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Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
By 1921, Mussolini had established the Fascist
Party. Fascism stressed nationalism and
placed the interests of the state above those of individuals.
To strengthen the nation, Fascists argued, power
must rest with a single strong leader and a small group
of devoted party members. -
Mein Kampf
In his book Mein Kampf [My Struggle], Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Japanese officials, the militarists launched a surprise attack and seized control of the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. 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
By 1932, some 6 million Germans were unemployed. Many men who were out of work joined Hitler’s private army, the storm troopers (or Brown Shirts). -
Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
In January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor (prime minister). Once in power,
Hitler quickly dismantled Germany’s democratic Weimar Republic. In its place he
established the Third Reich, or Third German Empire. -
Third Reich
In its place he established the Third Reich, or Third German Empire. According to Hitler, the Third Reich would be a “Thousand-Year Reich”—it would last for a thousand years. -
Hitler's military build-up in Germany
In 1935, he began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
His first target was Ethiopia, one of Africa’s few
remaining independent countries. By the fall of 1935, tens
of thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance on
Ethiopia. -
Francisco Franco
In 1936, a group of Spanish army officers led by General Francisco Franco, rebelled against the Spanish republic. Revolts broke out all over Spain, and the Spanish Civil War began. -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
A year later, he sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarizedas a result of the Treaty of Versailles. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Hitlers Anschluss
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 Agreement
On September 30, 1938, they signed the Munich Agreement, which turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired. -
Joseph Stalins totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
By 1939, Stalin had firmly established a totalitarian government that tried to exert complete control over its citizens. In a totalitarian state, individuals had
no rights, and the government suppresses all opposition -
Rome-Berlin Axis
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. -
Phony War
For the next several months after the fall of Poland,
French and British troops on the Maginot Line, a system of fortifications built along France’s eastern border, sat staring into Germany, waiting for something to happen. On the Siegfried Line a few miles away German troops stared back. The blitzkrieg had given way to what the Germans called the sitzkrieg (“sitting war”), and what some newspapers referred to as the phony war. -
Nonagression Pact
As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin surprised everyone by signing a nonaggression pact with Hitler. Once bitter enemies, on August 23, 1939 fascist Germany and communist Russia now committed never to attack each other. -
Blitzkrieg
September 1, 1939, the German Luftwaffe, or German air force, roared over Poland, raining bombs on military
bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. At the same time, German tanks raced across the Polish countryside, spreading terror and confusion. This invasion was the first
test of Germany’s newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg, or lightning war. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
On September 3, two days following the terror
in Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
Hitlers invasion of Denmark and Norway
Suddenly, on April 9, 1940, Hitler launched a surprise invasion
of Denmark and Norway in order “to protect [those countries’] freedom and independence.” -
Hitlers invasion of the Netherlands
But in truth, Hitler planned to build bases along the
coasts to strike at Great Britain. Next, Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. -
Marshal Philippe Petain
Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed
by Marshal Philippe Pétain -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
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. -
The Battle of Britain
In the Summer of 1940 the German Lutwafffe began bombing Britain. It was the goal of the Nazi party to take control of the Royal British Airforce -
Pearl Harbor Attack
On December 7, 1941, 7:30am, a Japanese dive-bomber swooped low over Pearl Harbor— the largest U.S. naval base in the Pacific. The bomber was followed by more than 180 Japanese warplanes launched from six aircraft carriers. As the first Japanese bombs found their targets, a radio operator flashed this
message: “Air raid on Pearl Harbor. This is not a drill.” -
Battle of the Atlantic
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. Something had to be done or the war at
sea would be lost. -
U.S Convoy system
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. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch, commanded by Dwight D. Eisenhower, led it In November 1942, some 107,000 Allied troops, the great majority of them Americans, landed in Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers in North Africa. From there they sped eastward, chasing the Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel, the legendary Desert Fox. -
Battle of Stalingrad
In defending Stalingrad, the Soviets lost a total of 1,100,000 soldiers—more than all American deaths during the entire war. Despite the staggering death toll, the Soviet victory marked a turning point in the war. From that point on, the
Soviet army began to move westward toward Germany -
Unconditional Surrender
Roosevelt and Churchil had met together and, at this meeting,
the two leaders agreed to accept only the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers. That is, enemy nations would have to accept whatever terms of peace the Allies
dictated. -
Bloody Anzio
One of the hardest battles the Allies encountered
in Europe was fought less than 40 miles from Rome. 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
D-Day—June 6, 1944, the first day
of the invasion. Shortly after midnight, three divisions
parachuted down behind German lines. They were followed
in the early morning hours by thousands upon
thousands of seaborne soldiers—the largest land-sea-air
operation in army history. -
Battle of the Bulge
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. As the
Germans swept westward, they captured 120 American
GIs near Malmédy. Elite German troops—the SS troopers—
herded the prisoners into a large field and mowed
them down with machine guns and pistols. -
Harry Truman
April 12, 1945, while posing for a portrait in Warm Springs, Georgia, the president had a stroke and died. That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation’s 33rd president. -
Death of Hitler
April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun comitted suicide in one of Hitlers bunkers. -
V-E Day
On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day—Victory in
Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over.
