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The National Socialist Party, or Nazis, supported fascism. Racism, particularly anti-semitism, was the core of the party's beliefs. Hitler was an extreme nationalist who gained power because he appealed to Germans who were eager to find someone to blame for their struggles.
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Mussolini promised to restore order through strong leadership. He and his followers threatened to overthrow Italy's elected government. To avoid this, the king appointed Mussolini.
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Under Stalin's control, the USSR turned into a totalitarian state, where one party has control over the government and every aspect of people's lives.
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Acting without the approval of Japan's elected government, the army seized Manchuria in northeastern China. The League of Nations protested but took no action.
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The Great Depression had increased Hitler's popularity, so he was named the leader of the German Parliament. He quickly created a totalitarian state, while his secret police enforced strict loyalty.
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These laws were designed to keep the United States at peace. They forbade the president from selling arms, making loans, or giving and other kind of assistance to any nation involved in war.
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The Ethiopians fought bravely, but was no match for Italy's modern tanks and airplanes. Ethiopia appealed to the League of Nations for help, who responded weakly.
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Japanese militarists preached racism, saying that they were superior to other Asians as well as non-Asians.
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Hitler had vowed to create an empire that united all German-speaking people, including those outside of Germany. The European democracies did nothing to stop him.
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Britain and France agreed to let Germany occupy the Sudetenland, a portion of Czechoslovakia populated largely by people who spoke German. Hitler promised he would seek no further territory.
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Jews were banned from public schools and certain professions. Jewish communities were attacked. Eventually Jews were sent to slave labor camps.
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The two dictators promised not to attack one another's countries and, secretly, to divide up Poland.
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The declaration of war by France and Britain began WWll.
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In the early days of the war, Germany seemed unstoppable.
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The battle continued through the summer and into the fall. The raids took tens of thousands of lives, but the British spirit never broke. Hitler abandoned all plans to invade Britain.
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Britain sent troops to help, but the armies were overpowered by the Germans, who forced the French to retreat to Dunkirk. The French soldiers were rescued by British boats, while German armies took control of Paris, forcing France to surrender.
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The US took steps to prepare for possible entry into the war. Congress approved greater spending for the army and navy, and set up the first peacetime draft in American history.
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Japan invaded the the French colony of Indochina. In response, the US stopped all exports of iron and steel scrap and restricted the sale of oil to Japan.
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A huge German force crossed into the Soviet Union, and the USSR now joined Britain against Germany. Although Churchill and Stalin mistrusted each other, they were forced to work together to defeat their enemy.
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The Atlantic Charter outlined their goals for the postwar world. They agreed that their nations would seek no territorial gain from the war and emphasized the fight of all people to choose their own government. They also called for a new international organization to replace the League of Nations.
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Japanese bombers launched a surprise attack on American naval, air, and ground forces at Pearl Harbor, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The attack had devastating effects on the military equipment and people of Oahu.
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After surrendering to the Japanese, American and Filipino soldiers were forced to walk 65 miles to a prison camp, many died along the way.
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Executive order 9066 allowed the forced relocation in camps in of between 110,000 and 120,000 Japanese Americans. 62% of the internees were United States citizens.
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Months of bitter fighting ended in a clear Soviet victory. From then on, the Soviets slowly drove the Germans back westward.
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(June 4-7)
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in naval battle. The victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
The battle was fought for control of the Suez Canal and access to oil from the Middle East and raw materials from Asia.
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The riots were series of racist attacks between Mexican American youths and European American servicemen stationed in Southern California.
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Gen. Dwight Eisenhower publicly announced the surrender of Italy, allowing the Allies to land in southern Italy and begin fighting the Germans back up the peninsula.
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More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy.
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After more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.
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Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. During the fight, the Allied front took on the appearance of a large bulge.
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The Japanese had held the Philippines since May 1942.
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President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes away, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge of the US still in WWII and the decision of whether to develop and use the atomic bomb.
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Great Britain and the United States celebrate victory in Europe, with the surrender by Nazi Germany. https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZNVu4fMOJLw
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The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
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It was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II.
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A series of trials of accused Nazi war criminals were conducted by a U.S., French, and Soviet military tribunal based in Nuremberg, Germany. of the 24 former Nazi officials tried, half would be sentenced to death by hanging.
