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Mein Kampf
In his book Mein Kampf, Hitler set the beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. Nazism, the German brand of fascism, was based on extreme nationalism. Hitler believed that for Germany to thrive, it needed more lebensraum, or living space. One of the Nazis’ aims, as Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, was “to secure for the German people the land and soil to which they are entitled on this earth,” even if this could be accomplished only by “the might of a victorious sword.” -
Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
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. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
The militarists launched an attack in the Chinese province of Manchuria. Japanese troops controlled the entire province, a large region about twice the size of Texas. The watchful League of Nations had been established to prevent aggressive acts. Representatives were sent to Manchuria to investigate the situation. Their report condemned Japan, who in turn simply quit the League. Meanwhile, the success of the Manchurian invasion put the militarists firmly in control of Japan’s government. -
Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
Because of war debts and dependence on American loans and investments (Great Depression), Germany’s economy was hit. Many unemployed men joined Hitler’s private army. The German people were desperate and turned to Hitler as their last hope. By mid 1932, the Nazis had become the strongest political party in Germany. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor. Once in power, Hitler dismantled Germany’s democratic Weimar Republic. In its place he
established the Third Reich. -
Storm troopers
The Great Depression helped the Nazis come to power. Because of war debts and dependence on American loans and investments, Germany’s economy was hit hard. 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). The German people were desperate and turned to Hitler as their last hope. -
Third Reich
Once in power, Hitler quickly dismantled Germany’s democratic Weimar Republic. 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
Hitler pulled Germany out of the League. In 1935, he began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. A year later, he sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
Mussolini began building his new Roman Empire. His first target was Ethiopia, one of Africa’s few remaining independent countries. By the fall of 1935, Italian soldiers stood ready to advance on Ethiopia. The League of Nations reacted with brave talk of “collective resistance to all acts of unprovoked aggression.” When the invasion began, however, the League’s response was an ineffective economic boycott. By May 1936, Ethiopia had fallen. -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
In 1935, he began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. A year later, he sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Francisco Franco
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. 3,000 Americans formed the Abraham Lincoln Battalion and traveled to Spain to fight against Franco. Hitler and Mussolini backed Franco’s forces with troops, weapons, tanks, and fighter planes. After a loss of 500,000 lives, Franco’s victory in 1939 established him as Spain’s fascist dictator. -
Hitler's Anschluss
Austria was Hitler’s first target.The Paris Peace Conference following World War I had created the relatively small nation of Austria out of what was left of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The majority of Austria’s 6 million people were Germans who favored unification with
Germany. On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria unopposed. A day later, Germany announced that its Anschluss, or “union,” with Austria was complete. The United States and the rest of the world did nothing. -
Munich Agreement
France and Great Britain promised to protect Czechoslovakia. Then, Hitler invited French premier Édouard Daladier and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain in Munich. When they arrived, the führer declared that the annexation of the Sudetenland would be his “last territorial demand.” To avoid war, Daladier and Chamberlain chose to believe him. On September 30, 1938, they signed the Munich Agreement, which turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired. -
Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
This tried to exert complete control over its citizens. In a totalitarian state, individuals have no rights, and the government suppresses all opposition. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
Hitler and Mussolini backed Franco’s forces with troops,
weapons, tanks, and fighter planes. The war forged a close
relationship between the German and Italian dictators, who
signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. -
Phony war
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. -
Blitzkrieg
On September 1, 1939, the German Luftwaffe roared over Poland, raining bombs. German tanks raced across the Polish countryside. This invasion was the first test of Germany’s newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg, or lightning war. Blitzkrieg made use of advances in military technology—such as fast tanks and more powerful aircraft—to take the enemy by surprise and then quickly crush all opposition with overwhelming force. On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
Nonaggression 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. Germany and the Soviet Union also signed a second, secret pact, agreeing to divide Poland between them. With the danger of a two-front war eliminated, the fate of Poland was sealed. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Blitzkrieg made use of advances in military technology—such as fast tanks and more powerful aircraft—to take the enemy by surprise and then quickly crush all opposition with overwhelming force. On September 3, two days following the terror in Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands
Suddenly, on April 9, 1940, Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order “to protect [those countries’] freedom
and independence.” 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. The phony war had ended. -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
A few days later, 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. Germans would occupy the northern part of
France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, would be set up at Vichy,
in southern France. -
Marshal Philippe Petain
On June 22, 1940, at Compiègne, as William Shirer and the rest of the world watched, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender. Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, would be set up at Vichy, in southern France. -
The Battle of Britain
The Luftwaffe began making bombing runs over Britain. Its goal was to gain total control of the skies by destroying Britain’s Royal Air Force. Hitler had 2,600 planes at his disposal. On August, 2,000 German planes ranged over Britain. The Battle of Britain raged on through the summer and fall. Night after night, German planes pounded British targets. At first the Luftwaffe concentrated on airfields and aircraft. Next it targeted cities. -
