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Period: to
World War II
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Leader of Italy- Benito Mussolini and Fascism
Rose to power in 1922
Fasicm- strong, centralized government headed by a powerful dictator -
Leader of the Soviet Union: Joseph Stalin and Communism
Stalin grabs controll of the Soviet Union in 1924 and
squelches all opposition after V. I Lenin, founder of the Communist regime
Lenin died -
Kellog-Braind Pact
A pact in which the United States and 61 other nations pledged never to make war again, but it permitted defense war not provided for using economies or military force against nations. -
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party
Adolf Hitler joined the Nazi party in 1919, then later published his thoughts about Nazism in his two volume book "Mein Kamf". His goal was "to secure for the German people the land and soil which they are entitled to on this earth." In 1933, he was appointed prime minister. During his reign, some 11 million Jews were brutally slaughtered. -
Holocaust (Anti-Semitism)
The holocaust was the systmatic murder of 11 million across Europe. More than half were Jewish. Hittler wanted to create a master race called, "Aryans" and ordered non-aryans to be removed. -
Concentration Camps (genocide)
Genocide is the systematic and deliberate killing of an entire people. Concentration camps were tortured chambers where most Jews get killed. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt- Leader of the U.S.
F.D.R was the 32nd president of the United States, elected in 1933. He approaches WWII caustiously, passing a series of Neutrailiry Acts in order to keep the U.S. out of the war. The U.S thus became an isolationist nation, and F.D.R spoke out strongly about it, telling other countries to "quarantine" agressor nations in order to help stop the war. -
Troop Buildup in the Rhineland
Hitler sent troops into a Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium which was demilitarized as a result of The Versailles treaty. -
Troop buildup in Ethiopia
Fall of 1935, Musolini invaded Ethiopia with tens of thousands of soldiers ready to advance. -
Neutrality Acts
Congress passed an act in which kept the united states out of future wars. -
Quarantine Speech
Roosevelt spoke out strongly against isolationism. He called peace-loving nations to isolate aggressor nations -
German Troops march into Austria
German troops marched into Austria forcing Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schschnigg to resign. Two days later, Germany annouced that their union was complete. -
Munich Pact
Germany, Italy, France, and Great Britain signed a pact that served as appeasement purposes. It was signed by Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Edouard Paladier, and Neville Chamberlain. It was to evacuate Czechoslovakia to make it German territory. -
Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain was the Prime Minister of Great Britain who signed an appeasement to hand over Sudetenland to Hitler, and gained "peace in our time." -
Winston Churchill
Chamberlain's political rival for Great Britain, he did not support the Munich Pact, and believed it was a shameful policy of appeasement. -
Kristallnacht
Called Crystal Night. Nazi gangs of storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues across Germany. -
Leader of Spain- Francisco Franco
Lead the Nationalist army, Spain gained controll in 1939 -
Soviets Invade Finland
Stalin sent his troops to Finland after annexing many other regions that the Soviet Union has lost during WWII. After three months of fierce fighting, the Finns surrendered, -
Nonagression Pact
A pact in which the Soviet Union and Germany agreed not to fight eachother after Stalin realized that he had more to lose than to gain in a war with Germany. -
Blitzkreig
THe blitzkreig, or lightening war, was Germany's newest strategy to take their enemy by suprise while crushing all opposition with extreme force. -
Germans Invade Denmark and Norway
On April 7th, 1940, Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway. Hitler claimed that the act was nesscary in order to "protect [those countries'] freedom and independence." -
Germans Invade Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg
Germans invaded Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg after they invaded Denmark and Norway. All three countries were overrrun by the end of May. -
Germany and Italy invade France
Italy entered the war on the side of Germany and invaded France from the south and the Germans invaded from the north. Then later on, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender. -
Battle of Britain
Germany launched an air war on Britain, launching 1,000 planes over Britain on August 15, 1940. Every night for two solid month, bombers pounded London. Luckily, the RAF fought back, and two days later, Hitler called off the invasion. -
Axis Powers
Japan, Germany, and Italy signed a mutual defense treaty, the Tripartite Pact. These nations became known as the Axis powers -
Selective Service (and the G.I)
16 million men between the ages of 21 and 35 were registered for the draft under this act. Of these, 1 million were to be drafted for one year. -
Election of 1940
During the time of the war, President Roosevelt decided to break tradition and he ran for president for his third term as President. -
Lend-Lease
Britain had no more money to spend on arms, so President Roosevelt decided to create a plan called lend-lease. This plan allowed any country that would supply defense vital to the US, we would lend arms and other supplies. -
A. Philip Randolph
This man was the president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car porters and the nation's leading African-American labor leader. He lead a march during July of 1941 to fight for the full partcipation of all workers in defense industries, without discimination because of race, color, or national origin. -
Atlantic Charter
This was a declaration of principles for the causes in which were faught in the war. The US and Great Britain pleged to 1) seek no territorial expansion, 2) purse no territorial changes, 3) respect the rights of people to choose their own form of government, 4) promote free trade, 5) encourage international cooperation, 6) build peace based on freedom, 7) work for disarmament, and 8) establish a permenant system of general security. -
Leader of Japan: Hideki Tojo
Military general Hideki Tojo became the new prime minister of Japan in october of 1941, after meeting with the emperor Tojo promised to make one more attempt to preserve peace with the Americans and that if this failed, we would go to war. -
Pear Harbor
The Japanese decided to air-raid the largest american naval base, Pear Harbor, in Hawaii. Over 180 Japanese warplanes launched six aircraft carriers. This air-raid was extremely devistating and damaged many ships and planeds and also killed close to 3 thousand people. -
