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Militarists Seize Control of Japan
When the Great Depression struck in 1929, many Japanese blamed their government. Military leaders gained support and soon won control of the country. Unlike the Fascists, the militarists did not try to establish a new system of government. They wanted to restore tranditional control of the government to the military. Instead of a forceful leader they made the emperor the symbol of state power. These militarists also wanted to solve the country's economic problems through foreign expansion. -
US Stock Market Crash: Black Thursday
The stock market crashes due to inflation and affects many countries involved in trade and business with the United States. -
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WW2
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Hitler Becomes Chancellor
President Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor of Germany. Hitler refused to join a coalition with another party and the Nazi Party came into power. -
Hindenburg Dies and Hitler takes over.
President Hindenburg dies and Adolf Hitler announces himself president. -
Spanish Civil War Starts
Hitler aids Spain's fascist party to win the civil war and practices his power. Western countries attempt to maintian democracy in Spain but the fascists win the war. -
Munich Conference
A conference proposed by Mussolini with Germany, France, Britain, and Italy in Munich, Germany. Britain and France agreed that Hitler could take the Sudentenland. In exchange, Hitler pledged not to invade Czechoslovakia. However Hitler's promise was not kept and only 6 months after the conference, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. -
Nazis and Soviets Sign the Non-Aggression Pact
Fascist Germany and Communist Russia publicly pledged never to attack one another. They also secretly planned to split Poland between each other. The USSR was also promised Findland and the Baltic counties of Luthuania, Latvia, and Estonia. -
Hitler invades Poland with Blitzkrieg
;German tanks and troop trunks crossed the Polish border and at the same time, German aircraft and artillery began a merciless bombing of Poland's capital, Warsaw. France and Great Britain declared war on Germany on September 3rd but Poland fell before those nations could make any military response. Hitler's lightning war strategy was a success. It was a military strategy on attacking the enemy with all the forces you had in the fastest amount of time before they could react or defend. -
Phony War Begins
After Britain and France declared war on Germany, they mobilized their armies. They stationed their troops at Maginot Line, a ssystem of fortifications along France's border with Germany. There they waited for the Germans to attack but nothing happened. Both sides did nothing and simply stared at each other across the border. -
Phony War is Broken
Suddenly, on April 9, 1940, the calm ended. Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway. In just four hours after the attack, Denmark fell. Two months later, Norway surrendered as well. The Germans then began to build bases along the Norwegian and Danish coasts from which they could launch strikes on Great Britain. -
Hitler penetrates the Manigot Line and Invades France
In May of 1940, Hitler began a sweep through the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. This was a strategy to keep the Allies' attention on those countries while Hitler sent an even larger force of tanks and troops to slice through the Ardennes. This was a heavily wooded area in northern France, Luxembourg, and Belgium. From there, they moved across France and reached the country's northern coast in ten days. -
Britain Saves Troops at Dunkirk
The trapped Allies retreated to the beaches of Dunkirk, a French port city near the Belgian borxer. They were trapped with their backs to the sea. In one of the most heroic acts of the war, Great Britain set out to rescue the army. It sent a fleet of about 850 ships across the English Channel to Dunkirk. From May 26 to June 4, the ships sailed back and forth and saved about 338,000 soldiers. -
France Falls
By June 14, the Germans had taken Paris. French leaers officially surrenered on June 22, 1940. The Germans took control of the northern part of France and left the southern part to a puppet government headed by Marshal Philippe Petain. After France fell, Charles de Gaulle set up a government-in-exile in London. He committed all his energy to reconquering France. In a radio broadcast from England, de Gaulle called on the people of France to join him in resisting the Germans. -
Battle of Britain Begins
By the summer of 1940, the Luftwaffe, Germany's air force, began bombing Great Britain. The RAF, although badly outnumbered, began to hit back hard. Two technological devis helped the RAF win: the radar, and deciphering of the German code. The Battle of Britain continued until May 10, 1941. Hitler decided to call off his attacks and instead focused on the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. The Battle of Britain proved to the Allies that Hitler could be blocked. -
Mussolini Attacks Egypt
