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The difficult economic position led to Japanese politics and forced heavy import trade. As a result, military leaders argued that the only way for Japan to get resources was to seize new territory. Manchuria, rich in raw resources, was the perfect place for a conquest -
After the elections in 1932, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany. He then overthrew the constitution and took control of the government. He called himself der Fuhrer, or “the Leader”. -
F.D.R. elected with nationwide support. -
In a speech, Franklin Roosevelt announced that the U.S. would remain neutral in South American affairs. During a time when militaries would invade over disagreements of resource distributions, this was a safeguard against conflicts. -
Following Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany, the building of concentration camps Dachau and Buchenwald commences. Two days later Hitler is granted dictatorial power. -
The Senate Special Committee on Investigations of the Munitions Industry claimed that bankers and industrialists propelled the U.S. into WWI for reasons of financial gain. This troubles many Americans who had previously believed the Great War was fought to preserve democracy. The committee's findings influenced the creation and renewal of a series of congressional neutrality laws.
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On this day, Hitler, already chancellor, won the election for president and gained military control. By using Storm Troopers, Hitler killed all opposition and intimidated all citizens to vote for him or face brutal consequences. -
Violating the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler issued a decree establishing an air force as the third branch of the German armed forces. Although he initially masked his efforts at illegal rearmament, Hitler revealed his modern air force to the world the following month. -
The Neutrality Act made it illegal for Americans to sell arms to any country at war. This was done in an effort to distance the U.S. from German and Italian aggressors who were fostering war. -
Beginning with the first American neutrality law and ending with the German & Italian declarations of war on the United States.
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The Nuremberg Race Laws were laws that were established on September 15, 1935, which excluded German Jew's citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having any relationships with another person -
Italian dictator, Mussolini, was set on annexing Ethiopia into Italy’s newly created colony of East Africa. Although the Italian military was successful in occupying Ethiopia, the Abyssinians did not surrender to the Italian forces, and so a war commenced. -
Mussolini begins the Second Italo-Ethiopian War by annexing Abyssinia in an effort to create a new Roman Empire.
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Originally Rome-Berlin Axis -
Violating the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler sent in troops to reoccupy the demilitarized Rhineland. -
Fascist forces under General Francisco France waged war against Republican troops loyal to the monarch. U.S. business profit considerably from the sale of oil and vehicles to Franco.
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In an electoral landslide, FDR defeats Republican KS governor Alf Landon in a referendum on the latter's New Deal Policies. Given that the election occurred in the eighth year of the Great Depression with no decisive end in sight, the campaigns focused mostly on domestic economic policies and presidential power. Foreign conflicts and troubles played little part in the presidential race, helped in part by Congress's passage of two neutrality laws. -
Following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Congress renewed the Neutrality Act with the additional provisions of banning arms sales to nations in civil war and levying an embargo of any supplies to belligerents (not just arms). In a major shift, this act permitted the president to sell supplies to belligerents, provided they paid CASH and would then CARRY the goods from the U.S. on their own ships. -
Speaking at a WPA event in Chicago, the President suggested that the U.S. and other democracies economically isolate, or quarantine, "aggressor nations" as an alternative to non-intervention. A "quarantine" would likely involve multilateral embargoes of Germany, Italy, and Japan. FDR's speech was met with tremendous isolationist backlash. -
During the Japanese attack on Nanjing (Nanking), a U.S. gunboat was bombed by Japanese planes, and three Americans were killed. This strained relations between the two nations, but Japan claimed the bombing was unintentional and paid a $2.2 million indemnity. -
Hitler forced the Austrian government to submit to Nazi Party rule and unify Germany under his leadership. This unification violated the Treaty of Versailles but was met with only minor protests from Britain and France. -
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with Hitler in Munich, Germany. They reached an agreement: Germany would gain control of Sudetenland and Hitler promised to stop seeking more territory. The Munich Agreement was part of the British and French policy of appeasement, meeting Germany’s demands in order to avoid war. Winston Churchill strongly disagreed and believed that Hitler would not stop with the Sudetenland. -
After Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later, starting WWII. German forces drove deep into Poland while using a new method of warfare called blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” which stressed speed and surprise in the use of tanks, troops, and planes. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany for its invasion of Poland. This early phase of the war ended with the German & Italian declarations of war on the United States.
