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Adolf Hitler's Rise to Power in Germany
Adolf Hitler had followed a path similar to Mussolini's. At the end of WW1, he was a jobless soldier. But in 1919, he joined a struggling group called the National Socialist German Workers' Party (AKA the Nazi Party. Hitler became their leader (Der fuhrer) and promised to bring Germany out of chaos. -
Mein Kampf
In Hitler's book, Mein Kampf (My Struggle), Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. -
Benito Mussolini's Fascist Government in Italy
By 1921, Mussolini had established the Fascist Party. In 1922, Mussolini had government officials, the army, and the police side with fascism. When this happened, the Italian king appointed Mussolini as the head of the government. -
Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
Nationalistic military leaders were trying to take control of Japan. In response, the Japanese ignored the protests of Japanese officials, and the militarists launched a surprise attack and seized control of the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. Japanese troops had controlled the entire province within several months. The League of Nations did nothing to stop them. -
Storm Troopers
The Great Depression helped Nazis come to power. Because of war debts and dependence on American loans and investments, Germany's economy was hit hard. By 1932, ~6 million Germans were unemployed. Many men were out of work and joined Hitler's private army, the storm troopers (Brown Shirts). Their desperation led them to turn to Hitler as their last hope. -
Third Reich
By mid 1932, the Nazis had become the strongest political party in Germany. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed the chancellor (prime minister). Once in power, Hitler quickly dismantled German'y democratic Weimar Republic. In its place he established the Third Reich, or Third German Empire. According to Hitler, the Third Reich would be a "Thousand-Year Reich" -
Hitler's Military Build-Up in Germany
In response to the League of Nations not doing anything to stop Japan, Hitler decided to leave the League in 1933 and build his military in 1935. This was against the Treaty of Versailles but once again the League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Mussolini's Invasion of Ethiopia
While Hitler was invading the Rhineland, Mussolini began building his new Roman Empire. His first target was Ethiopia, one of the few remaining independent African countries. By the fall of 1935, thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance to Ethiopia. Again, the league did not do much to stop Mussolini. Ethiopia had fallen in 1936. -
Hitler Invades the Rhineland
The failure of the League of Nations to take action against Japan did not escape the notice of Europe's dictators. In 1933, Hitler pulled Germany out of the League. In 1935 he began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. A year later he sent troops to the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Francisco Franco
In 1936, a group of Spanish army officers led by General Francisco Franco, rebelled against the Spanish Republic. Revolts broke out all over Spain and the Spanish Civil War began. About 3,000 Americans came to Spain to fight against Franco. Unfortunately their aid was not enough to stop Franco's forces. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
Although the Soviet Union sent equipment and advisers, Hitler and Mussolini backed Franco's forces with troops, weapons, tanks, and fighter planes. The war forges a close relationship between the German and Italian dictators, who signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. -
Hitler's Anschluss
Austria was Hitler's first target for expansion. Austria actually favored the unification of Germany since they were mostly Germans. In March, 1938, German troops marched into Austria unopposed. A day later, Germany declared the anschluss (union) with Austria was complete. The League once again did nothing. -
Munich Agreement
In their eagerness to end the war, French premier Daladier and Britain's prime minister Chamberlain met up with Hitler in Munich. Hitler declared that the annexation of Sudetenland was his last territorial demand. In September, 1938, the three of them signed the Munich Agreement, which turned Sudetenland to Germany without war. -
Joseph Stalin's Totalitarian Government in the Soviet Union
After Lenin died in 1924, Stalin took control of the country and focused on a model communist state. By 1939 he established a totalitarian government that tried to exert complete control over its citizens. Individuals have no rights and the government suppresses all opposition. -
Nonaggression Pact
As tensions rose in Poland from Hitler's attacks in Europe, Stalin signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler. Once bitter enemies, in August, 1939, fascist Germany and communist Russia now committed to never attack each other. However, Germany and the Soviet Union secretly made a pact to divide Poland between them, -
