World War II Timeline

  • Benito Mussolini became to rise power over Italy in 1919.

    Benito Mussolini became to rise power over Italy in 1919.
    Il Duce meaning the chief. Began fascism.
  • Adolf Hitler joined party called the Nazi Party in 1919.

    Adolf Hitler joined party called the Nazi Party in 1919.
    Became leader of the Nazi Party in Germany. Believed in extreme nationalism and racism. Wrote Mein Kampf, "My Struggle".
  • Period: to

    World War II

  • Joseph Stalin takes power over the Soviet Union.

    Joseph Stalin takes power over the Soviet Union.
    His last name meant "man of steel".
  • Kellogg-Briand Pact

    Kellogg-Briand Pact
    61 nations plus the United States signed the pact. It was a pledge to never make war again. Permitted defensive and didn't allow economic or military force against nations who broke the pact.
  • Concentration camps (genocide)

    Concentration camps (genocide)
    Life in the camps was a cycle of hunger, humiliation, and work that ened in death. People were sent there and often seperated from their families. They shared crowed qusrters and their meals which was thin soup and scraps.
    Genocide-the deliberate and systematic killing of an entire people or race.
  • Franklin Roosevelt became President in 1933 and he was ready for the war to begin.

    Franklin Roosevelt became President in 1933 and he was ready for the war to begin.
    Roosevelt didn't want to get invloved for the safety of the United States. Was accused by the people of leading the nation into war. Wanted to "preserve peace."
  • Holocaust (anti-Semitism)

    Holocaust (anti-Semitism)
    Systematic murder of 11million people across Europe, more then half of which were Jews.
  • Mussolini sent troops to Ethiopia.

    Mussolini sent troops to Ethiopia.
    One Africa's only remaining independent countries. Fall of 1935, ten of thouands of soldiers were ready to invade Ethiopia.
  • Neutrality Acts

    Neutrality Acts
    An effort to keep the United States out of future wars happening in the world.
  • Franciso Franco was general in Spain in 1936.

    Franciso Franco was general in Spain in 1936.
    Fighting broke out during the passing of the third act of the Neutrality Acts during the early 1930's.
  • Troops were sent to the Rhineland in 1936.

    Troops were sent to the Rhineland in 1936.
    Rhineland is a Germant region bordering France and Belgium which was a result to the Versailles treaty.
  • Quarantine Speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Quarantine Speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt
    FDR called on peace-loving nations to protect themselves from argessive nations to stop the war from increasing.
  • Neville Chamberlain- "Peace with honor"

    Neville Chamberlain- "Peace with honor"
    Returned to he land with a copy of the Munich agreement. The crowd cheered and sang.
  • Winston Churchill- "Appeasement"

    Winston Churchill- "Appeasement"
    The Munich Pact did not involve Churchill. He was Chamberlain's political rival for the leadership over Great Britain. If he had signed the pact, Chamberlain and Daladier would have had to live with appeasement, or in other words giving up rights to pacify an aggressor.
  • German troops march into Austria

    German troops march into Austria
    Marched into Austria without premission, demanding Schuchnigg to resign. Two days later, announced the union with Austria succeeded.
  • Munich Pact

    Munich Pact
    Neville Chmaberlain of England and Edouard Daladier of France met with Hilter and he convinced them that Sudetenland was his "last territorial demand." They didn't want war, so they signed the pact, believing Hilter.
  • Kristallnacht

    Kristallnacht
    "Crystal night" Mobs of Nazi storm troopers attcked Jewish homes, synagogues, and businesses across Germany.
  • Soviets invade Finland

    Soviets invade Finland
    Stalin sent his army to Finland and after three months of cold winter fighting, the outnumbered FInns surrendered.
  • Nonagression Pact

    Nonagression Pact
    Soviet Union and Germany signed a pact in which they agreed not to fight eachother.
  • Blitzkrieg