Hitler's 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.” 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. The phony war had ended. -
Lend-Lease Act
Britain had no more cash to spend in the arsenal of democracy. Roosevelt tried a lend-lease policy; the president would lend or lease arms and other supplies to “any country whose defense was vital to the US.” Roosevelt compared his plan to lending a garden hose to a neighbor whose house was on fire. He asserted that this was the only sensible thing to do to prevent the fire from spreading to your own property. Congress passed the LendLease Act in March 1941. -
Pearl Harbor attack
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. The Japanese had killed 2,403 Americans and wounded 1,178. The surprise raid had sunk or damaged 21 ships, including 8 battleships. More than 300 aircraft were destroyed. These losses constituted greater damage than the U.S. Navy had suffered in all of World War I. -
Internment
In 1942, the War Department called for the mass evacuation of all Japanese Americans from Hawaii. General Delos Emmons, the military governor of Hawaii, resisted the order because 37 percent of the people in Hawaii were Japanese Americans. To remove them would have destroyed the islands’ economy and hindered U.S. military operations there. However, he was eventually forced to order the internment, or confinement, of 1,444 Japanese Americans, 1 percent of Hawaii’s Japanese-American population. -
Battle of Atlantic
The German aim in the Battle of the Atlantic was to prevent food and war materials from reaching Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Britain depended on supplies from the sea. The 3,000 milelong shipping lanes from North America were her lifeline. Hitler knew that if he cut that lifeline, Britain would be starved into submission. -
U.S. convoy system
German wolf packs had destroyed a total of 681 Allied ships in the
Atlantic. The Allies responded by organizing their cargo ships into convoys. 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. They were also
accompanied by airplanes that used radar to spot U-boats on the ocean’s surface. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The situation looked desperate that Soviet officers in Stalingrad recommended blowing up the city’s factories and abandoning the city. A furious Stalin ordered them to defend his namesake city no matter what the cost. Germans controlled 19th of the city. In defending Stalingrad, the Soviets lost a total of 1,100,000 soldiers. 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. -
Operation Torch
Churchill and Roosevelt didn’t think the Allies had enough troops to attempt an invasion on European soil. Instead, they launched Operation Torch, an invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa, commanded by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
Manhattan Project
Roosevelt responded to Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) by creating an Advisory Committee on Uranium to study the new discovery. The committee reported that it takes 3-5 years to build an atomic bomb. The OSRD set up an intensive program in 1942 to develop a bomb as quickly as possible. Because much of the early research was performed at Columbia University in Manhattan, the Manhattan Project became the code name for research work that extended
across the country. -
War Productions Board
The armed forces and war industries needed to receive the
resources for the war. The War Production Board (WPB) decided which companies would convert from peacetime to wartime production and allocated raw materials to key industries. It organized drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags, and cooking fat for
recycling into war goods. Across America, children scoured attics, cellars, garages, vacant lots, and back alleys, looking for useful junk. -
Office of Price Administration
(Fought inflation by freezing wages, prices, and rents. Rationed foods, such as meat, butter, cheese, vegetables, sugar,
and coffee) Congress also raised income tax rates and extended the tax to people who had never paid it before. The higher taxes reduced consumer demand on scarce goods by leaving workers with less to spend. The government encouraged people to use their extra cash to buy war bonds. As a result, inflation remained below 30% during WWII. -
Women's Auxiliary Army Corps
Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall formed a Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). Women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions. It became law on May 15, 1942. The law gave an official status and salary but few of the benefits granted to male soldiers. In July 1943, after thousands of women had enlisted, the U.S. Army granted WACs U.S. Army benefits. WACs worked as nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, and pilots—nearly every duty not involving direct combat. -
Unconditional surrender
Roosevelt, Churchill, and their commanders met in Casablanca. 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. The Americans argued that the best approach to victory was to assemble a massive invasion fleet in Britain and to launch it across the English Channel, through France, and into the heart of Germany. -
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 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. During the year after Anzio, German armies continued to put up strong resistance. The effort to free Italy did not succeed until 1945 when Germany itself was close to collapse. -
Korematsu v. United States
Japanese Americans fought for justice, both in the courts and in Congress. The initial results were discouraging. In 1944, the Supreme Court decided, in Korematsu v. United States, that the government’s policy of evacuating Japanese Americans to camps was justified on the basis of “military necessity.” -
D-Day
The Allied invasion, code-named Operation Overlord, was originally set for June 5, but bad weather forced a delay. Banking on a forecast for clearing skies, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for 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. -
The Battle of the Bulge
Tanks drove into Allied territory, creating a bulge in the lines that gave this desperate last-ditch offensive its name, the Battle of the Bulge. Germans captured 120 Americans. Elite German troops—the SS troopers—herded the prisoners into a large field and mowed them down with machine guns and pistols. The battle raged for a month. The Germans had lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks, and assault guns, and 1,600 planes in the Battle of the Bulge. -
Harry S. Truman
President Roosevelt did not live to see V-E Day. On 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
On April 29, Hitler wrote out his last address to the German people.
The next day Hitler shot himself while his new wife swallowed poison. In accordance with Hitler’s orders, the two bodies were carried outside, soaked with gasoline, and burned. -
V-E Day
A week later Hitler died, General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day—Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over.