkirk and the surrounding beaches. -
Japan seizes French Indo-China
This was a measure taken by Japan to prevent China from importing arms and fuel via the Sino-Vietnamese Railway. -
France surrenders
After their enourmous defeat at the battle of Blitzkrieg, France is forced to surrender to Germany. -
Battle of Britain
This was a campaign by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) to gain air suporiority over the Royal Air Force. (British air force) -
Lend-Lease Act
This was the program under which the United States supported the allied powers between 1941 and 1945 in WWII. -
Atlantic Charter
This was a plan for the post-war world that was drafted by Britain and the U.S. and later agreed to by all of the allied powers. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
After the American military cut off key supply routes to Japan, they launched a devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, thus bringing America into WWII.