    Blitzkrieg
    Germany's newest military strategy also known as the lightning war.
  • Germany and Italy invade France

    Germany and Italy invade France
    Italy teamed up with Germany and took over France from the north and the south.
  • Axis Powers

    Axis Powers
    Japan, Germany, and Italy signed a treaty, the Tripartite Pact. The three countries became known as the Axis Powers. The Pact was aimed to keep the U.S. out of war.
  • The election of 1940

    The election of 1940
    Roosevelt ran for reelection. Willkie, Roosevelt's competitor, and Roosevelt promised the U.S. to keep out of war. Roosevelt won by 55%.
  • Germans invade Denmark and Norway

    Germans invade Denmark and Norway
    Hitler launched a surprise attack on Denmark and Norway. Germany thought this was okay in order to protect those countries freedom and independence.
  • Germans invade Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg

    Germans invade Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg
    The German blitzkrieg turned against Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg and the fake war suddenly became real.
  • Battle of Britain

    Battle of Britain
    Hitler naval forces along the coast of France to Britain. At the same time, sent air forces to Britain, trying destroy Britain's Royal Airforce.
  • Lend-Lease Act

    Lend-Lease Act
    Congress passed the act and supported it with $7 billion and later spent $50 billion of it.
  • A. Philip Randolph

    A. Philip Randolph
    President of the bortherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the nation's leading African-American labor leader. He organized a march on Washington.
  • Leader of Japan- Hideki Tojo

    Leader of Japan- Hideki Tojo
    Became Prime Minister in Japan. Tojo met Japan's revered Emperor, Hirohito. At the meeting, they promised to make peace with the Americans.
  • Selective Service (and the G.I.)

    Selective Service (and the G.I.)
    Expanded draft and eventually provided 10 million soldiers to join the armed forces.
    GI- Government Issue which labels the supplies of the army and describes the soliders.
  • Atlantic Charter

    Atlantic Charter
    Roosevelt and Churchill met secertly on a warship off the coast of Newfoundland. In this document, the two leaders wrote out the causes of WWII.
  • Pearl Harbor

    Pearl Harbor
    U.S. Naval base was bombed by more than 180 Japanese warplanes from six aircraft carriers. For Japan, the attack was a great victory. The surprise attack destroyed or sunk 18 ships and took down 350 planes of the U.S.
  • War Plans with Churchill and FDR

    War Plans with Churchill and FDR
    Churchill and FDR spent three weeks wroking on war plans. Their first major decision was to make the victory over Germany. Roosevelt thought Hilter as the number one enemy of the U.S. Joseph Stalin was desperate for invading Germany because they were allies with America. After Germany lost, could the U.S. look to Britain and the Soviet Union for help against Japan.
  • Internment of Japanese

    Internment of Japanese
    After the bombing Pearl Harbor, a lot of Americans were undecided about the loyalty of Japanese Americans living in Hawaii and the West Coast.
  • The Battle of the Atlantic

    The Battle of the Atlantic
    After Pearl Harbor, Germany decided to attack unprotected American ships. Germans sank 87 U.S. ships off the Atlantic shore.
  • Industrial Response

    Industrial Response
    Shut down in production, the nation's aoutmoblie plants had been redesgined to make tanks, planes, boats, and command cars.
  • Philippines, Corregidor, Douglas MacArthur

    Philippines, Corregidor, Douglas MacArthur
    Duglas MacArthur held out against 200,000 Japanese troops for four months on the isalnd of Corregidor. MacAruthur was ordered to leave the Philippines.
  • The Battle of the Coral Sea

    The Battle of the Coral Sea
    An American and Austrailian fleet intercepted a Japanese strike force aimed at Austrailia. This confrontation established a new type of naval warfare.
  • Women's Auviliary Army Corps (WAAC)

    Women's Auviliary Army Corps (WAAC)
    Took women to the armed service and gave them pay and ranks. Became a law in 1942.
  • The Battle of Midway

