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Stalin becomes dictator of USSR
In 1922, Joseph Stalin took over control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and by 1927 he had absolute power over USSR and was its unquestioned ruler. Stalin was Communist and seized all property, farms, factories in order to control the economy and create equality.
Stalin's government supported European anti-fascist movements during the 1930s, particularly in the Spanish Civil War. In 1939, it signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, resulting in the Soviet invasion of Poland. -
Mussolini's March on Rome
March on Rome is an event by which Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in late October 1922 after the fascist armed squads known as Blackshirts marched and the captured strategic local places throughout Italy. The March marked the beginning of fascist rule and meant the doom of the preceding parliamentary regimes of socialists and liberals.
Hitler was inspired by Mussolini -
Hitler writes Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf was a political manifesto written by Adolf Hitler. The work was a blueprint of his agenda for a Third Reich and a clear exposition of the nightmare that enveloped Europe from 1939 to 1945.
Although it initially had only limited success, Mein Kampf’s popularity grew as did that of Hitler and the Nazis. It eventually became required reading in Germany.
By 1939 it had sold 5,200,000 copies and had been translated into 11 languages. -
1st "five year plan" in USSR
The first five year plan was created to initiate rapid and large-scale industrialization across USSR. Modern machinery was adopted across the country to maximize production efficiency and output.
To ensure that the nation's food supply could support a newly emerging population of workers, collectivization was introduced across the country. Under this scheme, privately-owned farms were often forcibly consolidated by the government into collective, state-owned farms. -
Japan invades Manchuria
In 1931 Japan had invaded Manchuria without declarations of war, breaching the rules of the League of Nations. Japan had a highly developed industry, but the land was scarce of natural resources. Japan turned to Manchuria for oil, rubber, and lumber in order to make up for the lack of resources in Japan. -
Holodomor
Holodomor is a man-made famine in the Soviet republic of Ukraine. When Stalin ordered the collectivization of agriculture the majority of Ukrainians, who were farmers, resisted. The state confiscated the property of the independent farmers and forced them to work on government collective farms. Those who resisted collectivization were declared enemies of the state who deserved to be eliminated as a class. Thousands were thrown out of their homes and deported. -
Hitler appointed chancellor of Germany
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany following a series of electoral victories by the Nazi Party. Hitler used his power to become dictator. He put Germans to work by building factories, highways, weapons, and increasing the military
He also created the government protection squad called the SS and secret police called the Gestapo to eliminate rivals and control all aspects of Germany. This led to the establishment of Nazi Germany, its regime, and WWII. -
"Night of the Long Knives" in Germany
The Night of Long Knives was the purge of the SA leadership and other political opponents from 30 June 1934 to 2 July 1934. Carried out primarily by the SS and the Gestapo, over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested.
Its purpose was to destroy all opposition to Hitler within the Nazi Party and give power to the brutal SS. It also showed the rest of the world what a tyrant Hitler was. This removed any internal Nazi Party opposition to Hitler and gave him absolute power. -
Nuremberg Laws enacted
The Nuremberg Laws were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany. These laws deprived German Jews of the rights of citizens, forbade mixed Jewish marriages, and required Jews to wear a yellow star. They provided the legal framework for the systematic persecution of Jews in Germany and the Holocaust. -
Italian invasion of Ethiopia
Mussolini wanted to recreate the Roman Empire. So, the aim of invading Ethiopia was to boost Italian national prestige, which was wounded by Ethiopia's defeat of Italian forces at the Battle of Adowa in the nineteenth century, which saved Ethiopia from Italian colonization.
Mussolini saw it as an opportunity to provide land for unemployed Italians and also acquire more mineral resources to fight off the effects of the Great Depression.
Italy's invasion caused a crisis for the League of Nations. -
The Great Purge and gulags
The Great Purge was a brutal political campaign led by Joseph Stalin to eliminate dissenting members of the Communist Party and anyone else he considered a threat.
At least 750,000 people were executed. More than a million other people were sent to forced labor camps (Gulags). Conditions at the Gulags were brutal. Prisoners could be required to work up to 14 hrs/day. Many died there, others were simply executed. It caused terror throughout the USSR and still permeates Russian society today. -
Spanish civil war
The Spanish Civil War began when Emilio Mola and Francisco Franco launched an uprising to overthrow the democratically elected republic.
It left much of Spain's economic and social infrastructure in ruins. The war also involved other European countries as both sides of the conflict requested and received foreign aid. Hitler's involvement was consistent with a Nazi foreign policy aimed to distract Britain and France from Central and Eastern Europe so that he could conduct his eastern expansion. -
The Rape of Nanking
To break the spirit of Chinese resistance, Japanese General Matsui Iwane ordered that the city of Nanking be destroyed. Much of the city was burned, and Japanese troops launched a campaign of atrocities against civilians. The Japanese butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages.
The event continues to impact Sino-Japanese relations to this day. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) was a series of attacks on Jewish synagogues and businesses. Rioters ransacked and looted about 7,500 Jewish businesses, and vandalized Jewish hospitals, homes, schools, and cemeteries.
About 100 Jews killed, hundreds injured, 30,000 arrested
Jews were blamed and fined for the destruction. It was the beginning of the Holocaust where Jews were targeted. After Kristallnacht, the Nazi regime made Jewish survival in Germany impossible. -
Nazi Germany invades Poland
On September 1, 1939, German forces under the control of Adolf Hitler bombarded Poland on land and from the air. This move began World War II. Germany invaded Poland to regain lost territory and ultimately rule their neighbor to the east. The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war–what would become the “blitzkrieg” strategy. -
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, Japan surprisingly attacked Pearl Harbor. This attack crippled or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes. 2,403 sailors, soldiers, and civilians were killed and about 1,000 people were wounded.
It was hoped that the attack would undermine American morale.
Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor drove the United States out of isolation and into World War II, a conflict that would end with Japan's surrender after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
