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1933: Dark Clouds
Amidst the Great Depression, authoritarians are solidifying their power and poverty and anger are tearing the world asunder. This won't end well. Stay tuned! -
Hitler's Greatest Hits, Part 1
Taking further steps to ensure his unchallenged grip on power, Hitler breaks the German unions by raiding their offices and officially replacing them with the Nazi-dominated German Labor Front. -
Hitler's Greatest Hits, Part 2
A few short months later, all political parties with the exception of the Nazis are officially prohibited. -
Night of the Sharp Things
Don't like Hitler? You must not like being alive! Especially if you happen to be an internal challenger. Hitler arranged the murders of the SA leader Rohm, von Schleischer, a previous plotter against him, and the socialist Strasser. They were carried out on this day. This was freely and openly announced to the Reichstag, and was met with congratulations. -
RIP Kirov
In revolt against the second Five Year Plan, members of the Communist Party rose up against Stalin, led by Kirov. The plan then had to be revised. Stalin was NOT happy. In fact, he had Kirov shot and killed. Totes normal. -
Why You Tryna Stresa Front Like You're Tough?
In 1935, Germany blatantly disobeyed the Treaty of Versailles by reintroducing conscription. First of all, why? Second of all, what else are they going to throw out the window? France, Britain and Italy knew the solution: meet at Stresa and scold Germany with forceful words. That'll do it. This also fit into the larger policy of appeasement that would last a few more years. -
Nuremberg Laws
At the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party, the Reichstag introduced a series of antisemitic laws designed to strictly regulate interactions between "Germans" and Jews. The purpose was likely to sever any bonds of community and friendship between the two groups, so that the "German" majority would feel no sympathy for the Jews when they faced persecution. -
Italy Eats Ethiopia
What, it got hungry! Already having Italian Somaliland and Eritrea in North Africa, Mussolini wants to rebuild Rome and fill in the gap by taking Ethiopia. So Italy provokes an incident that kills Italians and demands an apology from Ethiopia. When it gives none, having done nothing wrong, Italy invades. The League of Nations is ineffectual, so it sets a damaging precedent and Italy keeps Ethiopia. -
The Purge 3: Stalin
Energized from his victory over Kirov, Stalin decides to get rid of all of his enemies. He renames the secret police the NKVD and seeks out all those he considers a threat. No one in the Communist Party or Red Army is safe. Through fraudulent trials, most are convicted of treason and sentenced to death. -
Rhineland Crisis: The Biggest Missed Opportunity Since Hillary 2008
While everyone was distracted by Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, Hitler swooped into the Rhineland between Germany and France with troops. Another flaunting of the Treaty of Versailles. As justification, he claimed France's alliance with the USSR threatened Germany. France, wanting to avoid war at all costs, rolled over and let him. Had they resisted, Hitler would have been forced to surrender and suffered a fatal setback, changing the course of history. It's ok, France. HRC knows how you feel :( -
Anschluss!
Hitler is on the move. He wants Austria to be part of Germany, since it's already "German" and it has resources he needs. Through internal strong-arming, he eventually gets Austrian leaders to agree to be invaded and annexed by Germany in July 1936. Ruh-roh. -
Spanish Civil War: Opening Act
After a few years of internal turmoil and government instability driven by a struggle between the far left and far right, Spain breaks out in civil war on July 17, 1936. The two sides are the Republicans (the socialists and communists) and the Nationalists (the right-wing opposition led by General Francisco Franco). The ultimate triumph of the Nats was helped by Germany's military aid, while only the USSR helped the Reps. Hitler learned that Britain and France wouldn't lift a finger to stop him. -
Czechoslovakioh-no
After the Anschluss of Austria went so swimmingly, Hitler is over the moon! Now his target is Czechoslovakia, more specifically the Sudetenland, home to millions of ethnic Germans. The Czech prime minister doesn't want to give him anything, but Britain and France pressure him to give it up, still focused on avoiding war through appeasement. So he does, and Hitler doesn't stop there. He is now seen solidly as an aggressor, but Britain and France have solidly established themselves as toothless. -
Kristallnacht
On the night of November 9, 1938, state-sanctioned destruction and violence was perpetrated against the Jewish community in Germany. Stores were pillaged and looted, synagogues and homes defaced, and many Jews imprisoned. Careful to avoid stirring up public sympathy for the Jews, however, the government made sure to prohibit any physical harm to the victims. -
Poland? More like No-Land!
