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Benito Mussolini forms the facist party. His supporters were called 'Blackshirts' and used terror to control those opposing Mussolini.
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Joseph Stalin takes over the Soviet Union after Lenin's death. Stalin enforces a totalitarian governent based on communism. He launches a series of five-year plans to improve industry and agriculture.
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Japan signed the Kellog-Briand Pact stating they would avoid war and solve disagreements peacefully.
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Japanese armies invade Manchuria without approval from the government. United States argues the violation of the Kellogg-Briand Pact but take no action.
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On April 1, 1933, the Nazis enforced a 1-day boycott of all business that were Jewish-owned.
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Stalin begins ridding the Soviet Union of political threats and forces millions into labor camps. This event becomes known as the Great Purge.
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Paul von Hindenburg dies making Hitler the Chancellor and President of Germany. His supporters (Brown shirts) silenced people opposed to Hitler's policies. They included suspending freedom of speech and press.
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Neutrality Acts bans the U.S. from providing weapons to nations at war. The series of acts also bans loans and limits trading with feuding nations to nonmilitary goods.
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German troops occupy the Rhineland, previously banned by the Versailles Treaty. Hitler signs alliance with italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. Germany, Italy and Japan form the Axis Powers.
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Japan invades China, taking control of Beijing and Tianjin.
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Neville Chamberlain creates agreement with Hitler to surrender part of Czechoslovakia. Winston Churchill argued it was a mistake. Hitler later takes over the rest of Czechoslovakia.
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In 1938, the Nazis forced Jews, who had already lost their jobs, to sell their businesses for much less than they were actually worth. Jewish doctors and lawyers could not serve those who were not Jews, and Jewish students were not allowed to attend public schools.
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Nazis went through Germany and Austria and destroyed Jeish houses, synagogues, and stores. Kristallnacht means "Night of the Broken Glass." This was a wake up sign to the Jews that they needed to leave the country immediately.
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President Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein suggesting a new, very powerful bomb. The Manhattan Project was the plan to build the atomic bomb.
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Great Britain pledges support to Poland if Germany attacks. Hitler invades Poland.
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Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. New ways to attack develop called Blitzkrieg.
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Germany invades the netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg and begins to move towards northern france.
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The french government leaves Paris. Italy delcares war on Great Britain and France.
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Hitler invaded Great Britain. The air attacks last on and off until May of 1941. England wins the Battle of Great Britain.
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Tripartite Pact. Japan becomes allies with Germany and Italy.
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Congress passed the Selective Trainging and Service Act, which required all men between the ages of 21-36 enlist in the military. It was the nation's first "peacetime" draft.
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Lend Lease Act. Authorized aid to nations who's defense was directly related to American security. U.S. sends supplies to Britain.
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Japan signs a neutrality pact with Soviet Union.
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The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established to limit prices in order to conrol inflation, which was a success. The OPA also controlled the distribution of scarce items such as fruit, sugar, coffee, and shoes, by developing a point system.
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Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 8802 that ended discrimination of race, creed, color, and national orign for jobs and work training.
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Off the coast of Newfoundland, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D Roosevelt met aboard warships to discuss a set of principles for the war. This set of principles became known as the Atlantic Charter.
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General Tojo Hideki becomes prime minister in Japan. American technicians intercept coded message showing movement of Japanese aircraft carriers and prepare for attack.
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In December of 1941, the U.S. joined the war after the Battle of Britain, when the Nazi's had control of most of Europe.
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Pearl Harbor. Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt delcares war on Japan. Shortly after Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.
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China joins the Allies by declaring war on Germany, Italy, and Japan.
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The government set up the War Production Board (WPB) in order to make industries produce war goods instead of the everyday consumer goods such as cars and lawn mowers.
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Restrained from actually fighting and given supporting positions, African Americans were finally given the right to fight because of the high number of casualties. However, African Americans were still kept in their own units.
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The Nazis met at the Wannsee Conference by Berlin to make a plan that would solve the "Jewish Problem." They agreed to set up camps in Poland where the Jewish genocide was to take place.
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Executive Order 9066. Roosevelt authorizes secretary of war to establish military zones. Later the goverment creates the War Relocation Authority which moved out everyone of Japanese ancestory into interment camps.
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More than 11,000 Americans and Filipinos surrendered to the Japanese, and were then forced to participate in the Bataan Death March.
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The Office of War Information was set up to raise the American patriotic feelings by working with magazines, radio stations, and advertising agencies.
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Japanese bombers attacked the island of Midway, but the Allies sank four Japanese carriers and destroyed about 250 planes. This was the last of the Japanese offensive moves in the Pacific.
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After the Battle of Stalingrad, in which the Germans bombed the city for more than two months, the Soviets led a counterattack, leaving the German troops without any means of escape. On January 31, 1943, the surviving Germans surrendered. The Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of the war in the east.
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Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is founded. They organize their first sit in in Chicago, helping to further developing civil rights movements.
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Detroit Race Riots. Job openings for African American's created tension, anger turns to violence and thirty four people are killed, with over millions of dollars in damage.
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After the American army invaded Sicily, alongside British forces, the Italieans removed Mussolini from office. When the Allies threatened to take over Rome, Italy's new government surrendered.
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On June 6, 1944 Allied forces led an attack on the Germans, sending waves of soldiers ashore at Omaha Beach, as well as parachuting in behind enemy lines. Just at Omaha Beach, the Allies lost nearly 2,000 men.
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The United States allows Japanese to leave camps. Americans feel the camps were a great injustice. Congress later passes law awarding each surviving Japanese-American a tax-free payment.
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The Enola Gay dropped one atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, leading to the japanese surrender on August 14.
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The Nuremberg Trials took place in France, where 12 of the 24 Nazis on trial received the death penalty.