Although Mussolini was allied with Germany, he stayed neutral at the beginning of the war. However, with Hitler's conquest of France, he knew he had to take action. After declaring war on France and Great Britain, Mussoloni attacked Egypt by September 1940. Egypt's Suez Canalw as key to reaching the oil fields of the Middle East. Within a week, Italian troops had pushed 60 miles inside Egypt, forcing British units back. -
Hitler Invades Soviet Union
With the Balkans firmly in control, Hitler could move ahead with Operation Barbarossa, his plan to invade the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was not prepared for this attack. Although they were the largest army in the world the troops were neither well equipped or trained. The invasion went on for weeks until the Germans had pushed 500 miles inside Soviet Union. As the Soviet troops retreated, they burned and destroyed everything in the enemy’s path. The Russians had used this same scorched-eart -
US Breaks Ties with Japan
By October 1940, Americans had cracked on of the codes that the Japanese used in sending secret messages. Therefore, they were well aware of Japanese plans for Southeast Asia. If Japan conquered European colonies there, it could also threaten the American-controlled Philippine Islands and Guam. To stop the Japanese advance, the US government sent aid to strengthen Chinese resistance. And when the Japanese overran French Indochina in July 1941, Roosevelt cut off oil shipments to Japan. Despite an -
German Forces Siege over Leningrad
By early November, the city was completely cut off from the rest of the Soviet Union. To force a surrender, Hitler was ready to starve the city’s more than 2.5 million inhabitants. German bombs destroyed warehouses where food was stored. Desperately hungry, people began eating cattle and horse feed, as well as cats and dogs and, finally, crows and rats. Nearly one million people died in Leningrad during the winter of 1941-1942. Yet the city refused to fall. -
United States Enters an Undeclared Naval War with Germany
Between 1935 and 1937 Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts which made it illegal to sell arms or lend money to nations at war. But President Roosevelt knew that if the Allies fell, the United States would be drawn into the war. By September 1939, he asked Congress to allow the Allies to buy American arms. The Allies would pay cash and then carry the goods on their own ships. -
Hitler Turns His Attention to Moscow
Impatient with the progress in Leningrad, Hitler looked to Moscow, the capital and heart of the Soviet Union. A Nazi drive on the capital began on October 2, 1941. By December, the Germans had advanced to the outskirts of Moscow. Soviet General Georgi Zhukov counterattacked and as temperatures fell, the Germans in summer uniforms, retreated. Ignoring Napoleon’s past winter defeat Hitler ordered his troops to continue fighting. They held the line against the Soviets until March 1943. Hitler’s adv -
Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
Early in the morning of December 7, 1941, American sailors at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii awoke to the roar of explosives. US military leaders had known from a coded Japanese message that an attack might come but they did not know when or where it would occur. Within two hours, the Japanese had sunk or damaged 19 ships, including 8 battleships, moored in Pearl Harbor. More than 2,300 Americans were killed and 1,100 wounded. News of the attack stunned the American people and the next day Roosevelt add -
The Holocaust Begins
The ultimate extermination of Jews, Gypsies, disabled, and other non-Arians (Indo-European peoples that migrated into the Indian subcontinent). Hitler knowingly tapped into a hatred for Jews that rooted deep into European history. -
Japanese Victories in Asia
Lightly defended, Guam and Wake Island quickly fell to Japanese forces. January 1942, they marched into the Philippine capital of Manila American and Filipino forces took up a defensive position on the Bataan Peninsula. This small force soon fell and by the time Burma fell the Japanese had taken control of more than 1 million square miles of Asian land. After victory, however, the Japanese quickly made it clear that they had come as conquerers. They often treated the people of their new colonies -
Japanese American Internment
After Pearl Harbor, a wave of prefudice arose in the United States against Japanese Americans. The bombing of Pearl Harbor frightened Americans and this fear was encouraged by government propaganda in order to turn it against Japanse Americans. President Roosevelt issued an executive order calling for the internment of Japanese Americans. In March, the military began rounding off the Japanese and sending lthem to camps. About 2/3 of these people were native-born American citizens. -
Doolittle Bombs Tokyo and other Japanese Cities
Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle and his B-25 bombers raided Tokyo and several other Japanese cities. The bombs did little damage however the raid pointed out to the Americans and Japanese that Japan was vulnerable to attack. Doolittle's raid on Japan raised American morale and shook the confidence of some in Japan. This was the beginning of the Allies' turning the tide of the wa. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
