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Mussolini Takes Power in Italy
The king of Italy stepped down in order to give Mussolini power. The king did not want to upset Mussolini and to prevent the Civil War from happenning. -
Stock Market Crashes
"Black Tuesday" was the worst day for the Stock Market. When things seemed to be going downhill, everyone panicked and sold their stocks, which caused the crash. Many Americans lost huge amounts of money and didn't know where to go from there. -
Japan Seizes Manchuria
Japan was a small region and didn't have enough of the natural resources they needed. By seizing Manchuria, they gained the resources they needed to succeed. -
FDR is Elected President
FDR is elected to be president of the United States. Hoping to get his country out of the depression, he proposes a "New Deal", and plans to create jobs and slowly recreate what was lost. -
Hitler Becomes Chancellor of Germany
Hitler wrote a book while he was in jail detailing how he would fix Germany if he had the chance. Once out of prison he joined the German army and fought with them. He then joined the Nazi party and became their leader. People of Germany believed in his ideas to help Germany prosper, and made him Chancellor. -
Italy invades Ethiopia
Italy needed resouces and saw Ethiopia as the perfect target. The League of Nations tried to force punishment on Italy, but there wasn't much they could do, so Italy faced no punishment more than a scolding. -
Germany Militarizes the Rhineland
According to the Treaty of Versailles no country was allowed to interfere with the Rhineland. Germany took steps toward the Rhineland anyway, and no country did anything to stop them. -
Hitler Defies the Treaty of Versailles
By putting German troops in the Rhineland under Hitler's rule, he violated the Treaty of Versailles, which only made countries more frustrated with him. -
Civil War Erupts in Spain
The Spanish Army rebelled again their government. They gained weapons and supplies from Italy and Germany to have a stronger rebellion. -
Japan Invades China
Japan invaded China in order to expand their country. Since Japan was a small area already they didn't have many natural resources, and they knew they could find them in China. -
Anschluss
Germany took over the Austrian Empire, which then became know as the Third Reich. -
Frace Surrenders
France surrendered to Germany after the Battle at France. This caused the Battle of Britain, and more upset. -
Munich Conference
Great Britain and France's leaders met with Hitler to try and prevent war from breaking out. -
Kristallnacht
This was also known as "the night of broken glass". Nazis under Hitler went into Jewish areas and trashed businesses, homes, markets, and anything they thought would be valuable to the Jewish people. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
The Nazis formed a pact with the Soviet Union stating that there would be no aggression with one another, and if there was a threat, they would have an alliance. -
Germany Invades Poland
Germany invaded and took over Poland. This expanded the alliance between the Nazis and the Soviets. -
Phony War
This was a time period in which the Allies were ready to attack Germany, they only waited for Germany to make the first advance. Since Germany never made that advance, it was known as the Phony War. -
U.S. Neutrality Act
The act was passed to preserve the neutrality and the peace of the United States and to secure the safety of its citizens and their interests. -
Churchill is Elected Prime Minister in England
Churchill became Prime Minister of England. He met with FDR and tried to convince him that the U.S. needed to get more involved in the war. He later formed and alliance with FDR once the U.S. had entered the war. -
Miracle at Dunkirk
Allied soldiers were forced to find a way to evacuate from the beaches of Dunkirk because German troops had cornered them in at the beaches. Luckily boats arrived in time to rescue the troops. -
Battle of Britain
This was the first major battle to be fought entirely by airforce. The Allied forces won this battle and Germany was forced to surrender to them. -
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was proposed by FDR in 1941. He was willing to give up millions of weapons, ammo, supplies, and goods to Britain in order for the U.S. to be safe and not have to join the war. Later on, other countries became part of this act. -
Japan Seizes French Indo-China
Gaining Indo-China was a great success for Japan because they gained ports, land and even more natural resources that they could use in war. -
Atlantic Charter
FDR signed this promising that the U.S. would not attack Japan. Japan later attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The Japanese got very lucky because they caught the U.S. off guard, which gave them the upper hand on the attack. Japan attacked on a Sunday morning, which was the day that many troops thought they could relax.