Blitzkrieg
In August, 1939, the German Luftwaffe, or air force, roared over Poland, raining bombs on military basses, airfields, railroads, and cities. This invasion was the first test of Germany's newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg (lightning war). This made use of military strategies such as fast tanks and more powerful aircrafts to take the enemy by surprise. -
Britain and France Declare War on Germany
Two days after the blitzkrieg on Poland, Britain and France finally declared war on Germany. This marked the beginning of World War 2 as Poland ceased to exist from France and Britain's late response to wage war on the rapidly growing Germany. -
Phony War
After the fall of Poland, French and British soldiers sat along the Maginot line waiting for Germany to do something to justify an attack. German forces sat a few miles away on the Siegfried line staring back at them. This was dubbed by the Germans as the sitzkrieg (sitting war) or phony war. -
Hitler's Invasion of Denmark and Norway
In April, 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway saying he was doing so to protect their freedom and independence. In truth, Hitler was planning to build bases along the coast to strike at Great Britain. -
Hitler's Invasion of the Netherlands
After inhabiting Denmark and Norway, Hitler moved towards the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg which were overrun by the end of May. This marked the end of the phony war. -
Marshall Philippe Petain
Italy entered the war on the side of Germany and invaded France from the south as the Germans came in from the north. On June 2, 1940, at Compiegne, as the world watched, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender. Germans would occupy northern France and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Petain, would be set up at Vichy, in southern France. -
The Battle of Britain
Germany began its attack on Britain by naval power and by air, since they couldn't win with just their naval fleet. The Luftwaffe made bombing runs over Britain. Hitler had 2,600 planes at his disposal, and every day Britain had 2,000 German planes above. Air fields were the first target but soon moved to cities. With the help of radar, British pilots easily plotted German plane paths and shot down 185 German planes while suffering only 26 losses.6 weeks later Hitler called off the attacks. -
Germany and Italy's Invasion of France
German forces began to marck towards Paris and trapped 400,000 British and French soldiers as they fled to the beaches of Dunkirk on the French side of the English Channel. In less than a week they retreated out the Channel. A few days later, Italian forces entered the war on the side of Germany and attacked France. -
Lend-Lease Act
In the late 1940s Britain had no more cash to spend. Roosevelt tried to help by introducing the lend-lease policy. Under this, the president would lend or lease arms and other supplies to any country whose defense was vital to the US. Isolationists argued against the plan but most Americans favored it. Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941. -
Pearl Harbor Attack
Japan had been negotiating peace talks with America but also planned on attacking Pearl Harbor. 180 Japanese warplanes began to target America's naval ships and aircrafts. This lasted for an hour and a half while American forces barely hindered Japan's attacks. After these attacks, the United States declared war on Japan and began their preparations for joining the war. -
Internment
A wave of prejudice against Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor. In 1942, the War Department called for the mass evacuation of all Japanese Americans from Hawaii. General Delos Emmons, the military governor of Hawaii, resisted the order because 37% of the people in Hawaii were Japanese Americans. To remove them would have destroyed their economy and bothered U.S. military operations there. -
Women's Auxiliary Army Corps
The military's work force needs were so great that General George Marshall pushed for the formation of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. Marshall supported a bill that would pass the formation of the WAAC. Under this bill, women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions. Despite opposition from some members of Congress, the bill passed in May of 1942. -
Battle of the Atlantic
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler ordered u-boats against US ships along the US east coast. The German aim in the Battle of the Atlantic was to prevent food and war materials from reaching Britain and the Soviets. Unprotected US ships were easy targets for Germans. 87 ships sank in the first months of 1942. 7 months into the year, 681 Allied ships had sunk. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The German army approached Stalingrad in 1942. Hitler hoped to catch Soviet oil fields. Nearly every wooden building was set on fire, and Soviet officers recommended blowing up the factories, but Stalin ordered to protect his namesake city. Germans attacked each house in Stalingrad with hand to hand combat. When winter sank in, the Soviets saw this as a chance to defeat the Germans in the cold. The Germans were trapped and wanted to retreat, but Hitler ordered them to stay and fight. -
