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Benito Mussolini’s fascist government in Italy
Benito Mussolini also established totalitarian regime in Italy, communists led strikes against the unemployment and inflation in the country. Mussolini took advantage of the situation demanding stronger leadership. Mussolini played on the fears of economic collapse and communism. He won the support of many discontented Italians. Fascism focused on nationalism and placed the interests of the nation above its citizens. -
Mein kampf
As known as My Struggle. Hitler’s autobiography. In this book Hitler set the basic beliefs of Nazism which become the plan for Nazi Party. He believed blond Aryans are the master race in the world and all other races are created to serve Aryans. Hitler also believed in order for Germany to thrive, it needed more living space, hence his aim is to gain more land and expand the nation. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Japanese militarists attacked and seized control of the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. In several months, Japanese troops controlled the entire province, a large region that is about twice the size of Texas with rich natural resources. League of Nations had condemned Japanese because of this brutal action. The Japanese quitted the League. -
Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany
In 1919, Hitler joined the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, known as the Nazi Party. The Great Depression helped the Nazis come to power. Adolf Hitler offered economic stability to unemployed Germans during the Great Depression,the Nazis becomes the strongest political party in Germany. In 1933, Hitler also becomes chancellor. -
Storm Troopers
6 million Germans were unemployed during Great Depression, which provided a great opportunity for Hitler to build his own army. Many men who were out of work joined Hitler’s private army, the Storm Troopers (Brown Shirts). -
Third Reich
After Hitler came to power, he dismantled Germany’s democratic Weimar Republic and established the Third Reich, or Third German Empire. Hitler believed the Third Reich would be a “Thousand-Year Reich” which would last for a thousand years. -
Hitler’s Military build-up in Germany
In 1935, Hitler began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which stated that Germany is not allowed from building a large army. -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
In 1936, Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland to seize the lost land.Rhineland is a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized because of the Treaty of Versailles. The League did not stop Hitler. -
Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia
Mussolini’s target was Ethiopia, one of the few Africa’s independent countries. While Italian soldiers invaded Ethiopia, the League’s response was an ineffective economic boycott. Ethiopia had fallen. Haile Selassie, the ousted Ethiopian emperor, appealed to the League for assistance,but nothing happened. -
Hitler's 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. The United States and the rest of the world did nothing. -
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 Stalin's Totalitarian Government in the Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin setted a totalitarian government which has complete control over its citizens. the government body would always suppress anyone that have opposite point of view. -
Francisco Franco
Hitler and Mussolini backed Franco’s forces with troops and supplies. Francisco Franco leads the rebel Nationalist army to victory in Spain, which helped he to gain complete control of the country. (loss of almost 500000 lives) Francisco Franco became another fascist dictator. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
The Spanish Civil War forged a close relationship between the German and Italian dictators, Hitler and Mussolini, who signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. -
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. -
Blitzkrieg
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
France’s Maginot Line proved to be ineffective; the German army threatened to bypass the line during its invasion of Belgium. Hitler’s generals sent their tanks to avoid British and French troops who thought the Ardennes were impassable. The Germans continued to march toward Paris. -
The battle of Britain
In the summer of 1940, the Germans began to assemble an invasion fleet along the French coast. Because its naval power could not compete with that of Britain, Germany also launched an air war at the same time. 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's invasion of Denmark and Norway
Suddenly, on April 9, 1940, Hitler launched a surprise invasion
of Denmark and Norway in order “to protect freedom and independence.” -
Hitler's invasion of Netherlands
Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. -
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, and what some newspapers referred to as the
phony war. Hitler planned to build bases along the
coasts to strike at Great Britain. Next, Hi -
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. -
Marshal Philippe Pétain
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. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Luftwaffe(German air force)did nightly bombing raids on it. ppl suggested destroying&abandoning it but Stalin ordered them to defend. Germans conquered it house by house in brutal hand-to-hand combat. They controlled 9/10 of it.winter came. Soviet army closed around it w/ tanks to trap them&cut off supplies. Hitler ordered: stay&fight. German commander surrendered. 2 days later-his troops did too. Soviets lost 1.1 mil. soldiers. -
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. As the first Japanese bombs found their targets, a radio operator flashed this message: “Air raid on Pearl Harbor. This is not a drill.” For an hour and a half, the Japanese planes were barely disturbed by U.S. antiaircraft guns and blasted target after target. -
Battle of Atlantic
Hitler ordered submarine raids on ships along Amer’s east coast. Germany wanted to prevent food&war materials from reaching Great Britain(blockade) &Soviet Union. Unprotected Amer ships = easy targets. first 4 months of 1942, Germans sank 87 ships off the Atlantic shore. By 7 months Germans had destroyed a total of 681 Allied ships in the Atlantic. Allies responded by organizing their cargo ships into convoys. early 1943, Launchings began to outnumber sinkings. -
Operation Torch
During Battle of Stalingrad, Stalin pressured Britain & Amer to open a “2nd front” in Western Europe to force Hitler to divert troops. Both thot the Allies didnt hav enough troops to attempt an invasion. so, they launched Operation Torch, an invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa commanded by Amer’n General Dwight D. Eisenhower. About 107k Allied troops(most Amer’ns) landed in Casablanca, Oran & Algiers. they chased the Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel. A.Korps surrendered. -
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. They were also accompanied by airplanes that used radar to spot U-boats on the ocean’s surface. With this improved tracking, the Allies were able to find and destroy German U-boats faster than the Germans could build them. 140 Liberty ships were produced each month. -
Unconditional surrender
Before the battle in North Africa was won, Roosevelt, Churchill & their commanders met in Casablanca. 2 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
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. -
D-Day
Eisenhower planned to attack Normandy w/ about 3 mill. British, Amer’n&Canad’n troops. To keep it a secret, Allies set up a phantom army w/ its own headquarters. In radio messages Germans could read, Allied commanders told this army to attack Calais(150 mi away). So, Hitler ordered an army there. Operation Overlord(D-Day)—6/6/1944-1st day of invasion. 3 divisions parachuted behind German lines, followed by 1000s of seaborne soldiers. -
The Batlle of the Bulge
Hitler ordered troops to break Allied lines&recapture the Belgian port of Antwerp(hoped a victory would split Amer’n&British forces&breakup Allied supply lines) 12/16-German tank divisions broke through Amer’n defense lines&drove 60mi into Allied territory,making a bulge. Germans captured 120 Amer’n GIs near Malmédy. Elite German troops herded the prisoners onto a field&cut them down w/machine guns&pistols. battle cont for a month. When it ended-Germans had lost 120k troops,600 tanks&assault gun -
Death of Hitler
In his underground headquarters in Berlin, Hitler prepared for the end. He blamed the Jews for starting the war & his generals for losing it. The next day Hitler shot himself; his wife swallowed poison. In accordance w/ Hitler’s orders, the 2 bodies were carried outside, soaked w/ gasoline and burned. -
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. -
V-E Day
A week later, 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.
