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Adlof Hitler rise to power in Germany
In 1919, he joined a struggling group called the National Socialist German Workers' Party, better known as the Nazi Party. Hitler proved to be such a powerful public speaker and organizer that he quickly became the party's leader. -
Mein Kampf
In his 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 192, Mussolinia had established the Facist Party. Facism stressed nationalism and placed the interests of the state above those of the individuals. -
Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
Stalin focused on creating a model communist state. In so doing, he made both agricultural and industrial growth the prime economic goals of the Soviet Union. Stalin abolished all privately owned farms and replaced them with collectives-- large government-owned farms, each worked by hundreds of families. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Japanese offcials, the militarism launched a surprise attack and seized control of the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. -
Storm troopers
Hitler's private army or the (Brown Shirts) -
Third Reich
or Third German Empire. According to Hitler, the Third Reich would be a " Thousand- Year Reich" -- it would last for a thousand years. -
Hitler's military build-up in Germany
Hitler pulled Germany out of the League of Nations. In 1935, he started a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Hitler's Anschluss
union -
Nonaggression pact
As tension rose over Poland, Stalin surprised everyone by signing a nonaggression pact with Hitler. -
Blitzkrieg
lightning was -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
On September 3, two days following the terror in Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany -
Phony war
The blitzkrieg had given way to what the Germans called the sitzkrieg ("sitting war"), and what some news papers referred to as the phony war. -
Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands
Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. -
The Battle of Britain
The Luftwaffer began making bombing runs over Britain. Its goal was to gail toal control of the skies by destroying Britain' s Royal Air Force (RAF) -
Pearl Harbor attack
Japanses dive-bomber swooped low over Pear Harbor - the largest U.S. naval base in the Pacific. In less than 2 hours the Japanese had killed 2,403 Americans and wounded 1,178 more. The surprise raid had sunk or damaged 21 ships, includong 8 battleships- nearly the whole U.S. Pacific fleet. More than 300 aircraft were severly damaged. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Soviet army closed around Stalingrad, trapping the Germans in and around the city and cutting off their sup- plies. The Germans’ situation was hopeless, but Hitler’s orders came: “Stay and fight! I won’t go back from the Volga.” In defending Stalingrad, the Soviets lost a total of 1,100,000 soldiers—more than all American deaths during the entire war. Despite the staggering death toll, the Soviet victory marked a turning point in the war. -
Internment
confinement -
Operation Torch
an invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa, commanded by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
D-Day
Banking on a forecast for clearing skies, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for D-Day—June 6, 1944, the first day of the invasion. -
Korematsu v. United States
the government's policy of evacuating japanese Americans to camps was justified on the basis of "military necessity." -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Unconditional surrender
they sped eastward, chasing the Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel, the legendary Desert Fox. After months of heavy fighting, the last of the Afrika Korps
surrendered in May 1943. -
Harry S. Truman
That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation’s 33rd president. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
The war fored a close relationship between Germany and Italian dictators, who signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis -
Munich Agreement
September 30, 1938, they signed a Munich Agreement, which turned the Sudentenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired. -
Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
On April 9, 1940, Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order "to protect [those countries'] freedom and independence." -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
Italy entered the war on the side of Germany and invaded France from the south as the Germans closed in on Paris from the north -
Marshal Philippe Petain
controlled Nazi puppet government.he would set up at Vichy in southern France -
The Battle of the Bulge
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. -
Death of Hitler
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
Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over. -
Lend- Lease Act
solationists argued bitterly against the plan, but most Americans favored it, and Congress passed the Lend- Lease Act in March 1941. -
Women Auxiliary Army Coprs
Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall pushed for the formation of a Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). “There are innumerable duties now being performed by soldiers that can be done better by women,” Marshall said in support of a bill to establish the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps. Under this bill, women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions. -
Manhanttan Project
became the code name for research work that extended across the country. -
Office of Price Administration
Roosevelt responded to this threat by creating the Office of Price Administration (OPA). The OPA fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods. Congress also raised income tax rates and extended the tax to millions of people who had never paid it before. The higher taxes reduced con- sumer demand on scarce goods by leaving workers with less to spend. -
War Production Board
assumed that responsibility. The WPB decided which companies would convert from peacetime to wartime production and allocated raw materi- als to key industries. The WPB also organized drives to col- lect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags, and cooking fat for recycling into war goods. -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
One of Africa's remaining independent countries. When the invasion began, the League's response was an ineffective economic boycott- little more than a slap on Italy's wrist. -
Francisco Franco
was a general. He led a group of Spanish army officials to rebell against the Spanish republic. Spanish Civil War began -
Battle of the Atlantic
Sent by Hitler. The German aim was to prevent food and war materials from reachong Great Britain and Soviet Union. -
U.S. convoy system
he Allies responded by organizing their cargo ships into convoys. Convoys were groups of ships traveling together for mutual protection, as they had done in the First World War. The convoys were escorted across the Atlantic by destroy- ers equipped with sonar for detecting submarines underwater. -
Bloody Anzio
This battle, “Bloody Anzio,” lasted four months—until the end of May 1944—and left about 25,000 Allied and 30,000 Axis casualties. During the year after Anzio, German armies continued to put up strong resistance. The effort to free Italy did not succeed until 1945, when Germany itself was close to collapse.