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In an attempt to reclaim historically Russian territory, Stalin ordered the Red Army to invade and occupy Finland. The Soviets were expelled from the League of Nations as a result and only gained 18% of Finnish territory. Finland was able to remain independent and fought an admirable defense against the much larger Red Army.
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Germany invades Denmark and Norway on April 9, 1940 -
Germany invades Belgium and France on May 10, 1940. -
Germany invades France and the Low Countries, all of whom capitulate within 45 days.
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The Battle of Dunkirk Was the second major battle of WW2. It took place in Dunkirk, France on 26 May – 4 June 1940. This battle consisted of on and off the land, with Britain, France, and Belgium trying to defeat the Germans for the defense and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe. The end result of this battle was the allied Evacuation, Canada was not a part of the battle of Dunkirk and therefore had no role in this WW2 event. -
German air force (Luftwaffe) bombs London and other civilian targets in the Battle of Britain- -
The Luftwaffe attempts to eradicate the RAF in preparation for a cross-Channel amphibious assault by the German armed forces. Ultimately, the Germans fail to subdue the RAF and call off their invasion of Britain. The economic pressure of alone waging a war against Germany compels the British to seek American assistance as a non-belligerent ally.
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Set to take effect one month after it became law, the draft ordered that all men 21-35 years of age register with their local draft boards. This was largely a congressional response to the German defeat of France. -
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In 1941, Congress approved the Lend-Lease Act which allowed the United States to lend or lease resources and equipment to the Allies. The United States sent Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and other Allies about $50 billion worth of goods. -
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In 1941, Hideki Tojo came to power, and Japan became more warlike. The Tojo government planned to conquer the Dutch East Indies, a source of oil, and other Asian territories (The U.S. navy stood in their way). -
Shortly after entering the war, the U.S. set up the Manhattan Project. This was a top-secret program to build an atomic bomb. American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer led it and it took the project team three years to construct the weapon. -
About one million African Americans served in the armed service. Because of racial prejudice, they served in segregated units. One unit was the Tuskegee Airmen, African-American pilots, and crew members who served with honor in North Africa and Europe. On December 27, 1941, Tuskegee Airmen was constituted as the 100th squadron. -
Congress repeals provisions of the 1939 Neutrality Act and allows U.S. ships to carry supplies to belligerents and arm themselves. -
In its final peace counterproposal to Japan, the U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull demanded that Japan unconditionally withdraw from China and Manchuria as well as sign non-aggression pacts with other Pacific nations. Japan's response was to break off diplomatic relations with the United States as part of its plan to open hostilities by attacking Pearl Harbor, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and other Allied possessions in the Pacific. -
The Japanese launched a surprise attack against the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. -
The Nazis used the term “Final Solution” to refer to their plan of persecution of the Jews, Gypsies, and Slavic people. The Nazis established concentration camps to incarcerate Jews and other victims of racial hatred during the time. -
Following FDR's "Infamy" speech to a joint session of Congress, America officially enters World War II.
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Because of the U.S. declaration of war against their mutual ally Japan, Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the U.S. -
A number of Americans directed their anger toward the people of Japanese ancestry after the attack on Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, which allowed for the removal of Japanese and Japanese Americans from the Pacific Coast. This action became known as Japanese-American internment. More than 110,000 men, women, and children were forced to sell their homes and possessions, leave their jobs, and move to prison-like camps.
