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Stock Market Crash (Black Tuesday)
The Stock Market crashed and as a reuslt, many people lost their jobs and almost everyone was unemployed or making very little money. Start of the Great Depression -
Great Depression Begins
The Great Depression was started by the Stock Market crash of 1929. Thousands of people lost their jobs and were unemployed. Because of all of the money that the US had lent to people, when the US economy crashed, so did Europes. People were desparate for a better life, and this lead to the rise of dictators. The dictators would promise things to people that sounded like everything would get better (Hitler). -
Japan Conquers Manchuria in Northern China
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Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
Adolf Hitler led the fascist National Socialist German Workers' Party, or the Nazis. He was the leader of the idea of german racial superiortiy. He over through the government and the constitution and called him self "The Leader" (der Fuhrer). -
FDR Elected President
FRD was the leader who tried to help America out of the Great Depression. He was the creator of the First and Second New Deals, and the Social Security Act. The First and Second New Acts were acts that were focused on making life better after the Great Depression. -
Nuremberg Laws Created
Laws saying the German is the best race. -
Hitler & Mussolini form the Rome-Berlin Axis
An alliance between Germany and Italy. -
Japan Invades China
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Germany Invades Austria
Austria was home mostly to German-speaking people. Many residents of Austria and Germany were happy with unification. -
Kristallnacht Begins
The Kristallanch was a wave of programs that were violent anti-Jews programs. This happened in Germany. -
Britain’s Appeasement of Germany
Britian's Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain talked with Hitler. They agreed that Germany would gain control of the Sudetenland and Hitler promised that he would stop seeking more territory.The agreement (Munich Appeasement) was from the British and French policy of appeasement, which ment meeting Germany's demands to prevent a war. -
Germany and the Soviet Union have a Non-Aggression Pact
They agreed to not attack eachother, but Hitler broke that agreement. -
Germany Invades Poland - blitzkrieg: Start of WWII
Hitler went back against his word not to attack the Soviet Union, and sent forces deep in to Poland. He used a new stragety of warfare called blitzkreige, which used the speed and surprise of tanks, soldiers, and planes. In less than a month, Germany had defeated Poland. -
Japan Joins the Axis
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Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and France (Vichy France)
Germans used blitzkrieg on Belgium and the Netherlands. Then Germany went to France in June of 1940, and within 2 weeks France surrendered. -
Battle of Britian
Hitler wanted to invade Britain. He needed to destroy Britain's Royal Air Force, so the German air force (Lufwaffe) fought the RAF and bombed London and other places with may civilians. Even after the constant bombing, the British did not surrender like Hitler thought they would. -
Germany Invades the Soviet Union
Even thought there was a non-aggression treaty. -
Tuskegee Airmen
Through the 1940's, African Americans were a key part in WWII. About one million African Americans served in the armed forces. They were in segregated units, but they were determined to show that they were just as good as white people. The Tuskegee Airmen were and elite force of pilots who served in North Africa and Europe. There was still a lot of racism against black people, and the African-Americans had to endure through all of the racial tensions and riots. -
The Nazis Implement the “Final Solution”
There had been concentration camps from 1933 (ghettos), but in the summer and fall of 1941 was the main time that those camps turned in to killing camps. The Final Solution was to murder all of the Jewish people in Germany and Europe. In these camps, about 11 million people were killed, including Jews, disabled people, Gypsies, homosexuals, and Russians. They were shot, gasses, worked to death, or starved. -
US approves the Lend-Lease Act
This act allowed the US to lend supplies or other resources and equiptment to the Allies (Great Britain, Soviet Union, and others). They gave about 5 billion dollars worth of goods to the Allies. -
Pearl Harbor Attack
The Japanese warplanes bombed the big American naval base in Hawaii. The attack was a complete surprise. Over 2,400 Americans in Hawaii died because of the bombs. Many ships and warplanes were damaged or destroyed. This was the turning point for the US, and America declared war on Japan, leading them in to WWII. -
Japanese-American Internment
People were afraid of the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The US made internment camps. The Japanese-Americans had to sell their homes and possessions. They had to close their businesses, and leave their jobs. Then they were moved to prison like camps. Many of the men who were Japanese but born in the US volunteered to fight for the US. Executive Order 9066 was the law of the removal of Japanese-Americans. -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March started when the U.S. troops in Bataan surrendered. THe Japanese troops made the soldiers march about 65 miles to a prison camp. When they were going, about 10,000 prisoners died from being shot, beat, or starved. -