War Plans with Winston Churchill and FDR
Their first major decision was to make the defeat of Germany the Allie's top priority. Their second decision was only to accept unconditional surrender fro mthe Axis powers. -
Internment of Japanese
Because many people questioned the loyalty of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt ordered all people with Japanese ancestry to be removed from California, parts of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. He justified this as national security. The amry rounded up 110,000 Japanese Americans and sent them to internment camps. -
Philippines, Corregidor, Douglas MacArthur
General Douglas MacArthur comanded 80,000 American troops and Filipino troops invaded Japan. The Japanese were stunned since they held out against 200,000 Japanese troops. -
The Battle of the Coral Sea
In early May, a combined American and Australian fleet intercepted a Japanese stike aimed at Australia. For the first time since Pearl Harbor a Japanese fleet stopped and turned back. -
WAAC
WAAC, or Women's Auxilary Army Corps, was the first group of women other than nurses to serve in the army. It was created because there was a shortage of men, but since public opinion was generally opposed to women serving in uniform, they created a new policy. -
The Battle of Midway
Admiral Chester Nimitz learned that the Japanese invasion force was well over 110 ships and that it was heading towards Midway. From there the Japanese could finish off the American Naval Base in Hawaii (From where they began Pear Harbor). -
Battle of Stalingrad
The German Army invaded Stalingrad in midsummer of 1942. Nearly every wooden building was set ablaze. Stalin was furious, and demanded that his namesake city be defended at all costs. In defending it, the Soviets lost a total of 1,250,000 soldiers and civilians. From that point on, the Soviets began to move steadily towards Germany. -
Guadalcanal
In Guadalcanal, This was the Americans first land offensive of the war. When 19 thousand marines stormed Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. -
The North American Front
Stalin wanted to create a "second front" in western Europe to divert the Germans away from Soviet Russia. Churchill and Roosevelt didn't think they had enough troops, so they luanched Operation Torch, an invasion of Axis- controlled North Africa. After months of heavy fighting, the last of the Afrika Korps surrendered. -
The Battle of the Atlantic
After Pearl Harbor, Hitler ordered submarine raids against ships along America's East Coast. The Allies responded by organizing their cargo ships into convoy, then they were excorted across the atlantic by destryoers equipped with sonars. Now they were able to find German U-boats faster than Germans could build them. -
The Italian Campaign
Roosevelt, Churchill, and their commanders decided that instead of attacking the heart of Germany, it would be much safer to invade Italy first. This is The Italian Campaign. They started off with the capture of Sicily, but by the end, the Italians were weary of war, On July 25th, 1943, King Victor Emmanuel III summoned Mussolini to his palace and stripped him of his power. As he left, he was arrested, and Italians began cheering for the end of the war. -
D-Day
D-Day became a day that would live in history. This was the day the American, British, and Canadian troops invaded Germany. It was the biggest land-air operation in history, with 156,000 troops, 4,000 landing craft, 600 warships, and 11,000 planes. Within one month, they landed a million troops, 567,000 tons of supplies, and 170,000 vehicles in France. After brutal war, the Allies had freed France, Belgium, Luxemburg, and many parts of the Netherlands. -
The Battle of Leyte Gulf and Kamikazes
Americans continued to zig-zag around the Pacific towards Japan. 178 thousand allied troops and 728 ships gathered on Leyte Island in the Philippines. The Japanese then threw their entire fleet into battle.The Kamikazes was a new tactic in which the Japanes were testing out in the battle field. -
The Battle of the Bulge
After the Americans won their first German city, Hitler responded with a surprising counter attack. On December 16th, 8 German tank division broke through weak American defense lines, hoping to break through the Allied lines and capture the Belgian port of Antwerp. The resulting dent in the Allied lines gave it its offensive name, Battle of the Bulge. -
Yalta Conference
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met up and they agreed to continue with creating a new international peacekeeping body, called the United Nations (UN). UN is based on the Atlantic charter. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
After releasing American prisoners in the Philippines, the Allies returned to Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was a critical base for the US since it was the most heavily guarded base. Also, it could mean getting Okinawa and one final assalt in the Japanese. -
The Battle of Okinawa
The base of Okinawa was Japan's last defense outpost. This base was even fiercer than Iwo Jima. Two Japanese Generals comitted suicide rather than surrendering to the Allies. -
Harry Truman Becomes President
President Roosevelt died due to a stroke. That night, Harry Truman became the president of the US. -
Unconditional Surrender/ V-E Day
As Germany abandoned Berling, Hitler prepared for the end. He married his long time companion Eva Braun, and then sent out his last address to the German people, blaming the Jews for the war and his troops for losing it. He and his wife then commited suicide, in order to "escape the disgrace of surrender". A week later, Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender, and the Allies celebrated Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day. -
Potsdam Conference
President Truman and Winston Churchill and Stalin, all allies agreed that justice with meet up with all war criminals. -
The Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was the best kept secret of the war. End the end this purpose for this was the creation of the atomic bomb. Many scientist debated wether or not to drop in on the Japanese. Some thought it was immoral and other sought it as "demonstration" of the bomb for the Japanese. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
An atomic bomb was released in to Hiroshima which was an important Japanese Military center. After this bombing, Japanese leadered ceased to surrender. Three days later, another atomic bomb was released in Nagasaki. -
Nuremberg Trials
An International tribunal representing 23 nations tried Nazi war criminals, whic h was the first of the Nuremberg Trials in Nuremberg, Germany. 12 out of 23 nazi's died, over the next trials over 200 nazis were found guilty of war crimes.