Both sides in this battle used a new kind of naval warfare. The opposing ships did not fire a single shot. In fact, they often could not see one another. Instead, airplanes taking off from huge aircraft carries attacked the ships. The Allies suffered more losses in ships and troops than did the Japanese. However, the Battle of the Coral Sea was something of a victory, for the Allies had stopped Japan's southward advance. -
Battle of El Alamein
After General Erwin Rommel took Tobruk, General Bernard Montgomery was sent to take over from London. Because the Germans were so well settled in El Alamein, the only way for the British forces to dislodge them was using a massive frontal attack. Germany was removed from El Alamein and Italy was pushed back. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Japanese planned to crush the Americans and prevent the Allies from reinforcing them. This had a risk in which the whole Japanese fleet could be lost. The gamble was taken and the Japanese were destroyed, Americans completely cut off Japanese supply lines, and Japan was only left with a small army and the kamikazes. -
Battle of Midway
With american forces hidden beyond the horizon, Nimitz allowed the Japanese to begin their assault on the island and as the first Japanese planes got into the air, American planes swooped in to attack the Japanese fleet. Many Japanese planes were still on the decks of the carriers and the strategy was a success. American pilots destroyed 332 Japanese planes, four aircraft carriers, and one support ship. By June 7, 1942, the Battle of Midway was over. -
Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931 for its rich resources like iron and coal. Japan was the first nation to challenge the League of Nations and when the League members protested against Japan's attack on Manchuria, Japan withdrew from the League two year after their attack. -
Battle of Guadalcanal
US military leaders had learned that the Japanese were building a huge air base on the island of Guadalcanal and had to strike fast before the base was completed. At dawn August 7, 1942 US Marines with Australian support seized Guadalcana's airfield but the battle for control of the island turned into a savage struggle as both sides poured in fresh troops. In February 1943, after 6 months of fighting on land and at sea, the Battle of Guadalcanal ended with American victory. -
Germany Takes over Stalingrad
After losing nearly 1 million troops due to Russia's winters, German forces control over 90% of Stalingrad. -
Operation Torch
On November 8, an Allied force of more than 100,000 troops landed in Morocco and Algeria. General Dwight D. Eisenhower led this force. caught between Montgomery's and Eisenhower's armies, Rommel's Afrika Korps was finally crushed in May 1943 -
Invasion of Italy
As the Battle of Stalingrad raged, Stalin continued to urge the British and Americans to invade France. However, Roosevelt and Churchill decided to attack Italy first. On July 10, 1943, Allied forces landed on Sicily and captured it from Italian and German troops about a month later. It also toppled Mussolini from power and Italy surrendered on September 3. But Germany somehow managerd to put Mussolini back in charge and fghting in Italy continued until Germany fell. -
D-Day Invasion
The Invasion began on June 6, 1944 where at dawn British, American, French and Canadian troops fought their way onto a 60 mile stretch of becah in Normandy. The Germans had dug in with machine guns, rocket launchers, and cannons. They sheltered behind concrete walls three feet thick. More 2,700 men died on the beaches that day. Despite the heavy losses the Allies held the beachheads and within a month more than 1,000,000 additional troops landed. -
Battle of the Bulge
German tanks broke through weak American defenses along a 75 mile front in the Ardennes. The push into aLlied lines gave the campaign its name. Although caught off guar, the Allies eventually pushed the Germans back. The Germans had little choice but to retreat, since there were no reinforcements availible. -
Germany Officially Surrenders
After the Battle of the Bulge, the war in Europe rapidly drew to a close. About three million Allied soldiers approached Berlin from the southwest and another 6 million Soviets from the east. By April 5, 1945 the Allies surrounded the capital and pounded it with artillery. On April 29, Hitler married Eva Braun and the next day they suicided.May 7,1945 Eisenhower accepted the surrender of the Third Reich but President Roosevelt died on April 12. -
Atomic Bomb Dropped at Hiroshima
The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a Japanese city of nearly 350,000 people. Between 70,000 and 80,000 people died in the attack. -
Atomic Bomb is dropped on Nagasaki
The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, a city of 270,000. More than 70,000 people were killed instantly. Radiation falout from the two explosions killed many more. -
Japanese Surrender Ends World War Two
The Japanese surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur aboard the United States battleship "Missouri" in Tokyo Bay. With Japan's surrender the war had finally come to an end.