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In April 1942, more than 70,000 Filipino and American troops surrendered to the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. From there, the Japanese marched the soldiers over 65 miles to a prison camp. On the way, about 10,000 prisoners died from shootings, beatings, or starvation. This became known as the Bataan Death March. -
The U.S. and Japanese navies clashed again after the Battle of the Coral Sea in June off the island of Midway in the central Pacific. The U.S. Navy destroyed four Japanese carriers and at least 250 planes. America lost one carrier and about 150 planes. The battle of Midway was a turning point in the war for the allies. -
Most of the Allied progress in the Pacific was made by American troops. They gained their first major land victory against the Japanese on the island of Guadalcanal. A group of Navajo Indians played a role in the victory. To keep the Japanese intelligence from breaking American codes, the U.S. military used the Navajo language to transmit important messages. The Marines recruited over 400 Navajos to serve as Code Talkers. -
In September 1942, German forces attacked the Russian city of Stalingrad, an important industrial center. The Soviet army fiercely defended the city, and Hitler refused to let the German army retreat. Fighting continued through the winter, and the Soviet troops drove tanks across the frozen landscape and launched a massive counterattack that trapped the Germans and cut them off their food and supplies. Thousands of Nazis soldiers froze /starved to death. February 1943, the Germans surrendered. -
In 1940, about 14 million women worked (About 25% of the nation’s labor force). By 1945, that number grew to more than 19 million-about 30% of the workforce. Women worked in munitions factories, shipyards, and offices. The country promoted “Rosie the Riveter”- an image of a strong woman hard at work at an arms factory. It was a symbol for its new group of wage earners. Rosie the Riveter was on the front cover of the Post on May 29, 1943, as propaganda for women working in the war service.
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On June 6, 1944 more than 150,000 Allied soldiers crossed the English Channel to the coast of Normandy in northern France. Major John R. Armellino was the commanding officer of one of the first units to land. This Allied invasion of France became known as D-Day, It was the largest seaborne invasion in history. -
In December 1944, Hitler launched a final assault, the Battle of the Bulge. German troops pushed back Allied forces in the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg before U.S forces regrouped and defeated them. The battle’s human toll was costly, with about 120,000 German casualties and about 80,000 American casualties. -
In February 1945, Allied leaders met in the Soviet resort of Yalta. Attending the Yalta Conference were Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin ("Big Three"). These leaders made plans for the end of the war and the future of Europe. Stalin promised to declare war on Japan after Germany surrendered, and they also agreed to establish a postwar international peace-keeping organization. In addition, they discussed the type of governments that would be set up in Eastern Europe after the war.
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For the Allies to succeed in winning the war, they had to establish bases closer to the mainland. They chose the Japanese-held islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In February 1945, U.S marines invaded Iwo Jima. In late February American soldiers planted the U.S. flag at the top of Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi, signaling their victory. -
In April 1945, U.S marines invaded Okinawa. In the several months, it took the U.S marines to conquer both islands, more than 18,000 U.S. died, and Japanese deaths exceeded 120,000.
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On April 25, 1945, 50 nations met in San Francisco to discuss a new peacekeeping organization to replace the weak and ineffective League of Nations. On June 26, 1945, all 50 nations ratified the charter, creating a new international peacekeeping body known as the United Nations. President Roosevelt had urged Americans not to turn their backs on the world again. Unlike the League of Nations, the United States is a member of the United Nations. -
President Truman told Japan that if it did not surrender, it faced destruction. The Japanese refused to give in. On August 6, 1945, the B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the industrial city of Hiroshima. It killed more than 75,000 people and turned five square miles into a wasteland. On August 9, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing another 40,000. -
On November 20, 1945 the Nuremburg Trials occurred. 24 defendants, including some of Hitler’s top officials, were included. Hermann Goering who was the creator and head of the Gestapo (Secret police) was charged with crimes against humanity. 19 people were found guilty, and 12 were sentenced to death. People are responsible for their actions, even in wartime. The Nuremberg Trials ended on October 1, 1946.