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Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
Italy 1921: Mussolini establishes the Fascist Party (interests of state above individuals). Power must rest with single strong leader + small group. -
Joseph Stalin's Totalitarian Govt in the Soviet Union
Russia: hopes for democracy --> civil war, establishment of a communist state (Soviet Union) in 1922. After V. I. Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin, last name means “man of steel,” took control. -
Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf [My Struggle]: Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of
Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. Included: extreme nationalism, racial purification, national expansion for more living space. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Nationalistic military leaders trying to control imperial Japan, also wanted living space. League of Nations was tested of its power, rep.s were sent to Manchuria to investigate. Their report condemned Japan, who simply quit the League. Success of
Manchurian invasion put the militaristsin control of Japan’s govt -
Storm troopers
Bc of war debts + American investments, Germany’s economy fell. By 1932, 6 mill. Germans unemployed. Many who were out of work joined Hitler’s private army, the storm troopers (or Brown Shirts). The Germans were desperate and turned to Hitler as their last hope. -
Third Reich
Hitler quickly dismantled Germany’s democratic Weimar Republic and established Third Reich, or Third German Empire. He claimed Third Reich would be a “Thousand-Year Reich”—it would last for a thousand years. -
Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
Hitler joined Nazi party in 1919, quickly became leader. Nazism
( German fascism)= extreme nationalism, enforce racial "purification”, national expansion. German economy was at all time low, Germany was desperate and turned to Hitler as their last hope. 1933: Hitler was appointed chancellor, established Third Reich. -
Hitler's military build-up in Germany
Hitler saw the weakness of League of Nations from Japan. In 1933, he pulled Germany out of League. In 1935, he began military buildup in violation of the Treaty. He sent troops into
the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized from the Treaty. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
Mussolini began building new Roman Empire. His first target was Ethiopia (African country). By 1935, thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance on Ethiopia. The League of Nations reacted with brave talk, but in reality only did boycott. -
Francisco Franco
In 1936, Spanish army officers led by General Francisco Franco rebelled against Spanish republic. Revolts broke out all over Spain, Spanish Civil War began. -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
He sent troops into Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized from the Treaty. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Munich Agreement
In eagerness to avoid war, Daladier and Chamberlain believed Hitler in his "last demand". 1938: Munich Agreement (gave Sudetenland to Germany in trust that Germany would stop expanding). -
Rome-Berlin Axis
Western democracies remained neutral. Hitler and Mussolini backed Franco’s forces with military forces. War forged close relationship between German and Italian dictators, who signed a formal alliance: Rome-Berlin Axis. Franco’s victory in 1939
established him as Spain’s fascist dictator. -
Hitler's Anschluss
The Paris Peace Conference following World War I made Austria small. The majority of Austria’s people were Germans. On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria. Germany announced that its Anschluss, or “union,” with Austria was complete. US and the rest of the world did nothing. -
Nonaggression pact
As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin surprised everyone by signing a nonaggression pact with Hitler. Once enemies, in 1939 fascist Germany and communist Russia committed never to attack each other. Germany and Soviet Union also signed a secret pact agreeing to divide Poland between them. -
Blitzkrieg
1939: German air force roared over Poland raining bombs on military sites. German tanks raced across Polish countryside, spreading terror and confusion. This was the first test of Germany’s newest strategy, blitzkrieg, or lightning war. Blitzkrieg used advances in military technology to take the enemy by surprise and crush all opposition with overwhelming force. 2 days after, Britain and France declared war on Germany, but were unable to defend quickly. Blitzkrieg worked perfectly. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Britain and France declared war on Germany. Blitzkrieg tactics worked perfectly. Major fighting was over in 3 weeks, long before France, Britain, allies could mount defense. By the end of the month, Poland ceased to exist—World War II had begun. -
Phony war
French and British troops on the Maginot Line, fortifications built along France’s border, sat staring into Germany, waiting for something to happen. On Siegfried Line German troops stared back. The blitzkrieg gave way to sitzkrieg (“sitting war”) or "phony war". -
Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
1940: Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway “to protect [those countries’] freedom and independence.” In truth, Hitler planned to build bases there to strike at Britain. Next, Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The phony
war had ended. -
Marshal Philippe Petain
Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, would be set up in southern France. -
The Battle of Britain
1940: Germans assembled invasion fleet and launched an air war at the same time. Every night for two solid months, bombers pounded London. With the new radar, British pilots plotted flight paths of German planes and defended well. -
Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands
Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. The phony war had ended. -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
Italy entered the war on the side of Germany and they invaded France together. 1940: the world watched, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender. -
Lend-Lease Act
President would lend arms/supplies to “any country whose defense was vital to the US.” Isolationists argued against plan, but most Americans favored it, and Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941. -
Pearl Harbor attack
Japanese dive-bomber swooped low over Pearl Harbor—
the largest U.S. naval base. Then 180 Japanese warplanes
launched from aircraft carriers. By the time the last plane soared off, the devastation was appalling. -
Internment
Sense of fear and uncertainty caused a wave of prejudice against Japanese Americans. General Delos Emmons was forced to order the internment of 1,444 Japanese Americans. Roosevelt gave permission for army to round up 110,000 Japanese Americans and shipped them to ten remote “relocation centers,” (prison camps). -
Manhattan Project
Roosevelt created Advisory Committee on Uranium to study new discovery. In 1941, the committee reported that it would take 3-5 years to build an atomic bomb. To shorten that time, the OSRD set up program in 1942 to develop a bomb asap. Much of the early research was in Manhattan, so the Manhattan Project became code name for research work that extended
across the country. -
Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps
The military’s work force needs were so great that George Marshall pushed for Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). Women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions. WAAC became law on May 15, 1942. The law gave the WAACs status and salary but few benefits of male soldiers. In 1943, after thousands of women enlisted, the U.S. Army dropped "auxiliary” status, and granted WACs full U.S. Army benefits. -
Battle of Stalingrad
1942: Germans took offensive in Soviet Union. Hitler hoped to capture Soviet oil fields and wipe out Stalingrad, a major industrial center. By the end of September, they controlled
nine-tenths of the city. Another winter set in. Soviets began a massive counterattack. German commander surrendered on January 31, 1943. Two days later, his starving troops also surrendered. -
Unconditional surrender
Even before battle in North Africa was won, Roosevelt, Churchill, and their commanders met in Casablanca. They agreed to accept only the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers -
Office of Price Administration
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 consumer demand on scarce goods by leaving workers with less to spend. -
War Productions Board
WPB ensured that armed forces and war industries received the resources they needed to win the war, decided peacetime or wartime production and allocated raw materials to key industries. It also organized drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags, and cooking fat for recycling into war goods. -
Operation Torch
Allies didnt have enough troops for invasion on European soil. Instead: Operation Torch, invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa, commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. After months of heavy fighting, the last of the Afrika Korps surrendered in May 1943. -
Battle of the Atlantic
After Pearl Harbor, Hitler ordered submarine raids along America’s east coast. The German aim in the Battle of the Atlantic was to prevent food/war materials from
reaching Britain and Soviet Union. Allies responded by organizing their cargo ships into convoys. Allies were able to destroy Uboats faster than Germans could build them. By mid-1943, Battle of the Atlantic had turned. -
U.S. convoy system
Allies organized cargo ships into convoys: groups of ships traveling together for mutual protection. The convoys were escorted across the Atlantic by destroyers detecting submarines underwater and airplanes to spot U-boats on the ocean’s surface. Allies were able to destroy Uboats faster than Germans could build them. In 1943, Admiral Karl Doenitz, German commander, reported that his losses had “reached an unbearable height.” -
D-Day
D-Day—June 6, 1944 after midnight, 3 divisions parachuted down behind German lines. They were followed in the early morning hours by thousands of seaborne soldiers. German retaliation was brutal. By September 1944, the Allies had freed France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. -
Korematsu v. United States
Japanese Americans fought for justice, in the courts and Congress. In 1944, the Supreme Court decided, in
Korematsu v. United States, that the govts policy of evacuating Japanese Americans to camps was justified on the basis of “military necessity.” -
Bloody Anzio
“Bloody Anzio,” lasted four months. 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. -
The Battle of the Bulge
Tanks drove 60 mi. into Allied territory, creating a bulge in the lines, the Battle of the Bulge. Went on for a month, Germans were exhausted. -
Harry S. Truman
President Roosevelt did not live to see V-E Day. On April 12, 1945, he had a stroke and died. That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation’s 33rd president. -
Death of Hitler
Hitler shot himself while his new wife swallowed poison. The two bodies were carried outside and burned. General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day—Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over. -
V-E Day
General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of
the Third Reich. On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day—Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over.
