WWII Timeline

  • Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy

    Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
    Stressed nationalism and placed the interests of the state above those individuals.Argued that power must rest with a single strong leader and a small group of devoted party members.
  • Mein Kampf

    Mein Kampf
    Hitler's book, it meant "My Struggle," wrote about the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi party.
  • Japanese invasion of Manchuria

    Japanese invasion of Manchuria
    Believed the need for more living space for a growing population so the militarists launched a surprise attack and seized control over the Chinese province of Manchuria
  • Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany

    Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
    Became the Nazi's party leader because he was a great public speaker and organizer then was appointed as the prime minister. He dismantled Germany's democratic Weimar Republic.
    Became strongest political party in Germany
  • Storm Troopers

    Storm Troopers
    People joined Hitler's private army (Brown Shirts) because they were desperate, they were unemployed and Germany's economy was struggling.
  • Third Reich

    Third Reich
    Also known as the Third German Empire and said it would last a thousand years.
  • Hitler's military build-up in Germany

    Hitler's military build-up in Germany
    Hitler took Germany out of the League and violated the Treaty of Versailles because the League of Nations weren't doing anything against Japan
  • Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia

    Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
    Ethiopia was his first target of his new Roman Empire, by May 1936, Ethiopia had fallen.
  • Hitler invades the Rhineland

    Hitler invades the Rhineland
    In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler sent troops into Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles
  • Francisco Franco

    Francisco Franco
    Led a group of Spanish army officers; they rebelled against the Spanish republic, were fascist. This war forged a close relationship between the German and Italian dictators and Franco was established as Spain's fascist dictator.
  • Hitler's Anschluss

    Hitler's Anschluss
    A day later after German troops marched into Austria unopposed, Germany announced that its Anschluss or "union" with Austria was complete
  • Munich Agreement

    Munich Agreement
    Daladier and Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement to avoid war with Hitler, which turned the Sudentenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired.
  • Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union

    Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
    -Tried to exert complete control over its citizens
    - Individuals had no right and the government suppresses all opposition
  • Rome-Berlin Axis

    Rome-Berlin Axis
    This was a formal alliance between the German and Italian dictators.
  • Nonaggression pact

    Nonaggression pact
    Stalin signed this with Hitler, as tensions rose over Poland. Fascist Germany and communist Russia committed never to attack each other. There was a secret second pact, which agreed to divide Poland between them.
  • Blitzkrieg

    Blitzkrieg
    Germany's newest military strategy, also called the lightning war. It advanced in military technology- such as fast tanks and more powerful aircraft.
  • Britain and France declare war on Germany

    Britain and France declare war on Germany
    Britain and Germany declared war on Germany after Germany introduced their new military strategy; Germany won with no problem. This kind of started WWII
  • Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway

    Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
    Hitler launched this surprise attack against Denmark and Norway to "protect their freedom and independence," but he actually planned to build bases along the coast to strike Great Britain
  • Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands

    Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands
    For the same reason as his invasion of Denmark and Norway, was overrun by the end of May
  • Germany and Italy's invasion of France

    Germany and Italy's invasion of France
    The German offensive trapped almost 400,000 British and French soldiers and few days later, Italy joined them. Germans occupied the northern part of France.
  • Phony war

    Phony war
    Newspaper called what Germans called the "sitzkrieg" (sitting war) phony war. The Finns surrendered against the Soviet Union and this war ended when Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
  • Marshal Philippe Petain

    Marshal Philippe Petain
    Led the Nazi-controlled puppet government, his government would be set up at Vichy, in Southern France
  • The Battle of Britain

    The Battle of Britain
    The Luftwaffe began making bombing runs over Britain; their goal was to control of the skies by destroying Britain's Royal Air Force. Germany continued to pound bombers on Britain trying to disrupt production and break civilian morale.
  • Lend-Lease Act

    Lend-Lease Act
    Roosevelt thought of this plan because Britain had no more cash to spend in the arsenal of democracy; under this plan, the president would lend or lease arms and other supplies to "any country whose defense was vital to the United States."
  • Pearl Harbor attack

    Pearl Harbor attack
    A Japanese dive-bomber swooped low over Pearl Harbor followed by more than 180 Japanese warplanes. This killed 2,403 Americans and wounded 1,178 more, sunk or damaged 21 ships, including 8 battleships. After the bombing, isolationists now supported an all-out American effort.
  • Battle of the Atlantic

    Battle of the Atlantic
    The German aim in this battle was to prevent food and war materials from reaching Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Germans sank 87 ships off the Atlantic shore and a total of 681 Allied ships. To fight against this war, the Allies organized cargo ships and convoys, they were able to find and destroy German U-boats and the tides turned.
  • U.S. convoy system

    U.S. convoy system
    Convoys were groups of ships that traveled together for mutual protection
  • Manhattan Project

    Manhattan Project
    Code name for the research of the new discovery and development of a new bomb.
  • Internment

    Internment
    Military governor of Hawaii, General Delos Emmons, was forced to pay internment, confinement, of 1,444 Japanese Americans.
  • Women's Auxiliary Army Corps

    Women's Auxiliary Army Corps
    Women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions; this gave women an official status and salary.
  • Battle of Stalingrad

    Battle of Stalingrad
    German's intention was to capture Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus Mountains. The situation looked so desperate that Soviet officers in Stalingrad recommended blowing up the city's factories and abandoning the city. Soviet stepped forward when they saw the opportunity to counterattack, trapping the Germans in and around the city cutting off their supplies; this was the turning point of the war. Total deaths of 1,100,000 soldiers.
  • Operation Torch

    Operation Torch
    This was when the Allied forces went in to attack Oran and Algiers.
  • Bloody Anzio

    Bloody Anzio
    Hitler was determined to stop the Allies in Italy rather than fight on German soil, one of the hardest battles the Allies encountered. During this year, German armies continued to put up strong resistance, Italy was eventually freed.
  • Korematsu v. United States

    Korematsu v. United States
    The Supreme Court decided this trial as Japanese Americans fought for justice, that the government's policy of evacuating Japanese Americans to camps was justified on the basis of "military necessity."
  • D-Day

    D-Day
    The day that Eisenhower's gathered Allied forces attacked Normandy in Northern France, code named "Operation Overlord." The largest land-sea-air operation in army history.
  • The Battle of the Bulge

    The Battle of the Bulge
    Tanks drove 60 miles into Allied territory, creating a bulge in the lines. Hitler hoped that this would disrupt the enemy's supply lines, demoralize the Allies, and split American and British forces. Nazis retreated
  • Harry S. Truman

    Harry S. Truman
    When President Roosevelt died from a stroke, VP, Harry S. Truman became the nation's 33rd president.
  • Death of Hitler

    Death of Hitler
    Hitler blamed the Jews for starting the war and losing it. He said him and his wife decided to die, "to escape the disgrace of capitulation." He shot himself while his wife drank poison and both were burned.
  • Unconditional surrender

    Unconditional surrender
    General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich
  • V-E Day

    V-E Day
    Allies celebrate this day; Victory in Europe Day, when the war in Europe was finally over.
  • Office of the Price Administration

    Office of the Price Administration
    This fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods. Congress raised income tax rates and extended the tax to millions of people who never paid it before. It reduced consumer demand on scarce goods y leading workers to spend less and the gov. encouraged Americans to use their extra cash to buy war bonds.
  • War Productions Board

    War Productions Board
    Ensured that the armed forces and war industries received the resources hey need to win the war. Allocated raw materials to key industries and organized drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags, and cooking fats for recycling into war goods.