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The Allies win WW1
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Warring nations sign an armistice to end fighting in World War I. The armistice comes into effect at 11.00am.
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Most influential communist leaders, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Leibknech arrested and killed.
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The Social Democrat Party (SPD) wins 38 percent of the votes in elections for the new national assembly.
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A declaration of independence was ratified by Dáil Éireann, the self-declared Republic's parliament in January 1919.
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A Anglo-Irish War was fought between Crown forces and the Irish Republican Army between January 1919 and June 1921.
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The Treaty of Versailles (established by the Triple Entente after WWI in 1918 at the Paris Peace Conference) presumed Germany responsible for the cause of WWI.
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The proclamation of the new Weimar constitution, creating a new liberal democratic political system for Germany.
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Socialist parties were also gaining support, and in the 1919 elections it was the Socialist Party that gained the most votes.
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Paul Whiteman Band Brings American Jazz to Germany. Jazz music became a symbol of American culture to Germans and was both admired and reviled by members of the German public and intellectuals.
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Hitler’s party, the DAP, renames itself the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (or NSDAP).
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The NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party) publishes its political manifesto, a 25-point statement listing its beliefs, value and agenda.
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Adolf Hitler joined the German Workers' party as a spy for the army and later became its leader.
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The National Fascist Party was another post-war party that began to gain support in the early 1920s.
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Northern Ireland was created in 1920, and the Irish Free State
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Republic of Ireland gains independence
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Elections for the national Reichstag see socialist parties win almost 40 percent of votes and seats.
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In the elections of May 1921, 35 fascists, including Mussolini, were elected to the Chamber of Deputies, representing about 250,000 official party members drawn mostly from the lower middle class.
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Woodrow Wilson: a Democrat who was president
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n 1918 Hara Takashi (1856-1921), a protégé of Saionji and a major influence in the prewar Seiyokai cabinets, had become the first commoner to serve as prime minister.
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Hitler accepts an invitation to re-join the party and replaces Anton Drexler as its supreme leader.
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Hitler is arrested for disturbing the peace, after gate-crashing a meeting of a rival political group.
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November 1921: The Washington Conference is Held The United States convenes the Washington Conference, attended by Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Japan, and Portugal. The Conference results in a naval armaments treaty that sets a ratio for tonnage of capital ships (over 10,000 tons, with guns bigger than eight inches) for Great Britain, the US, Japan, France, and Italy.
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In 1922 clashes between the left-wing and right-wing factions emerged in Italy.
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The Comintern realized the importance of Japan in achieving successful revolution in East Asia and actively worked to form the Japan Communist Party (Nihon Kyosanto), which was founded in July 1922
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On October 26, 1922, Mussolini decide to take advantage of the peoples' fear of a revolution to seize power. The March on Rome was to establish Mussolini and the Fascists party as the most important political party in Italy.
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The National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis) attempt an unsuccessful armed rebellion led by Adolf Hitler.
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Trotsky's main competition for power was Joseph Stalin. Stalin had been involved in the Communist Party since before the Revolution. He served under Lenin as commissar for nationalities, and in 1923 became general secretary of the party.
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In the period of rapid industrialization and mass collectivization preceding World War II, Soviet employment figures experienced exponential growth. 3.9 million jobs per annum were expected by 1923, but the number actually climbed to an astounding 6.4 million.
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Labour won the 1923 election, but in 1924 Baldwin and the Conservatives returned with a large majority.
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During the war trade unions were encouraged and their membership grew from 4.1 million in 1914 to 6.5 million in 1918. They peaked at 8.3 million in 1920 before relapsing to 5.4 million in 1923
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Warren Harding : a Republican who died suddenly in 1923
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Britain's world trade fell in half (1929–33), the output of heavy industry fell by a third, employment profits plunged in nearly all sectors.
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The announced goals of the Japan Communist Party in 1923 were an end to feudalism, abolition of the monarchy, recognition of the Soviet Union, and withdrawal of Japanese troops from Siberia, Sakhalin, China, Korea, and Taiwan.
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Mussolini envisioned an Italian-based empire reminiscent of the Roman Empire. These thinly-veiled plans made neighbors around the Mediterranean Sea nervous and distrustful of Italy, including Yugoslavia and Greece.
