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Mussolini comes to power in Italy
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until his ousting in 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy and set up a legal dictatorship. Known as Il Duce. Mussolini was one of the key figures in the creation of fascism. -
Stalin comes to power in USSR
Joseph Stalin, was the de facto leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. -
The Maginot Line Constructed
The Maginot Line was a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapons installations that France constructed along its borders with Germany during the 1930s. The line was a response to France's experience in World War I and was constructed during the run-up to World War II. -
Hitler elected Chancellor of Germany
Hitler was a decorated veteran of World War I. Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. After his appointment as chancellor in 1933, he transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism. -
Japan Invades China
In 1931, Japan invaded and conquered Manchuria. For several years Chiang's army spent more time fighting the Communists than it did fighting the Japanese. The Communist army in Jiangxi province made a 6,000-mile marchthe famous Long Marchto establish itself in the north, in Shaanxi province. In 1936, Chiang was kidnapped by a Manchurian warlord and forced to agree to unite with the Communists against the Japanese. -
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War was fought from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939 between the Republicans, who were loyal to the established Spanish Republic, and the Nationalists, a rebel group led by General Francisco Franco. The Nationalists prevailed, and Franco ruled Spain for the next 36 years, from 1939 until his death in 1975. -
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow. It was a non-aggression pact under which the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany each pledged to remain neutral in the event that either nation were attacked by a third party. -
Hitler Invades Poland
It was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a Slovak contingent that marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. The invasion began one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, on 1 September 1939. The campaign ended on 6 October 1939 with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland. -
Tripartite Pact
The Tripartite Pact, also the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Tripartite Treaty was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II. The pact was signed by representatives of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan. -
Pearl Harbor Attacked
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
