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Hitler Becomes Chancellor
This was his first step in gaining power. Because he became the chancellor of Germany, he was able to blame the burning of the Reichstag on the communists, and his people was able to trust him that it was true. -
Hitler declares himself Führer
This is significant because it marks a day that the world's most feared leader gains his absolute power over Germany. With this power, Hitler was able to make plans to dominate the world and put them into effect, make new laws favoring his political and social views upon the world, and cause devastating, massive numbers of unfair deaths. -
Reintroduces the draft and rearms Germany (violates Treaty of Versailles)
This is significant because even though Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles, Britain and France didn't do anything about it to stop him. This caused Hitler to gain confidence that Britain and France wouldn't stop him because they're too scared that they would start another war, leading Hitler to keep advancing forward. -
German Jews stripped of rights by Nuremberg Race Laws.
This is significant because many poor Jews lost their rights of citizenships at the time. They were now the "subjects" of the Germans. They weren't allowed to marry Aryans. Although there were Germans who were Jews and Jew is a religion, not a race, Hitler strongly believed that it was a race. This also led to the devastating Holocaust that killed about 6 million Jews. -
German troops occupy the Rhineland.
Rhineland was basically right on the border of France and Germany. It's clear that France felt very threatened by Germany moving troops right to their border. Although France asked Britain for help, Britain said "no" because Germany was anti-communist, and at the time many democracies were afraid that communism would spread. Britain should have stopped Hitler as soon as he made this move. -
Hitler told Francisco Franco that Germany would help him in the Spanish Civil War
Hitler helped the rebels in the Spanish Civil War because he wanted to save Europe from "communist barbarism", and he wanted to bring Germany closer to Italy, a country that was also supporting the military uprising in Spain. Italy was an important ally in his struggle with Britain and France. He also wanted to obtain resources from Spain and test out his commanders, weapons, and tactics. This was significant because Germany gained another important ally, Spain. France was getting surrounded. -
Germany announces 'Anschluss' (union) with Austria.
Although it clearly states that Germany and Austria are not to unite in the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler violated this promise. Now the main problem here is that alhtough Hitler violated this, Britain and France didn't stop him. This led him to keep moving forward, causing more and more disasters. -
British Prime Minister Chamberlain appeases Hitler at Munich Conference
This is significant because after Chamberlin appeased Hitler, Hitler gained more confidence that Britain would not stop him, and he grew stronger and stronger. Chamberlin had believed that Hitler would keep his promise about not violating any more of the Treaty of Versailles. Or maybe he knew; he just didn't want to start another world war again. -
Nazis take Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakians were extremely mad because Britain didn't help them. The Nazis just came in with soldiers and took over Czechoslovakia, saying that the Czechoslovakians were of German subjects from the beginning. Germany gained more land through this. -
Nazis sign 'Pact of Steel' with Italy.
The Pact of Steel formalized the alliance and friendship between Italy and Germany. As a result, Germany gained a very strong ally for the struggles later on with Britain and France. -
Nazis and Soviets sign Non-Aggression Pact
This was significant because it was first of all a very surprising and shocking news for the Allies and it allowed Germany to fight on just one front, not two fronts, during the World War Two. This pact allowed Hitler to advance forward and take most of Europe, like Poland, without any delays or worries that the Russians would attack. -
Nazis invade Poland using Blitzkrieg (Lightening War)
Blitzkrieg is the strategy of taking a country very quickly and making them surrender by making them realize how powerful they were. Blitzkrieg uses heavy tanks, equipment, and aircraft on an enemy's rear forces rather than making a frontal attack. This is significant because throughout the World War Two, Hitler used this strategy on battlefields and it won him lots of victories and success in gaining lots of territory in a short amount of time. -
Britain Declares War on Germany
When Britain declared war on Germany, it marked an official beginning of the World War Two. Although Britain declared war, they were cautious and afraid to actually put their words into action. Deep inside, they really hated going to war because they knew that the outcome would be similar to or even worse than the devastating outcomes of World War One. Because Britain only declared war and didn't actually attack, they gave time for Germany to expand even more in Europe and get stronger. -
Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany.
This marks the start of the World War Two. Since Australia and New Zealand are far away from Europe, the only two countries left to fight against Germany are Britain and France, but they are basically surrounded by Germany's allies and territories. The Allies side is not in a good position. -
British Royal Air Force attacks the German Navy.
This is significant because although Britain was the only country standing of the Allies against Hitler, they still didn't surrender nor gave up. They fought back bravely and courageously with their Royal Air Force. -
United States proclaims its neutrality; German troops cross the Vistula River in Poland.