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After suffering a series of strokes, Lenin died on January 21, 1924, with no clear path of succession.
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A Labour government, under Ramsay MacDonald, was in power for the first time briefly in 1924
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Endorsed by the Constitution of the USSR in 1924, the State Emblem of the Soviet Union (above) was a hammer and sickle symbolizing the alliance of the working class and the peasantry.
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Hitler calls for a “new beginning” for the NSDAP, as a legitimate political party rather than a revolutionary group
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Hiltler sets up a new party security group called the Schutzstaffe (Protection Squad) or SS
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Benito Mussolini becomes the dictator of Italy
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Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill put Britain back on the gold standard in 1925, which many economists blame for the mediocre performance of the economy.
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The Conservative government had provided a nine-month subsidy in 1925 but that was not enough to turn around a sick industry.
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Capone was very good at what he did. in 1925, Torrio was nearly killed by a rival gang and he decided to get out of the criminal world while he was still alive. Torrio handed over to Capone his 'business'.
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Fear of a broader electorate, left-wing power, and the growing social change engendered by the influx of Western popular culture together led to the passage of the Peace Preservation Law (1925), which forbade any change in the political structure or the abolition of private property.
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The 1925 Peace Preservation Law was a direct response to the "dangerous thoughts" perpetrated by communist elements in Japan.
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Western influences in popular culture in the Taisho period in the 1920s created new tensions as national fervor produced a backlash and a consequent desire to promote and protect all things Japanese. Many of these social tensions are depicted in the novel Naomi, written in 1925 but not translated into English until 1985.
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The leader of the KKK in the 1920’s was a dentist called Hiram Wesley Evans whose name in the KKK was Imperial Wizard.
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Japan Communist Party had been forced underground,
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In 1926 the country suffered a general strike. Severe economic stress increased during the worldwide economic depression.
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By 1927, Trotsky had lost his position on the Central Committee, and was expelled from the party. He fled to Turkey, and eventually to Mexico, where he was killed in 1940 by a Stalinist agent.
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Capone managed to bribe both the police and the important politicians of Chicago. He spent $75 million on such ventures but considered it a good investment of his huge fortune. His armed thugs patrolled election booths to ensure that Capone's politicians were returned to office. The city's mayor after 1927 was Big Bill Thompson - one of Capone's men.
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Unstable coalitions and divisiveness in the Diet led the Kenseikai and the Seiy Honto to merge as the Rikken Minseito in 1927
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In 1922, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Ireland effectively seceded from the United Kingdom to become the Irish Free State; a day later, Northern Ireland seceded from the Free State and became part of the United Kingdom. As a result, in 1927 the United Kingdom changed its formal title to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,". Former parts of the British Empire became independent dominions.
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From 1928 to 1932, peak iron output, necessary for further development of the industrial infrastructure rose from 3.3 million to 6.2 million tons per year.
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Soviet economic policy markedly turned toward the mass collectivization of agriculture.
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1928 also marked the end of the NEP, which allowed peasants to sell their surplus on the open market.
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In America an election is held in November. However, the victorious president does not take over until January of the following year to allow the government to ‘run-down' and the incoming president time to pick his team i.e. there was an election in November 1928 but Herbert Hoover did not take office until January 1929.
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This was a car for the people. It was cheap; mass production had dropped its price to just $295 in 1928.
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By 1928, just about 20% of all Americans had cars. The impact of Ford meant that others had to produce their own cheap car to compete.
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This 1,700 page report became the basis of the First Five-Year Plan for National Economic Construction, or Piatiletka, calling for the doubling of Soviet capital stock between 1928 and 1933.
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Between 1926 and 1930, the urban population increased by 30 million. Unemployment had been a problem in late Imperial Russia and even under the NEP, but it ceased being a major factor after the implementation of Stalin's massive industrialization program.
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In April 1928 Gosplan released two drafts that began the process that would industrialize the primarily agrarian nation
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For over a century the shipping industry had dominated world trade, but it remained in the doldrums despite various stimulus efforts by the government. With the very sharp decline in world trade after 1929, its condition became critical.
