-
Period: to
Great Depression
the Great Depression is a period of time where many americans lost jobs and it was the first time when the government got truly involved with the economy and society. On the 29th of October 1929 was the day the stock market crashed, this was the beginning of the Great Depression. Banks closed down causing people to panic. Many businesses cut back their working hours or wages. During the GD plains were hit with a drought and dust (the dust bowl) making it impossible to grow and produce crops. Som -
Hitler becomes Chancellor
by January, 1933, Adolf Hitler rose from being an obscure and demoralised member of the defeated German army to become the all-powerful Führer, dictator of Germany, with almost unlimited power and an overwhelming ambition to make Germany great once again. He used the anger Germans had, particularly against the Weimar Republic, to get himself and the Nazi party in control, in turn asserting his absolute control over Germany. He targeted mainly the Treaty of Versailles and the Weimar Republic for -
Invasion of the Rhineland
In 1936 the Rhineland had been made into a demilitarised zone, Germany had part control of the area but was not aloud to put troops into it. In march 1936 Hitler ordered that his troops should enter the Rhineland , breaking the Treaty of Versailles once again. About 32,000 German soldiers crossed into the Rhineland without france or any other country trying to stop them. France did not want to stop them due to their political issues which were that they did not have a leader at all. This was one -
Invasion of Poland
Germany defied the Treaty of Versailles and invaded Poland. The Wehrmacht was able to take control of Poland in less than a month. After this point, other countries became involved and Britain and France declared war on Poland. On August 22, 1939, Hitler gave this speech to his military commanders (as quoted in Poland’s Holocaust), “The object of the war is ... physically to destroy the enemy. That is why I have prepared, for the moment only in the East, my 'Death's Head' formations with orders -
Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941. Japanese planes bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii. The planes damage and sinked many warships. This was the first attack to be made on American soil. On December 8, 1941, the U.S. declares war on Japan and becoming permanently involved in the war. In the photo below, President Franklin D. Roosevelt is signing the declaration of war against Japan. -
Period: to
Invasion of Stalingrad
The German army invaded the city of Stalingrad under Hitler's orders. Some believed that hitler attacked Stalingrad out of hatred for Joseph Stalin. The primary goal for the attack was to secure oil fields, and their final target was Baku. It was early September of 1942 when the German Army advanced into the city. The battle was categorized at one of the most brutal in World War Two. Winter hit and the Germans failed. The Germans were not ready for the winter and the Russians advanced. -
D-Day
160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. After the Allied successful invasion of Normandy, they proceeded throughout Europe to reach and defeat Hitler. The brain behind the operation, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” (as quoted in General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s message). -
VE Day
7 May, 1945, was the day of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allied forces, known as V-E Day (Victory over Europe day). A week after the allies stormed Berlin and Hitler’s suicide, Nazi Germany signed a treaty, signifying the final end to the European part of World War II. "Humility must be the measure of a man whose success was bought with the blood of his subordinates, and paid for with the lives of his friends."
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe -
Atomic Bomb (Hiroshima & Nagasaki)
August 6, 1945, the U.S. was the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The bomb killed 80,00 people immediately and it left 120,000 people to die later from burns and radiation poisoning. On August 9, 1945, another atomic bomb destroyed Nagasaki killing around 60,000 to 80,000 people. After the bombings on September 2, Japan signed the instrument of surrender officially bringing an end to World War II. Ethical and controversial discussions have emerged as a result from the bombing asking whether atomic wea -
VJ Day
Japan surrendered to the Allied forces, known as VJ Day (Victory over Japan day). This marked not only the end to the Pacific front of WW2, but drew an end to the second world war. The use of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima played a major part in the ending of the war, because the war could have taken as much as another year for the allies to invade continental Japan.
