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The Outcome of Mussolini's March on Rome
The Marcia su Roma was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'etat in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power. -
Stalin Becomes Dictator of USSR
Following the death of V. Lenin, Stalin eliminated his primary rival, Trotsky by beginning with the advocation of "Socialism in One Country." This drew in many like-minded members of the Party Stalin was eventually accepted into, which only further marginalized Trotsky who was ultimately exiled. -
Hitler Writes 'Mein Kampf'
Written by Hitler while he was in prison for treason in 1925, Mein Kampf is an autobiographical manifesto. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. -
First Five Year Plan of the USSR
The first five-year plan was created in order to initiate rapid and large-scale industrialization across the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). -
The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
Seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries, Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. -
Holodomor, the Great Famine
Started by Joseph Stalin, the man-made Ukrainian Famine starved millions in Stalin's effort to replace small farms with state-run collectives and punish independence-minded Ukrainians. -
Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933 following a series of electoral victories by the Nazi Party. -
The Night of Long Knives
It also provided a legal grounding for the Nazis, as the German courts and cabinet quickly swept aside centuries of legal prohibition against extrajudicial killings to demonstrate their loyalty to the regime. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point for the German government. -
Nuremberg Laws
Nürnberg Laws, two race-based measures depriving Jews of rights, were designed by Adolf Hitler and approved by the Nazi Party at a convention in Nürnberg on September 15, 1935. -
Italian Invasion of Ethiopia
The aim of invading Ethiopia was to boost Italian national prestige, which was wounded by Ethiopia's defeat of Italian forces at the Battle of Adowa. -
Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War, (1936–39), military revolt against the Republican government of Spain, supported by conservative elements within the country -
The Great Purge
The Great Purge or the, also known as the Year of '37 and the Yezhovschina, was Joseph Stalin's campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union that occurred from 1936 to 1938. -
The Rape of Nanking
Nanking, the capital of China, falls to Japanese forces- to break the spirit of the Chinese resistance, Japanese General Matsui Iwane ordered that the city of Nanking be destroyed. The Japanese butchered ~150,000 male 'war prisoners', massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped AT LEAST 20,000 women and girls, many of whom were mutilated or killed in the process. -
Kristallnacht
Over the next 48 hours, violent mobs, spurred by antisemitic exhortations from Nazi officials, destroyed hundreds of synagogues, burning or desecrating Jewish religious artifacts along the way. -
Nazi Germany Invades Poland
Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe. German forces broke through Polish defenses along the border and quickly advanced on Warsaw, the Polish capital. -
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II.