When Hitler tries to convince Britain and France that German claims to the Danzig Corridor, a region that connects to German East Prussia, are legitimate, they disagree. Hitler don't care. He invades Poland on September 1, 1939. Given that Britain had previously given Poland a public guarantee of defense, this marks the start of World War Two. However, the real action won't come until April 1940, since Britain and France now need to scramble to rearm. -
Hit the Bricks, Neville :)
After Britain suffers a failed Norwegian campaign and his policy of appeasement is a colossal failure, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns in favour of Winston Churchill. -
Dunkirk
After Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France on May 10, Britain officially surrendered Belgium on May 28, trapping British forces at Dunkirk, surrounded by Germans. They only got them out - 340,000 strong - with a grassroots citizen effort to hand over any and all boats for the purpose of bringing the troops back to Britain. The ensuing morale boost would be very important later on. -
RIP France
After Dunkirk, Germany turned its attention to France. The much-vaunted Maginot Line ended up being useless, as Hitler just went through Luxembourg. The disorganized French forces could not stand up to the German onslaught, and France surrendered on June 22. Marshal Phillipe Petain sought an armistice, and that was that. -
Battle of Britain and the Blitz: DIE BRITAIN DIE
The last remaining resistance to the Nazis was Britain. Before B could be invaded by land, the airspace over the Channel (and the RAF) would need to be defeated by the Luftwaffe. Despite the Luft. having 3 times as many planes as the RAF, however, far more of theirs were shot down. This helped Britain win the battle. During the battle, however, London was accidentally bombed. This led Churchill to retaliate by bombing Berlin. Hitler angrily decided to keep bombing London until May 1941. -
Eastern Front/Operation Barbarossa
Germany badly wanted to vanquish the Soviet Union, to fulfill Lebensraum, gain access to the farmland of the Ukraine, and defeat communism. Stalin had ignored Allied warnings about Hitler's intentions, and he was caught off-guard when Germany attacked a front from the Baltic to Black Seas. He'd been honouring the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Not Hitler. However, Hitler was ultimately stopped by the Russian winter (just like Napoleon) and Stalin's scorched-earth policy. -
Oh Hey America. Where Ya Been?
Imperial Japan, allied with Germany and Italy, attacked US ships and supplies at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 in an effort to stop the US from being able to stop it from dominating the Pacific. Faced with this naked act of aggression, the US declared war on Japan the next day. On Dec. 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the US for doing so to Japan, and the US declared right back. -
Soviets Strike Back
Hitler drastically misjudged how long the invasion of the Soviet Union would take, so his troops were stranded in the winter in summer clothes. Stalin then launched a counter-offensive when the Germans were weak, taking back cities from Stalingrad to Belgrade. The Red Army reached Berlin by April 1945. -
It All Falls Apart (For Germany)
By 1943, the Germans had fled North Africa (important for the Suez Canal and oil resources) and were retreating from the Eastern Front. On the Western Front, British and American strategic bombing had severely weakened the Germans as well. -
D-Day/Liberation of France
Moving at a time of weakness for Germany, General Dwight Eisenhower assembled a 3 million-strong force to attack the beaches of France and force the Germans to retreat to Berlin, where they would meet the Soviets in victory. With 175,000 men attacking from the water and 5 beaches targeted, the outcome was an Allied victory, but not without significant bloodshed. Afterwards, France was liberated in the summer of 1944 and the Allies pushed on towards Berlin. -
Dresden/V-E
In February 1945, at a time when the Allies were winning the war, the historic city of Dresden was firebombed, killing tens of thousands. Afterwards, on April 30, Hitler committed suicide in his bunker and Germany surrendered unconditionally. This marked V-E (Victory in Europe) Day. But the Pacific still loomed.. -
Japan vs. America/The End of the End
Japan started out the war in the Pacific with a strong advantage over the US, having taken over Guam, Wake, Hong Kong, and many other countries and islands. However, when the US got seriously involved, they fought Japan to a draw or won decisively in the Battles of the Coral Sea, Midway and Leyte Gulf. When Japan refused to surrender, the US brought out the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, devastating the civilian population. Japan finally surrendered on September 2, 1945, ending WW2.