-
Mussolini Takes Power in Italy
Began his life as a leader in the early 1900s as a member of the socialist party but unlike other socialists he was for WWI. By the end of the war he had moved to the far right of the spectrum and created the National Fascist Party. It stressed the glory of the state and the rights of individual rights were of little importance. -
U.S Stock Market Crashes
on October 24, 1929 nervous investors began selling stocks because they noticed increasing signs of trouble in the economy. fears that the current stock prices would collapse, over a million stocks were put on the market to be bought. by October 29, 1929 over 16 million shares of stock were dumped into the market. the stock market dropped in value by about 16 billion. -
Japan Seizes Manchuria
Without the approval of the Japanese government, Japan invaded Manchuria. The goal was to seize Manchuria's land and resources for the use of Japanese people. Japan's government ordered the army to end the action and the officers simply refused to obey the order. -
FDR is Elected President
By the time FDR was elected president there were 13,000,000 unemployed and almost every bank was closed. in his first 400 days he enacted a sweeping program to bring recovery to business and agriculture. -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
Hitler being named Chancellor of Germany marked a crucial point for Germany and the rest of the world. His plan was to do away with politics and make Germany a powerful, unified one-party state. -
U.S. Neutrality Act
This law was meant to prevent the US from being drawn into war as it had been in 1917. -
Italy Invades Ethiopia
Italy had had several smaller colonies in East Africa and some Italians had bitter fellings toward Ethiopia for decades so when Mussolini came to power he came with great plans. he used a dispute between Ethiopia and an Italian colony along the border as an excuse to launch an invasion. Italy ultimately conquered the country. -
France Militarizes the Rhineland
Germany was to keep troops out of an area in the Rhine River valley along the French border and this was meant to protect France against any possible German aggression but when Germany invanded the Rhineland, aggression broke out. -
Hitler Defies Treaty of Versailles
Hitler began to rebuild his army and convinced Great Britain and France to tolerate his actions. He also sent troops into the Rhineland which was against the Treaty of Versailles as well. -
Civil War Erupts in Spain
Most Spaniards held political views somewhere between the Communists and Fascists. and in 1936 taht conflict led to war. The fighting in the Spanish Civil War was bloody and brutal. by 1939 Spain was under the Fascists rule. -
Japan Invades China
What is known as the first battle of WWII, Japan invaded China. Japan had been training about 10 miles west of Beijing, China and when a soldier went missing Japan blamed China and ordered an attack on China. -
Anschluss
Two years after militarizing Rhineland Hitler took action to gain control of neighboring Austria. in 1938 he tried to force Austrian gov't to agree to Anschluss-union with Germany. When Austria refused, Hitler sent troops into the country. -
Munich Conference
This was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland with the demands by Hitler. -
Kristallnacht
Also known as Night of the Broken Glass. It was a set of co-ordinated attacks against Jews throughout Germany and parts of Austria. The attacks left the streets covered with broken glass from the windows of jewish-owned stores, buildings and synagogues. -
Nazi Soviet Pact
It was an agreement between Germany and Russia that promised neither would attack the other for 10 years. There was also an economic agreement attached it to that said Germany would exchange manufactured goods for Russia's raw materials. The pact only lasted 2 years before Germany invaded Russia. -
Germany Invades Poland
WIthin days of the Nazi-Soviet Pact Hitler was ready to invade Poland. He claimed that Poland attacked Germany using a dead criminal as "proof". German troops immediately launched a massive invasion of Poland. Poland would end in German hands. -
Phony War
The blitzkrieg attacked Poland and seemingly nothing happened when many in Great Britain exoected a major scene. the Phony War summarizes what happened in Western Europe- nothing. -
Churchill is Elected Prime Minister in England
When Churchill became Prime Minister of England, WWII was about to erupt and during that war he became the most dominant figure in british politics. he received huge praise when the war ended. -
Miracle at Dunkirk
Germany finally made their expected strike towards France by using neutral Belgium to go through where the Netherlands tried to stop them but failed and became under the German rule. Germany proceeded into the French port of Dunkirk. Great Britain rescued France by plucking nearly 340,000 tropps from the coast and carrying them to Great Britain. -
France Surrenders
By the end of June, France had surrendered to Germany and Italy. German forces now occupied much of France and the rest was occupied by French officials who cooperated with Hitler. -
Battle of Britain
Great Britain now stood alone against the power house Germany. the first stage was won by the Brits because of the British Royal Air Force; they were able to track German planes. As the fight went on Germany was able to terrorize the public so that they would be scared to fight. by the end of 1940 Hitler was forced to call off the attempted invasion and Great Britain was successful. -
Lend-Lease Act
At the end of a speech in December of 1940 Roosevelt made it his goal to make the US the "arsenal of democracy" and soon afterward congress passed the Lend-Lease Act which allowed the nation to send weapons to Great Britain regardless of its ability to pay. -
Japan Seizes French-Indo China
With the agreement of the French Vichy government, Japanese forces moved to take control of French Indochina. It was a French colony in Southeast Asia that included modern-day countries. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
on Sunday morning Japanese forces went into action and raided Pearl Harbor. The attack was a complete surprise to Americans; nearly 200 aircraft were completely damaged and some 2,400 Americans were dead. Japan only lost a handful of submarines and fewer thatn 30 aircraft. on December 8, 1941 Roosevelt asked for a declaration of war. -
Atlantic Charter
This agreement stated the shared goals of the United States and Britain in opposing Hitler and his allies.
