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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
When a Serbian nationalist by the name of Gravilo Princip found himself close to the Archduke with a gun (and the motivation to use it), he took the opportunity to commit the murder that led to the greatest chain reaction of murders in human history. This event kicked off the Great War, and the tension it caused, along with Europe messy and antiquated alliances, was why the Great War was so massive in scale. The end of that World War also led to the start of the second. -
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Important Events of WWII
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Treaty of Versailles
This treaty both ended the First World War, and helped to fuel the Second World War. After the Great War, the winning team was indebted to each other and cash strapped from all of that fighting, so they decided that they needed money from Germany. Lots of money. Not only did this unreasonable recompense demanded from the pauper state of Germany turn Germans toward fascism, the treatment Japan and Italy received led those countries to join the Axis power during the Second World War. -
Mussolini Becomes Prime Minister of Italy
This day marks the start of Mussolini's rise to dictatorial power, and his very interesting bloodless coup to get rid of the monarch of Italy. I really wanted to mention this, and I don't know where else to do it. Mussolini had a Grand Council of Fascism, and they voted him out and arrested him! -
Shōwa/Hirohito Ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne
After the death of Emperor Taishō in 1926, Emperor Hirohito was appointed as the new Emperor of Japan. Hirohito, contrary to contemporary belief, actually was quite involved in the Second World War. Over the course of the war, he ordered or approved hundreds of instances of tactics that violated the Geneva convention. Did you know? Emperor Shōwa gave his surrender speech on the radio, which was the first Japanese emperor to go on the radio and, spoken in archaic Japanese that few understood? -
Hitler Becomes German Chancellor
In January 1933, Hitler had been elected as the German Chancellor. In the next year, Hitler would go on to make himself the Fürher, purge most of his court to repress dissention, and retake ethnically German parts of other countries. Since he undid the effects of The Great Depression on Germant, these dictatorial actions actually won him favor. -
The Rape of Nanking
Marks the start of open hostilities in Asia. Japan and China had been having issues with each other for nearly a decade prior, but this attack demanded a response from China's allies, which brought the United States closer to the brink of war with Japan. Lots of heinous war crimes were committed. One thing this project has made me think is that the Japanese top brass were probably under prosecuted, since almost none of them were put on trial for war crimes. -
German Invasion of Poland
The German Blitzkrieg of Poland is the start of WWII in Europe. Germans invaded Poland and conquered it in 35 days, even after several admonishments by other nations for previously invading Austria and Czechoslovakia. Neville Chamberlain finally declares war on German after their third invasion of an allied nation in the span of a year. -
German Invasion of Poland
The German Blitzkrieg of Poland is the start of WWII in Europe. Germans invaded Poland and conquered it in 35 days, even after several admonishments by other nations for previously invading Austria and Czechoslovakia. Neville Chamberlain finally declares war on German after their third invasion of an allied nation in the span of a year. -
Start of Fighting on the African Front
This event marks the start of fighting in Libya between the British and Italian forces. The fighting in Africa, which started in Libya, went so disatorously for the Italians that by the time the fighting ended, it was not Tripoli that had been defeated, it was Rome. Himmler's African Corps tried to salvage the situation after it was clear Italian forces wouldn't be able to win on their own, but by then America had jumper onto the fight (at the very end), and destroyed the weary Axis forces, -
Nazi Occupation of France
By this date, Germany had literally rolled over most of France, and demanded that the French surrender. While some, like Charles de Gaulle refused to cooperate and fled to unoccupied Vichy, Prime minister Péchin and many French government officials acquiesced to Germany, and allowed them to create the puppet state of occupied France, At the end of the war, ost of these government officials were given mock trials for treason, or were reviewed in international court for crimes against humanity. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Pearl Harbor kamikaze bombings represent the point of no return in terms of America's involment in WWII. Before this, America had been selling weapons to Germany's enemies, increasingly embargoing Japan, and laghued at Italy's general incompetence. Afterward, the American populace was chomping at the bit to get a hold of Hitler and Hirohito, and Mussolini.