With the U.S. proclaiming neutrality, the Great Britain stands alone against Germany. There is no one else to fight against Hitler because everyone else either surrendered or were defeated. Germany gains lots of confidence that they will win, and starts invading lots of lands like Poland. -
The Fall of France — France signs an armistice with Nazi Germany.
Hitler intentionally signed the armistice in the same exact train that Germany's leaders signed the Treaty of Versailles after the World War One. He was trying to say that that is how World War One should have ended. Also, the fall of France had a tremendous impact on a lot of people around the world because the fact that a nation like France that had been so powerful for such a long time had fallen made people think, "If Germany can defeat France, what can't they do?" -
Battle of Britain Begins
This is significant because Britain was the only country standing sgainst Germany at the time and although other nations like France had surrendered, Britain never gave up and instead bravely fought back the Germans. Britain was able to hold it long enough until help came. -
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
This event brought US to end its neutral stance on World War Two and join the Allies. This basically led US to bomb Japan with nuclear bombs. -
US Congress Declared War on Japan
This was a welcoming news for the Allies. The fact that the powerful US declared war on Japan meant that Japan was facing a devastating future. This gave hope for Allies. They didn't side with Axis because they were fascists and they sided with Britain because they had strong trade relationships and they were more familiar with British. US also realized that isolation was impossible. -
Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States
World War Two has now become even more massive and destructive, involving all of the world's most powerful nations. -
Wannsee Conference
This was a conference held by Hitler to find a "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". Its goal was to decide how to exterminate 11 million Jews in the most easy and efficient way. This led to more ruthless killings of millions of Jews in the Holocaust. It was held in the villa in the picture. -
Propaganda campaigns on home fronts
Government propaganda had a negative effect because after Pearl harbor was bombed, propaganda caused Americans began to fear the Japanese Americans, causing rounding up of "aliens" and sending them to relocation camps. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This was a battle in which the German troops, under the command of General Frierich paulus, attacked the Russians at the city of Stalingrad. Stalin had told the Russian soldiers to defend the city to death. Then, winter came and German soldiers that were trapped in Stalingrad surrendered. This marked the turn of tide because the Germans were now on the defense, as the Russians slowly pushed them westward. -
Battle of El Alamein
The Allied soldiers took the key Libyan port city from the Axis in this battle. German General Rommel's army was beaten and this started to show that Germans could be beaten. The Allied troops began to gain confidence and to take control of North Africa. -
Invasion of Italy
Battle in which British and Americans attacked Italy and seized the city of Sicily. This toppled Mussolini's power and he was arrested by Italian king. He got put back in power when Germans took back the northern part of Italy, but in 1945, when Germany was taken, Mussolini was killed. This invasion helped Allies win the war because Italy was an important ally to Hitler, and with them constantly fighting and being captured, they couldn't help Hitler anymore. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was when German General Rommel's Afrikan Korps were crushed by the Allied troops of more than 100,000 soldiers. This helped the Allies gain control of North Africa. -
D-Day Invasion
This is the day on which the Allies began their invasion of the European mainland. It's significant because it was the largest land and sea attack in history. Because of this victory, the Allies were able to move forward and finally focus on invading Germany. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
This is significant because it is considered the largest naval battle in WWII history. It was fought in the Philippine Sea between US and Japan. Japanese had much more casualties than US. This was helpful to the Allies winning the war because it isolated Japan from its empire in South East Asia. -
Battle of the Bulge
This was a battle in which Allied forces turned back the last major German offensive of WWII. At this point, Hitler's army was fighting on two fronts. In this battle, German tanks broke through weak American defenses along a 75 mile front in the Ardennes. Allied forces eventually pushed Germans back. -
Battle of Okinawa
Japanese lost over 100,000 troops and the Americans 12,000 in this war. This battle helped the Americans win Japanese in the Far East. -
Battle for Berlin
The Battle for Berlin marked the end of World War Two in Europe. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
US bombed Japan's city of Hiroshima on August 6, and 70,000 to 80,000 people died. Then, bombed their city of Nagasaki on August 9, and more than 70,000 people died immediately. Much more people died afterwards because of radiation of these nuclear bombs. The Japanese surrendered, and World War Two ended. This bombing showed the horrors and devastating results of nuclear bombs. 70,000 people were killed in less than a second. Although the war had ended, people all over the world were in shock. -
Japanese Surrender to US
After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese were devastated. They finally surrendered to the US and their foriegn affairs minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on September 2, 1945. This officially ended World War Two.