Battle of Midway
After the battle at Coral Sea, the Americans and the Japanese clashed again. By the island of Midway (central Pacific), the US won and it was the turning point in the war. The US Navy lost 150 planes and 1 carrier. The Japanese lost 250 planes and 4 carriers. -
British forces stop the German advance at El Alamein
The British Army stopped Rommel's (German Leader) advance. They forced them to retreat. Then, Allied forces landed in Africa and tried to help the British. They were inexperienced, but the Allies held and continued attacking. In May, the Axis forces in Northern Africa surrendered. -
Guadalcanal Fight
The US first major land victory against the Japanese. It was 6 months of bitter fighting. -
German Forces Surrender
In September of 1942, German forces attacked Salingrad, a city in Russia. The Soviet Army defended it. When winter came, a German commander asked Hitler to let them retreat. Hitler refused. The Soviet troopes cut off the Germans food and supplies. Thousands of Nazis soldiers froze and starved, and then they surrendered. Salingrad was a key turning point of the war. -
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riviter was the sign for a woman hard at work suppoting the war. This image encourage many women to work at different factroies, building supplies for the war. About 30% of the US work force was women. They would work in munitions factories, shipyards, and offices. A large number of women also served in the Woman's Army Corps, joined the Army or Navy Nurse Corps, or had noncombat duties in the US Navy and Coast Guard. -
D-Day
Allied paratroopers and gliders landed behind German lines in Normandy, north of France. In the morning, over 5,000 ships carried 150,000 American, British, and Canadian soldiers across the channel. The size of the attack surprised the Germans, but they killed more than 10,000 soldiers (US). But the Allies still secured the beaches. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germand made the Allies go to the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg. Then the US forces regrouped and defeated them. America lost about 80,000 soldiers and Germany lost about 120,000 people. -
Yalta Conference
At the Yalta was Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. During this, these leaders talked about their plans for the end of the war and the future of Europe. These leaders also made a postwar international peace-keeping organization. They also discussed what types of government Eastern Europe would have after the war. -
Iwo Jima
The US Marines invaded the Japanese-held island Iwo Jima. The US soldiers planted the American flag at the top of the Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi, showing that they had won. But the fighting continued for many days after. -
Roosevelt Dies and Truman Becomes President
President Roosevelt was in very bad health by the Yalta Conference. When he died, his vice-president became president (Harry S. Truman). -
Okinawa
Okinawa was the other Japanese-held island like Iwo Jima. It took several months for the US Marines to defeat the Japanese and gain control of both islands. In order to get the islands, 18,000 US men were lost. The Japanese lost over 120,000 people. -
Formantion of the United Nations
50 nations met in San Francisco to discuss a new peacekeeping organization to replace the League of Nations. On June 26, 1945, all 50 nations ratified the charter, creating a new international peacekeeping body known as the United Nations. President Roosevelt had asked the Americans to not turn their backs on the world again. Unlike the League of Nations, the US is a member of the UN. -
Hitler Dies
Adolf Hiter, the man who conquered most of Europe, realizes that the Allies will win. In his air-raid bunker, he commits suicide. -
The Allies Advance on Berlin, Germany Surrenders
The Soviet Army captures Berlin. Five days after that, the German leaders oficially surrendered (May 7th). Hitler commited suicide before this time. -
Potsdam Conference
Allies held the Potsdam Conference to plan the end of the war. The decision was made to put Nazi war criminals on trial. -
Manhattan Project
This project was a top-secret program that was made to build an atomic-bomb. It was lead by J. Robert Oppenheimer. The US made it to make Japan surrender and end the war. -
Hiroshima & Nagasaki Bombed By the US
On August 6th, 1945, the US dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It killed more than 75,000 people, and destroyed a 5 square mile part of Japan. On August 9 1945, the US dropped another atomic bomb and killed 40,000 people. Japan finally surrendered. -
Japanese Officials Sign a Letter of Surrender
Both Japanese officials and Allied leader met abord the U.S. battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. This was when the Japanese finally signed the official letter of surrender. -
Nuremberg Trials
To October 1, 1946. There were 24 defendants, including some of Hitler's top officials. Hermann Goering- was the creater & head of Gestapo (secret police) was on trial. They were charged with crimes against humanity. 19 were found guilty, 12 were sentenced to death. They were showing that you are responsible for your actions, even during war. -
Marshall Plan
Congress approved Secretary of State George Marshall's plan to help boost European economies. The US gave more than $13 million to help the nations of Europe to get back on their feet.
