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Mussolini becomes Leader of Italy
Mussolini rose to power from the fascist coup d'etat in October 1922. In prior years the Fascist party had grown a reputation as those who would do anything for power. During the march on Rome, Fascist Party Leaders demanded that Luigi Facta and King Victor Emanuel III let them be rulers of Italy. In fear of the terrorizing group causing a civil war, the king handed over his power to Mussolini on October 29th. Mussolini inspired many other totalitarian leaders on the forceful ways of leadership. -
Joseph Stalin becomes Leader of Russia
Following Lenin's death, the former leader of Russia, Joseph Stalin became the leader by using terror and manipulation to outwin his opponents. He scared the public into following his lead, not allowing choice or opposition. Inspired by Mussolini's similar totalitarian leadership styles, Stalin ruled by controlling every part of everyday life. Therefore, completely changing the lives of all Russian civilians. -
Hitler becomes Leader of Germany
Hitler rose to power through his role in the Nazi Party. He was able to create a cult of personality making the German civilians believe he would be able to restore "former Germany" after their severe loss in WWI. Eventually, as people began to believe his powerful and deceiving words, they wanted him to become their strong leader. In January, he was appointed as Chancellor, although his leadership roles expanded far beyond that border. -
Nuremberg Laws
These racist and demeaning German laws were created by Hitler to diminish the roles of Jews in society. As a result of Hitler's totalitarian powerful speaking abilities, Jews were perceived as "monsters" almost instantly. -
Germany and Austria unite
After many failed attempts Germany successfully seized the Austrian Government to create a "greater Germany". Austria's Chancellor surrendered peacefully and allowed the Germans to take control immediately. -
Munich Pact
In hopes to try and stop German's expansion and the possible threats of war, an agreement was made between Britain, France, Italy, and Germany. This resulted in Germany gaining Czechslovakia and later led to them conquering more land. -
Hitler and Mussolini become Allies
Due to both their very substantial totalitarian leadership styles and their appearance of powerful control, Mussolini and Hitler became allies in hopes to win WWII. Through the Pact of Steel both Italy and Germany were allied politically and militarily. -
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with the soviet union meaning that neither countries were able to take military opposition during the war. As a result of doing so, Germany could then take over Poland without opposition from the other side. While Germany was fighting with France and Britain on the west they would not have to fight battles on both sides if they were not fighting the Soviets. -
German Invasion of Poland
Shortly after signing the non-aggression pact, Germany moved quickly to secure Poland so they would not have to fight the war on both the east and west sides. This marked the first major battle of WWII, and helped Germany finalize the blitzkrieg strategy. Resulted in German victory. -
Briatin and France Declare War on Germany
As a result of Germany invading Poland, the allies moved quickly to declare war on Germany, considering they were gaining too much land way too quickly. Since the Munich agreement clearly was not stopping Hitler from expanding, Britain and France had no other choice in order to stop Germany from expanding even more rapidly. -
Fall of France
Following the invasion of Poland which resulted in the Allies declaring war on Germany, the invasion of France occurred in 1940 which ended the phony war. Within days the German military had passed through the low countries (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg). This resulted in the trapping of the British who then evacuated to Dunkirk and helped lead to another German victory. -
Battle of Dunkirk
Following the Fall of France, the battle of Dunkirk was started by the British soldiers fleeing France in order to escape and save their militia from German capture. Evacuation of Allied forces through the seaport of Dunkirk, resulted in a German victory, however, 300,000 allied troops were saved. If they had been captured it would have resulted in the immediate loss of WWII. -
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a military strike by Japan on the US Hawaii island. This unexpected attack was aimed to help destroy enough land that Japan would be able to conquer South America without opposition from the US. However, this military strike was a deciding factor in the US later declaring war on Japan. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Germans attack Stalingrad in August and control most of the land by September. Stalin refuses to surrender his city and will not back down, results in the soviets attacking germans in the middle of the cold winter. After losing over 300,000 men Hitler surrenders and the Soviets began pushing the Germans back west. This is commonly known as the turning point of the war, Germany starts to weaken, and put on a losing streak. -
German Surrender
Following Germany's great defeat in the Berlin Battle and Hitler's suicide, Germany finally surrendered completely on all fronts by officially signing the papers on behalf of the Allied Forces. Although this completed WWII on the European land, the war was still being fought in the east by water between the US and Japan. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
As a comeback to Japan's attacks on pearl harbor and with hopes to try and push Japan's surrender in WWII, the US released two nuclear bombs against Japan within a week of each other. The two bombs killed over 200,000 civilians in the small towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This harmful military advantage pushed Japan over the edge and resulted in Japan's surrender. -
Japans Surrender
Just a few days after the nuclear bombs were used in warfare against Japan, their Emporer Hiroto announced their complete surrender in WWII. It was officially signed in early September, which marked the official ending of WWII everywhere.
