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Alliance System Building
Also known as the Balance of Power, countries joined other countries to aid in problems not just war problems. This began with the alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879. If one country got too much power then a few of allied countries would take them down or reduce the amount of power they have. In 1882 the alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary added Italy in fear if Italy joining Russia. About 10 years later, France and Russia united to protect themselves from Germany's allias -
Growing Militarization
The military was increasing in countries that were going against each other. They were increasing because each country was getting more resources to make their country greater. Every country was afraid of getting overpowered so they all just kept increasing their military uptake until they had undefeatable armies and navies. In the early 1900s Germany’s military and navy was growing greatly. Britain was feeling as if they needed to have the bigger military force, so they began to improve. -
German U-Boats
German U-boats were the first submersable vehicle used as a war weapon. They were used to sink the Allies warships but Germany hesitated when opening unrsricted warefare on merchent ships. This is what sprung most neutral countries into the war including the U.S. In the Armistice Terms of 1918 the German army was forced to stop production and use of their U-Boats. But when Hitler came to power he argued the terms and started production of the U-Boats and they were a huge success. -
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
On June 28 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire was traveling to capital of Bosnia to inspect his troops. Upon his arrival to the capital, a Bosnian terrorist group called The Black Hand, planned an assassination of Ferdinand. This plot was a result of unhappy Bosnians after Austria annexed Bosnia in 1908. Ferdinand was gunned down in his car along with is pregant wife who was shot and killed almost instantly. -
Trench Warfare
Trench warfare was a new fighting style in the beginning of World War I. Trench life for the soldiers wasn’t the best. The trenches would be infested with hundreds of thousands of rats carrying dieses which would bite and put many soldiers in the hospital. The allies used 4 different types of trenches during the war. The 4 types were the Front trench, the Support-trench, the Reserve trench and the final type was the communication trenches connecting all the trenches together. -
Bolshevik Revolution of 1917
From February to October 1917 food riots made Nicolas abdicate as war was still at hand. This angered many Russains and sparked a revolution. Th Bolshevik's took over Kerensky under Lenin in the October Revolution of 1917. -
U.S. Entry into WWI and Zimmerman Telegram
On April 2nd 1917 president Woodrow Wilson requested that the U.S. enter the war against Germany. he used the fact that Germany violated the unristricted warfare in the Mediteranian as his reason for delaring war. The U.S. offically declared war on December 7 of that same year. Also a telegram was decoded from Germany it Mexico promising them U.S. land if the joined germanys cause. This was another reason the U.S. declared war on Germany. -
League of Nations
The formation of the League of Nations was the first attempt to make a global peace order. The goal was to never have military conflict to solve problems. The league would be based out of Switzerland because htey had not fought in WWI. The League of Nations never went away but faded into the United Nations we have today. World War 1 was known as the war to end all wars ans the League of Nations was to make sure that didnt happen and maintain international peace and security. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed at the end of WW1 in 1918. The Allies and Germany meet at the Vsailles Palace on June 28 1919. Germany's army was reduced to 100,000 men and their navy was given to the Allies. Also germany wasnt allowed to make tanks or planes in the future. Germany was treated somewhat poorly because they were not allowed to do much related to buliding up arms. -
Rise of fascism
Fascism is the attitude of giving full interest in economic and military power to a dominant race or state lead by a single leader. Fascism is also a ditatorship. Hitler of Germnay and Mussolini of Italy were 2 leaders that ruled using Fascism. The first fascist movement was in Italy 1922 when Mussolini's Blackshirts made attempt to take power of Italy. -
Great Depression
In 1929 the U.S. stock market crashed and sent the U.S. into a time of depression and poverty. After the crash, the U.S. they caled in their loans to European countries and sent Europe into a depression as well. A rise in unemployment hit Britain hard. the hardest job markets hit were coal, shipbuilding, iron, and steel. With the lack of jobs people hd to cut back and save mony which made buissnesses go out of buisness. Also the factories needed more workers who got less pay. -
Stalin Coming to Power
In 1929, Joseph Stalin finally gained complete control of Russia. He had five year plans that brought industrial development under the state and other things too. After 1917, Stalin held many unimportant party positions which he used to see which people he could trust. In his early years he became a follower of lenin and attend sectret meetings. During this tim ehe was arrested 8 time and exiled but escaped 7 times. -
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Spanish Civil War
When an initial military coup failed to win the country after the revolt against the republican gov't, the country of Spain plunged into a civil war. The rebels were aided by Italy and Nazi Germany and the other side recived help from the Soviet Union and the U.S. Italy and Germany used Spain to test new tanks and air warfare. The rebals won when the republicans fled over the border and into France. -
German Expansion