    The Battle of Midway
    The invasion force was planned to move on to Hawaii to finsih th e destruction of American naval power started at Pearl Harbor. The comsnder of the naval force was Admiral Chester Nimitz.
  • Guadalcanal

    Guadalcanal
    By the time the Japanese abandoned the canal, six months later, they called it the Island of Death.
  • The North African Front

    The North African Front
    While the Battle of Stalingrad continued, Stalin pressured Britain and America to open a second front in Western Europe. He explained that an invasion across the English Channel would force Hitler to move some of his troops from Stalingrad.
  • The Battle of Stalingrad

    The Battle of Stalingrad
    Hitler decided to send his sixth army south with two objectives.
    1. To seize the Soviet's rich oil fields.
    2. Capture Stalingrad (a major industrial center Volga River).
  • The Italian Campaign

    The Italian Campaign
    Churchill and Roosvelt decided that the best option was to assemble a massive invasion fleet in Britain and launch it into the English Channel, through France, and into the heart of Germany. Later, Churchill thought it was better to attack Italy and in 1943, they captured Sicily.
  • The Battle of Iwo Jima

    The Battle of Iwo Jima
    After retaking the Philippines, the Allies turned to Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was critically to the United States to which heavly loaded bombers could reach Japan.
  • D-Day

    D-Day
    For two years, the U.S. and Britain had been building an invasion force to attack the Axis by surprise. It's known as the largest land-sea-air operation in history.
  • The Battle of Leyte Gulf and kamikazes

    The Battle of Leyte Gulf and kamikazes
    The Japanese threw their entire fleet and energy for the Battle of the Leyte Gulf. Kamikazes or suicide planes crashed into ships and caused great damage.
  • The Battle of the Bulge

    The Battle of the Bulge
    Americans capture their first German town, Aachen. German tanks broke the American front, resulting in a desperate last, ditch offensive.
  • Nuremberg War Trials

    Nuremberg War Trials
    Twenty-Two Nazi leaders were tried at the first Nuremberg War Trials. They included HItler's most trusted party officials, government ministers, military leaders, and powerful industrialists.
  • Harry Truman becomes President

    Harry Truman becomes President
    Had suddenly become president when FDR passed away. Before becoming vice president, was hard working but had little power. FDR left him uninformed about the A-Bomb, peace negotiations, and military matters.
  • Yalta

    Yalta
    Churchill and FDR met with Stalin at Yalta on the Black Sea.Three leaders had made a number of important decisions about what to come. They agreed to create the UN. Stalin promised to enter the war after the defeat of Germany against Japan.
  • The Battle of Okinawa

    The Battle of Okinawa
    Japan's last defense outpost was Okinawa. 1,900 kamikaze pilots attacked allies during the Okinawa campaign hitting 30 ships, damanging 300 more and killing more than 5,000 sailors. It was a more fierce opposition than on Iwo Jima.
  • Unconditional Surrender/V-E Day

    Unconditional Surrender/V-E Day
    Soviet Army had stormed Berlin. Hitler prepared for the end. On April 29th, he married Eva Braun, his long time companion. Hitler shot himself while his wife swallowed poison. Hitler ordered for his body and his wife's body to be soaked in gasoline and burned.
    V-E Day- victory in Europe Day.
  • Potsdam

    Potsdam
    In 1945 president Truman met with Churchhill and Stalin at Potsdam in Germany. All the leaders agreed to have punishment on war criminals.
  • The Manhattan Project

    The Manhattan Project
    Best kept secret of the war. More than 600,000 Americans were involved in this projects. The atomic bomb was worked on in 1942 and the first detanation was on July 16, 1945.
  • Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    Hiroshima and Nagasaki
    B29er named Enola Gay released a bomb nicknamed "Little Boy". Three days later, a second bomb, Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki. These bombs leveled more tham half of the cities and 200,000 people had died because of radiation and the impact.