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The Great Depression originated in the United States in late 1929 and quickly spread to the world. Britain had never experienced the boom that had characterized the US, Germany, Canada and Australia in the 1920s, so its bust appeared less severe
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The policy of liquidation of kulaks as a class—formulated by Stalin at the end of 1929—meant some executions, and even more deportation to special settlements and, sometimes, to forced labor camps.
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. Stockbrokers were at fault as they were happy to accept a ‘margin’ to buy shares for a person ; this was accepting just 10% of the cost of the shares that were to be purchased for a customer. The rest was to be collected when the price of shares went up - as they would, of course.... By 1929, over 1 million people owned shares in America.
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Calvin Coolidge: a Republican who was president until 1929
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1) 12 million people out of work 2) 12,000 people being made unemployed every day 3) 20,000 companies had gone bankrupt 4) 1616 banks had gone bankrupt 5) 1 farmer in 20 evicted 6) 3,000 people committed suicide in one year - the highest ever
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Not only were cars popular. Radios (10 million sold by 1929), hoover’s, fridge’s and telephones sold in huge numbers.
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In October 1929, the Wall Street Crash occurred. Its impact was felt worldwide.
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By the summer of 1929 the party leadership had been virtually destroyed
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The Jazz Age dominated the 1920's along with Prohibition but the glamour of this period came to a shattering halt with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929.
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Externally, Black Thursday (Wall Street crash) of October 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression in the world economy had a severe negative impact on the Japanese economy.
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The November 1929 Plenum of the Central Committee decided to accelerate collectivization through force.
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Amid the chaos of the early inter-war years, Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist Party, the Fascio di Combattimento, in March 1919. The Fascist Party, composed largely of war veterans, was vehemently anti-communist, and advocated the glorification of war, which they claimed displayed the nobility of the Italian soul.
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During the financial crisis of 1931, George V asked MacDonald to head a coalition government, which took the country off the gold standard, ceased the repayment of war debts, and supplanted free trade with protective tariffs modified by preferential treatment within the empire and with treaty nations.
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From 1931 to 1937, Japanese politics was gradually overtaken by the military.
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In 1931, the law finally caught up with Capone and he was charged with tax evasion. He got 11 years in jail. In prison, his health went and when he was released, he retired to his Florida mansion no longer the feared man he was from 1925 to 1931.
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February - July 1932: The final League of Nations Disarmament Conference is Held The last major League of Nations-sponsored disarmament conference meets from February to July 1932 at Geneva, with 60 nations in attendance, including the United States. However, this conference, like it's predecessors, fails to secure any agreement, and organized disarmament remains an unaccomplished goal.
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Hoover did not believe that the depression would last - "Prosperity is just around the corner" is what he said to businessmen in 1932 when things were just about at their worst.
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The Rikken Minseito platform was committed to the parliamentary system, democratic politics, and world peace. Thereafter, until 1932, the Seiyokai and the Rikken Minseito alternated in power.
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Japan experienced the deepest economic downturn in modern history during 1930-32.
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The Japanese economy began to recover in 1932 and expanded relatively strongly until 1936 (the last year of non-wartime economy)
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The very rich lost money on Wall Street but they could just about afford it. But the vast bulk could not afford any loss of money. This had a very important economic impact as these people could no longer afford to spend money and therefore did not buy consumer products. Therefore as there was no buying, shops went bust and factories had no reason to employ people who were making products that were not being sold. Therefore unemployment became a major issue. The depression took a while to get go
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Stalin's laws to "tighten work discipline" made the situation worse: e.g., a 1932 change to the RSFSR labor law code enabled firing workers who had been absent without a reason from the work place for just one day
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Adolf Hitler was legally and democratically appointed chancellor of Germany
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The Depression of 1930 to 1933 was followed by the New Deal of F D Roosevelt as America strove to pull herself out of the economic quagmire she was in.
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Recovery from the depression began to be evident in 1933. Although old export industries such as coal mining and cotton manufacturing remained depressed, other industries, such as electrical engineering, automobile manufacture, and industrial chemistry, were developed or strengthened.
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Herbert Hoover: a Republican who was president until 1933
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The AAA paid farmers to destroy some of their crops and farm animals. In 1933 alone, $100 million was paid out to cotton farmers to plough their crop back into the ground!
