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Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
He joined a struggling group called Nazi Party. Set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. Also wanted to enforce racial “purification” at home. The Great Depression helped the Nazis come to power. He established Third German Empire. -
Mein Hampf
“to secure for the German people the land and soil to which they are entitled on this earth,” even if this could be accomplished only by “the might of a victorious sword.” as he wrote. Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. -
Benito Mussolini's fascist gov't in Italy
Was establishing a totalitarian regime in Italy, He played on
the fears of economic collapse and communism. To strengthen the nation, Fascists argued, power must rest with a single strong leader and a small group of devoted party members. -
Joseph Stalins totalitarian gov't in the Soviet Union
Stalin focused on creating a model communist state. He made
both agricultural and industrial growth the prime economic goals. He abolished all privately owned farms and replaced them with collectives—large government-owned farms. -
Japenese invasion of Manchuria
Ignoring the protests of more moderate Japanese officials, the militarists launched a surprise attack and seized control of
the Chinese province of Manchuria. Within several months, Japanese troops controlled the entire province, a large region about twice the size of Texas, that was rich in natural resources. -
Storm Troopers
Many men who were out of work joined Hitler’s private army, the storm troopers (or Brown Shirts). The German people were desperate and turned to Hitler as their last hope. -
Third Reich
Hitler was appointed chancellor. Hitler quickly dismantled Germany’s democratic Weimar Republic. According to Hitler, the Third Reich would be a “Thousand-Year Reich”—it would last for a thousand years. ( Third German Empire ) -
Hitlers military build-up in Germany
Hitler pulled Germany out of the League. He began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. A year later, he sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Hitler invades in the Rhineland
He sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
Tens of thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance on
Ethiopia. By May 1936, Ethiopia had fallen. The League of Nations reacted with brave talk of “collective resistance to all acts of unprovoked aggression.” -
Fransico Franco
Spanish army officers rebelled against the Spanish republic. Revolts broke out all over Spain, and the Spanish Civil War began. About 3,000 Americans formed the Abraham
Lincoln Battalion and traveled to Spain to fight against
Franco. -
Hitlers Anschluss
Austria was Hitler’s first target. The majority of Austria’s 6
million people were Germans who favored unification with
Germany. On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into
Austria unopposed. A day later, Germany announced that its
Anschluss, or “union,” with Austria was complete. -
Munich Agreemant
Hitler wanted to annex Czechoslovakia in order to providore living space for Germany as well as to controll its important natural resources. He then invited French premier and British prime minister to meet with him in Munich. They signed the Munich Agreement, which turned the Sudetenland over to Germany. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
Hitler and Mussolini backed Franco’s forces with troops,
weapons, tanks, and fighter planes. The war forged a close
relationship between the German and Italian dictators, who
signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. After a loss of almost 500,000 lives, Franco’s victory in 1939
established him as Spain’s fascist dictator. -
Nonaggression Pact
Germany and Russia now committed never to attack eachother. They aslo signed a second secret pact, agreeing to divide Poland between them. -
Blitzkrieg
The german airforce roared over Poland raining bombs on military bases and cities. German tanks raced across the Polish countryside. this newest military strategy was known as Blitzkrieg or lightning war. It made advances in military technology -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
On the last week of fighting, the Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east, grabbing some of its territory. The portion Germany annexed in western Poland contained almost two-thirds of Polands population. Poland had ceased to exist- and world war II had begun. -
Hitlers invasion of Denmark and Norway
launched an attack to protect the countries freedom and independance. Hitler planned to build bases along the oasts to strike at Great Britian. -
Hitlers invasion of the Netherlands
He turned to the Netherlands, Belgium and Lunxembourg which were overrun by the end of May. -
Marshal Philippe Petain
Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, would be set up at Vichy, in southern France. -
The Battle of Britain
Germany also launched an air war at the same time. The Luftwaffe began making bombing runs over Britain. Its goal was to gain total control of the skies by destroying Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF). August 15—approximately 2,000 German planes ranged over Britain. -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
The German offensive trapped almost 400,000 British
and French soldiers as they fled to the beaches of Dunkirk on the French side of the English Channel. 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. On June 22,
1940, at Compiègne, as William Shirer and the rest of the
world watched, Hitler handed French officers his terms of
surrender. -
Phony War
The blitskrieg had given way to what the Germans called sitzkrieg ( sitting war ). stalin sent his Soviet army into Finland. After 3 months they had surrendered. Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order to protect the countries freedom. -
Pearl Harbor attack
The bomber was followed by more than 180 Japanese warplanes launched from six aircraft carriers. In less than two hours, the Japanese had killed 2,403 Americans and wounded 1,178 more. The surprise raid had sunk or damaged 21 ships, including 8 battleships—nearly the whole U.S. Pacific fleet. More than 300 aircraft were severely damaged or destroyed -
Battle of the Atlantic
The German aim in the Battle of the Atlantic was to prevent food and war materials from reaching Great Britain and the Soviet Union. In the first four months of 1942, the Germans sank 87 ships off the Atlantic shore. Seven months into the
year, German wolf packs had destroyed a total of 681 Allied ships in the Atlantic. -
Battle of Stalingrad
the Germans took the offensive in the southern Soviet Union. Hitler hoped to capture Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus Mountains. Nearly every wooden building in Stalingrad was set ablaze. Soviet officers in Stalingrad recommended blowing up the city’s factories and abandoning the city. -
U.S. convoy system
The 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 destroyers 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. -
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. “People were yelling, screaming, dying, running on the beach, equipment was flying everywhere, men were bleeding to death, crawling, lying everywhere, firing coming from all directions,” -
The Battle of the Bulge
On December 16, under cover of dense fog, eight German tank divisions broke through weak American defenses along an 80-mile front. Tanks drove 60 miles into Allied territory,
creating a bulge in the lines that gave this desperate lastditch
offensive its name, the Battle of the Bulge. they captured 120 American GIs near Malmédy. -
Harry S. Truman
President Roosevelt did not live to see V-E Day. While posing for a portrait and Warm Springs, Georgia, the president had a stroke and died. That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nations 33rd president. -
Unconditional surrender
In his underground headquarters in Berlin, Hitler prepared
for the end. On April 29, he married Eva Braun, his
longtime companion. he blamed the Jews for
starting the war and his generals for losing it. -
Death of Hitler
Hitler wrote out his last address to the German people. He blamed the Jews for starting the war and his generals for losing it. Hitler and his wife chose to die in order to escape the disgrace of capitulation. The next day Hitler shot himself while his new wife swallowed poison. The 2 bodies were carried outside, soaked with gasoline and burned. -
V-E Day
General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. The Allies celebrated V-E Day-Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over.
