-
Benito Mussolini
came to power in Italy creating the first fascist state outlawing all other political parties,
establishing a secret police, and exercising control over all forms of media (newspapers, radio, film) -
Emperor Hirohito
Emperor of Japan who wish to modernize the country to catch up to Western nations
Premier Tojo – military Prime Minister of Japan who creates a military government in Japan in 1941 to achieve
Japan’s goals of a modernized superpower through territorial conquest in Southeast Asia -
Joseph Stalin
came to power during the Russian Revolution and took over the Soviet Union after the death of
Vladimir Lenin and keeping the Soviet Union a strong communist nation increased industrial output, steel
production and oil production -
Kellogg Briand Pact
an international outlaw of war as a means to settle problems sign by the United States and other major nations in the world no plan on how to enforce it if a country went to war -
Period: to
Great Depression
During the 1920s and 30s, many countries experienced the worst economic depression in their history along with the
United State’s own Great Depression and looked to strong anti-communist leaders to calm fears of an international
communist revolution after the event that took place in Russia during World War I. Yet, many countries' fear of war and
conflict lead the major powers of the world to do nothing as a handful of dictators rose to power in the world. -
Japan vs China
Japan invades Manchuria (northeast China) The rest of China is invaded in 1937 -
Adolf Hitler
came to power as part of the Nazi Party by being appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933 and
führer of the Third Reich (empire) with the death of the German president in 1934 -
Rebuild Germany’s military
Hitler fulfills his promise to rebuild Germany’s military when he begins building and air force and creates a draft
that will increase the army from 100,000 to 550,000 violates the Treaty of Versailles, but nothing is done -
Neutrality Acts of 1935
outlawed arms sales or loans to nations at war with America taking on a more isolationist attitude by trying to avoid war at all cost -
Italy vs Ethiopia
Italy invaded Ethiopia despite warnings from the League of Nations -
Rhineland
Germany reoccupies the Rhineland, which was an area owned by Germany that was supposed to be
demilitarized -
Japan and Germany become Axis
Japan invades and attacks China hoping to team up with Germany to invade the Soviet Union -
Neutrality Acts of 1937
America passed a “cash-and-carry” policy of nonmilitary goods towards warring
nations if you want it: pay cash and provide your own transportation -
Germany and Austria
Germany annexes Austria in March -
Munich (Conference) Pact
issue of the Sudetenland was to be resolved in a conference attended by
Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy -
Czechoslovakia
In March, Germany invades the rest of Czechoslovakia taking Austria and Czechoslovakia in the span of a year
without engaging in war European powers NOW take notice of Hitler’s aggression -
Non-Aggression Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Non-Aggression Pact promising not to attack each other -
The Neutrality Acts (1939)
following the outbreak of war in Europe; America revised its “cash-and-carry” policy to
include the sale of military goods towards warring nations on a “cash-and-carry” basis. -
Germany invades Poland
Germany invades Poland (the Soviet Union also invades Poland and other Baltic states)
- Britain and France declare war on Germany World War II had begun -
Battle of Britain (Aug 1940)
the effort by the German Luftwaffe (air force) to gain air superiority over the Royal Air
Force (RAF), before a planned sea and airborne invasion of Britain offering Britain peace if it accepted
Germany’s control of western Europe -
1940
April – Hitler invades Denmark, and Norway securing a northern front, protecting iron shipments from Sweden
May – Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg fall to Germany beginning his assault on the Western Front
June – France falls in less than six weeks when the Germans go around the Maginot Line (defensive fortification)
sending tanks through the believed impassable Ardennes Forest -
Selective Service Act
before the United States entered the war the U.S. Congress issued the first peacetime draft in response to the falling of France to Germany forces earlier that year -
Lend Lease Act
the U.S. began providing old naval warships and other supplies to Britain -
Japanese sneak attack
the Japanese conduct a sneak attack on the United States leading President Roosevelt to ask Congress for
a declaration of war against Japan (Dec 8th) and then Germany after they declared war on the U.S. (Dec 11th) -
1942
Operation Torch (Nov 1942) – U.S. forces commanded by Dwight D. Eisenhower and led by George Patton land on
the beaches of northwest Africa to engaged German forces, led by General Rommel, retreating from a failed
invasion of British held Egypt
Battle of Stalingrad (Nov. 1942-Feb. 1943) – critical battle on the Eastern Front and a turning point of the war -
Battle of Coral Sea
America’s navy stopped the Japanese advance in the Coral Sea and saved Australia
from being invaded in the first naval battle to take place entirely with airplanes -
Battle of Midway
a naval battle that became the turning point in the war in the Pacific -
1943
Casablanca Conference (Jan 1943) – President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared a policy of unconditional surrender for “all enemies”
Tehran Conference (Nov 1943) – first meeting of the “Big Three” (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin) in which Roosevelt and
Churchill agree to an invasion in Western Europe in 1944 opening up a Western Front -
1944
Operation Overlord (Jun-Aug 1944) – the codename for the Battle of Normandy and the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France in an effort to open up a Western Front
D-Day (June 6th) – 120,000 troops crossed the English Channel from southern England and invaded France in an
invasion on Normandy (northern French coast) led by American general and Supreme Allied commander
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler makes one last offensive attack to drive the Allies away from the German border
creating a “bulge” in the Allied defenses for a short time before being stopped and pushed back -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
U.S. forces begin their campaign to retake the Philippines in one of the largest naval
battles in history as Japanese being using their kamikaze pilots for the first time -
G.I. Bill
provided federal aid and a college education to help veterans adjust to civilian life -
1945
Yalta Conference (Feb 1945) – Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt discussed dividing Germany after the war, into four
sections controlled by each of the western Allies: U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union
V-E Day (May 8th, 1945) – “Victory in Europe” as Germany surrenders the war in Europe is over!
Potsdam Conference (July 1945) - the Allied powers sat down again to talk about post-war Europe and the war with
Japan decided Japan must surrender or face utter destruction -
Tokyo Firebombing
the U.S. drops incendiary bombs (fire-starting) filled with napalm (jellied gasoline)
onto Tokyo and other Japanese cities for the first time creating huge firestorms that destroyed cities -
Okinawa
the largest amphibious assault during the Pacific campaigns where the Allies were planning to use the
island as a staging ground for the invasion of the Japanese mainland (12,000 U.S. soldiers killed, 50,000 wounded to
over 100,000 Japanese deaths) -
Hiroshima
the U.S. airplane, Enola Gay, drops the first atomic bomb, “Little Boy”, on the industrial
city of Hiroshima killing 70,000 (another 70,000 injured – 1-mile radius for total destruction – 4.7 miles destroyed
overall – 63% of the city) -
Nagasaki
the U.S. drops the second atomic bomb, “Fat Man”, on the city of Nagasaki killing 80,000
people (1-mile radius of total destruction – 3 miles were destroyed overall) -
V-J Day
–the Japanese leaders surrendered, avoiding the need for American forces to invade Japan
- MacArthur accepted the surrender of Japan on the U.S.S. Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945, ends the war in the
Pacific ends World War II