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By 1933 the party had largely disintegrated.
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Japan was criticized by the League of Nations over the occupation of Manchuria. In protest, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations.
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Dachau concentration camp opens and immediately begins receiving political prisoners.
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In 1934, the farmers who had benefited from the AAA, hit another major problem – dust storms. These storms destroyed farms especially in Oklahoma and Arkansas and throughout the 1930’s over 350,000 farmers left for the west especially California where the weather created a more friendly farming environment.
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Around 1931, rural impoverishment became severe. Moreover in 1934, rural communities were hit by famine. Especially in Tohoku (northeastern) Region of Japan, rural poverty generated many undernourished children and some farmers were forced to sell their daughters for prostitution. This rural disaster caused much anger and popular criticism against the government and big businesses.
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On 2 August 1934, President von Hindenburg died. Hitler thus became head of state as well as head of government, and was formally named as Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor). The Nazi German government is called the Third Reich.
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Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French foreign minister Pierre Laval conclude agreement in which each power undertakes not to oppose the other's colonial claims.
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Italian Empire Mussolini invaded Abyssinia in 1935
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Labor Day Hurricane of 1935: A large hurricane hits the Florida Keys killing 423
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Nuremburg Laws introduced and Laws against homosexuals were strengthened
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Abyssinia is an African country next to the Italian colony of Somalia. The Italian dictator Mussolini wanted to build an Italian empire and as a result had Italian soldiers attack a party of British and Abyssinia investigators in Abyssinia.
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. During the Spanish Civil War Italy provided military support for Franco in 1936
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1936 Mussolini and Hitler sign an agreement known as the Roman-Berlin Axis
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Treaty of friendship between Germany and Italy, laying the groundwork for the formation of the Axis Powers (which would also include Japan) a few years later, preceding WWII.
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George V was succeeded by Edward VIII, after whose abdication (1936) George VI came to the throne.
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By 1936, about 90% of Soviet agriculture had been collectivized. In many cases, peasants bitterly opposed this process and often slaughtered their animals rather than give them to collective farms, even though the Government only wanted the grain.
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Great Britain had begun to rearm in 1936 and, after Munich, instituted conscription.
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Korekiyo Takahashi is called "Japanese Keynes." He adopted Keynesian policies even before John Maynard Keynes wrote the famous General Theory in 1936
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Italy also began to establish an alliance with Germany. The Rome-Berlin Axis in 1936 was the beginning of the alliance.
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Italy captures lands in East Africa, causing a rift with the League of Nations (Allies). As a result, economic sanctions were levied against Italy, causing it to seek an alliance with Germany instead.
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Signed anti-communist
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The Nazis target Romany (‘Gypsies’) as ‘anti-socials’, launching a wave of arrests and detentions.
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In 1937, Neville Chamberlain became prime minister.
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Sir Frank Whittle invents the Jet Engine
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By 1937 coal output was 127 million tons, pig iron 14.5 million tons, and there had been very rapid developments in the armaments industry.
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In 1937, Pope Pius XI decried the attacks on religion in the Soviet Union.
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The "Great Purge" swept the Soviet Union in 1937.
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Japan-China War began--on July 7, Japanese and Chinese troops had a skirmish at Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing (Beiping). The incident was minor but Tokyo (Konoe Cabinet) decided to send more troops to China. Thus began a full-scale war with China (until 1945).
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By 1938, the mass purges were starting to disrupt the country's infrastructure, and Stalin began winding them down
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A Nazi decree orders that Jews be gradually extracted from German economic life.
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In contrast, the 1938 legislation, which introduced labor books, followed by major revisions of the labor law, were enforced.
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Appeasement of the Axis powers, which was the policy of the Chamberlain government, reached its climactic failure in the Munich Pact of Sept., 1938.
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The joint Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939
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Italy also began to establish an alliance with Germany. The Rome-Berlin Axis in 1936 was the beginning of the alliance.
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1939 Italy conquers Albania and Mussolini sides with Hitler and Fascist Germany
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With the signing of the Soviet-German pact of Aug., 1939, war was recognized as inevitable.
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On Sept. 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland. Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on Sept. 3