When Hitler took power in Germany, he was determined to get the military and teritorial provisions overturned. he wanted a unified German empire. This ment they had to unify all people with German background no matter what. In March of 1938 they invaded Austria. -
German Invasion of Poland
At 4.45 am on 1 September 1939 the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the a Polish fort. With the help of 1,300 airplanes and 60 divisions of troops the invasion of Poland began. Hitlers decision was a gamble and wasnt expecting Britain of France to fight back but sill feared a counter attack from the west. He also expected a quick and easy victory for Germany. -
Evacuation of Dunkirk
Beggining in May of 1940 300,000 British troops were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk. they were evacuated because they feared an attack on Britain by the Nazi army. The British under estimated the Nazis power. They troops were rescued by fishing boats, motor yachts, and other small boats. All of these ships were privatley owned and not military ships. -
Fall of France
Germany began to invadeHolland on May 10th 1940 which made French troops move tho their aid. This freed up and attck on France directly. When the germans broke through he Allied baracade, the remaining British rienforcements fleed back to England. -
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Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was fought between the German Luftwaffe and the British Royal Air force. The whole battle was fought in the air beause it was an attempt by the Nazi to win air supperiority over the English Channel. The Luftwaffe was at a disadvantage because they were pooly trained and equipped. The climax of the battle was when the Nazis lost 56 planes in one day and the British only lost 28. In total the Nazis lost 1,733 planes and the British only lost 915 fighers. -
Pearl Hrbor
Pearl Harbor is U.S. naval base in Oahu, Hawaii that was victim to a surprise attck from Japans air force/ navy. This was the turning point for the U.S. to enter World War II. The japanese fighters targeted warships, aircraft and military installations on the island. The attack began just after 7 am when 50-150 planes bombed the harbor for 35 minutes. When the attack was over 21 battleships were sank or damaged and 2,043 American men were killed. It is also said that the capital was bombed. -
Battle of Midway
By the end of the day on June 4 1942 4 of the 6 Japanese aircraft carriers that have been ruling the Pacific Ocean would be destroyed. Thanks to 37 U.S. bomber planes the carriers would be no more. The attack would not have been successful if the U.S. had not inpercepted a Japanese radio messege from the Naval commander. This gave them their target; Midway. Out manned and gunned the U.S. defeated the Japanese and turned the course of the war in the pacific forever. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
The battle of Stalingrad is considered by most russioans as the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War. It stopped the German advance into Russia in World War II. Stalingrad was an important target for the Germans because it was a industrial city producing armaments and tractors. It would also give them a route into the Russian oil fields. Tere were 1,100,000 Russian soildiers dead, missing, or captured in the attempt to defend the city. -
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Battle of Guadalcanal
On July 7 1942 Japanese troops landed on Guadalcanal and American troops landed a month later to start the first major offensive in the Pacific. The Americans used 6,000 marines and seized the airfield to the Japanese's surprise who only had 2,000 troops. By January the Americans had 44,000 men on the island and Japan only had 36,000. badly out numbered the Japanese pulled the remaining 12,000 troops they had on the island off. This and the Battle of Midway were turning points of the war. -
D-Day
By June of 1944 most of Europe was under the control of the Nazis. On June 6 the allies launched their attempt to liberate Europe. In the morning of June 6th, 3,000 landing craft, 2,500 other ships, and 500 naval vessels left Englishports. The night before 822 planes dropped paratroopers over the border into Normandy that would aid the troops landing on the beach. Hitler was hesitent about launching a counter attack but sent a Panzer division into the gap betweer Juno beach and Sword beach. -
Bombing of Tokyo
On March 10th 1945 300 Amerian B-29 bombers dropped 2,000 tons of bombs on Japans capital city og Tokyo. The bombs destroyed neighborhoods and killed over 100,000 Japanese citizens. The bombers mission was to force a surrender by Japan. They used a tactic called fire bombing. This is when a small, concentrated area is bombed and a single bomb isn't very destructive but the amout of bombs dropped is what does the damage. If the people didnt die during this bombing, the died from the atomic bombs -
VE Day
VE Day, also known as Victory in Europe day, marks the end of the war with HItler in Europe. With it came the end of misary, suffering, and courage in Europe after 6 years. people celebrated this day in many different ways. Some partied because they werer going home and happy they won. But some people used the day to reflect on who theyv'e lost and what the war ment to them. Some fighting still occured after VE Day when the Germans continued to fight the Red Army. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6th 1945 an American B-29 bomber dropped the worlds first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb killed 80,000 people instantly and wiped out 90 percent of the city. Many people were wounded and died a few days late due to radiation poisoning. Three days later the U.S. dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki killing 40,000 people. On August 15 the Japanese Emperor surrendered unconditionally. -
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VJ Day
VJ Day, also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, is the day when the Japanese surrendered to the Allie powers. The official document wasnt signed till September 2nd. The Unisted States requested an uncondiotional surrender by Japan but they refused and wanted Russia to be a mediater.