US Convoy System
In response to the loss of 681 Allied ships, the convoy system was created. Convoys were groups of ships traveling together for protection. The convoys were escorted by destroying u-boats underwater using sonar. Airplanes using radar were also used for protection in the air. German u-boats were being destroyed faster than they could be built. At the same time, the US launched a crash shipbuilding program. 140 Liberty ships were being built each month, outnumbering Allied ship sinkings. -
Unconditional Surrender
In 1942, about 100,000 Allied troops landed in Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers, North Africa. They fought against Afrika Korps until they surrendered in 1943. Meanwhile in Casablanca, Roosevelt, Churchill, and their commanders had a meeting in which they agreed to accept only the unconditional surrender of the Axis Powers. In other words, enemy nations would have to accept whatever terms the Allies wanted. -
Operation Torch
While the Battle of Stalingrad went on, Stalin pressured Britain and America to open a second front in Western Europe. He argued that an invasion across the English Channel would force Hitler to divert troops to attempt an invasion on European soil. Instead, they launched Operation Torch, an invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa, commanded by Eisenhower. -
Manhattan Project
Roosevelt created the Office of Scientific Research and Development to bring scientists into the war effort, which created improvements in radar, sonar, penicillin, and the creation of the atomic bomb. Albert Einstein warned the US of Germany's plans of constructing these. Roosevelt responded by creating the Manhattan Project, which called for research work that extended all across the US to beat Germany to develop an atomic bomb before them. -
Office of Price Administration
As war production increased, fewer consumer products were available for purchase. Roosevelt made the Office of Price Administration to freeze the price of most goods. Congress raised income tax rates and extended the tax to millions who had never paid it before. The higher taxes reduced consumer demand on scarce goods by leaving workers with less to spend.Governments encouraged Americans to buy war bonds with their extra cash. As a result, inflation remained below 30% for the rest of WW2. -
War Productions Board
The War Production Board assumed the responsibility to ensure that the armed forces and war industries received the resources they needed to win the ar. It decided which companies would convert from peacetime to wartime production. The WPB also organized nationwide drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags, cooking fat, and aluminum to recycle for war goods. -
Bloody Anzio
One of the hardest battles the Allies faced in Europe was fought less than 40 miles from Rome. This battle, Bloody Anzio, lasted 4 months- until May 1944- and left about 25,000 Ally deaths and 30,000 Axis Power casualties. -
D-Day
The allied invasion, code-named Operation Overlord, was originally set for June 5, but bad weather forced a delay. Banking on a forecast for clearing skies, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for D-Day- June 6, 1944, the first day of the attack on Normandy in northern France. -
Korematsu vs. the US
In 1944, the Supreme Court decided, in Korematsu v. United States, that the government’s policy of evacuating Japanese Americans to camps was justified on the basis of “military necessity.” -
The Battle of the Bulge
8 German tank divisions broke through weak American defenses along an 80-mile front. Hitler hoped that a victory would split American and British forces and break up Allied supply lines. Tanks drove 60 miles into Allied territory, creating a bulge in the lines that gave this desperate last ditch offensive its name, the Battle of the Bulge. The battle raged for a month. Germans had been pushed back, with little change. -
Harry S. Truman
President Roosevelt did not live to see V-E Day. While Roosevelt was posing for a portrait in Warm Springs, Georgia, he had a stroke and died. That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation’s 33rd president. -
Death of Hitler
In his underground headquarters in Berlin, Hitler prepared for the end. On April 29, he married Eva Braun, his longtime companion. The same day, he wrote out his last address to the German people.In it he blamed the Jews for starting the war and his generalsfor losing it. The next day Hitler shot himself while his new wife swallowed poison. In accordance with Hitler’s orders, the two bodies were carried outside, soaked with gasoline, and burned. -
V-E Day
A week after Hitler's suicide, General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. The Allies celebrated V-E Day—Victory in Europe Day.
