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Mussolini’s March on Rome
the first fascist takeover of power in the world, set in place a regime which would govern for 20 years, and inspired other far-right movements. -
Stalin becomes dictator of USSR
Stalin assumed leadership over the country following Lenin's death in 1924. Under Stalin, socialism in one country became a central tenet of the party's ideology. -
hitler write mein kampf
The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. -
1st “five year plan” in USSR
The first five year plan was created in order to initiate rapid and large-scale industrialization across the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics -
Japan invades Manchuria
Seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries, Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. By 1937 Japan controlled large sections of China, and war crimes against the Chinese became commonplace. -
Holodomor
A man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. -
hitler appointed chancelor of germany
Following several backroom negotiations – which included industrialists, Hindenburg's son, the former chancellor Franz von Papen, and Hitler – Hindenburg acquiesced and on 30 January 1933, he formally appointed Adolf Hitler as Germany's new chancellor. -
“Night of the Long Knives” in Germany
The Night of the Long Knives represented a triumph for Hitler, and a turning point for the German government. It established Hitler as "the supreme leader of the German people", as he put it in his 13 July speech to the Reichstag. -
Nuremburg Laws enacted
The Nuremberg Laws were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. -
italian invasion of ethiopia
Italy invaded Ethiopia in October 1935, launching a war that would drive Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie into exile, pave the way for Italian occupation, and test the capacity and will of the League of Nations to check the aggression of expansionist states -
The Great Purge and gulags
The Great Purge began under NKVD chief Genrikh Yagoda but reached its peak between September 1936 and August 1938 under the leadership of Nikolai Yezhov, hence the name Yezhovshchina. The campaigns were carried out according to the general line of the party, often by direct orders of the politburo headed by Stalin. -
Spanish civil war
The Spanish Civil War began on July 17, 1936, when generals Emilio Mola and Francisco Franco launched an uprising aimed at overthrowing the country's democratically elected republic. The Nationalist rebels' initial efforts to instigate military revolts throughout Spain only partially succeeded. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom, was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung paramilitary -
Nazi Germany invades Poland.
The invasion of Poland was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. -
japan bombs pearl harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, just before 8:00 a.m., on Sunday, December 7, 1941. -
the rape of nanking
A bestselling 1997 non-fiction book written by Iris Chang about the 1937–1938 Nanking Massacre. The mass murder and mass rape of Chinese civilians committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanking.