-
3. Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
Despite its name, this party had no ties to socialism. Hitler proved to be such a powerful public speaker and organizer that he quickly became the party’s leader. Calling himself Der Führer—“the Leader”—he promised to bring Germany out of chaos. -
4. Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf [My Struggle], Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of
Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. Nazism (nätPsGzQEm),
the German brand of fascism, was based on extreme nationalism. Hitler, who had been born in Austria, dreamed of uniting all German-speaking people in a great German empire. -
2. Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
By 1921, Mussolini had established the Fascist
Party. Fascism (fBshPGzQEm) stressed nationalism and
placed the interests of the state above those of individuals. -
7. Japanese invasion of Manchuria
These leaders shared in common with Hitler a belief in the need for more living space for a growing population. Ignoring the protests of more moderate Japanese officials, the militarists launched a surprise attack and seized control of the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. Within several months, Japanese troops controlled the entire province, a large region about twice the size of Texas, that was rich in natural resources -
5. Storm troopers
By 1932, some 6 million Germans were unemployed. Many men who were out of work joined Hitler’s private army, the storm troopers (or Brown Shirts). -
6. Third Reich
Once in power, Hitler quickly dismantled Germany’s democratic Weimar Republic. In its place he established the Third Reich, or Third German Empire. According to Hitler, the Third Reich would be a “Thousand-Year Reich”—it would last for a thousand years. -
8. Hitler's military build-up in Germany
In 1933, Hitler pulled Germany out of the League. In 1935, he began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. A year later, he sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
10. Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
By the fall of 1935, tens of thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance on Ethiopia. By May 1936, Ethiopia had fallen.
In desperation, Haile Selassie, the ousted Ethiopian emperor, appealed to the League for assistance. -
9. Hitler invades the Rhineland
A year later, he sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. -
13. Hitler's Anschluss
The majority of Austria’s 6 million people were Germans who favored unification with Germany. On March 12, 1938, German troops marched intoAustria unopposed. A day later, Germany announced that its Anschluss, or “union,” with Austria was complete -
14. Munich Agreement
Then, just when war seemed inevitable, Hitler invited French
premier Édouard Daladier and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain to meet with him in Munich. When they arrived, the führer declared that the annexation of the Sudetenland would be his “last territorial demand.” In their eagerness to avoid war, Daladier and Chamberlain chose to believe him. On
September 30, 1938, they signed the Munich Agreement, which turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired. -
1. Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
By 1939, Stalin had firmly established a totalitarian government that tried to exert complete control over its citizens. In a totalitarian state, individuals have no rights, and the government suppresses all opposition. -
12. Rome-Berlin Axis
German and Italian dictators, who signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. -
15. Nonaggression pact
As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin surprised everyone by signing a nonaggression pact with Hitler. Once bitter enemies, on August 23, 1939 fascist Germany and communist Russia now committed never to attack each other. -
16. Blitzkrieg
September 1, 1939, the German Luftwaffe, or German air force, roared over Poland, raining bombs on military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. At the same time, German tanks raced across the Polish countryside, spreading terror and confusion. This invasion was the first test of Germany’s newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg, or lightning war -
17. Britain and France declare war on Germany
On September 3, two days following the terror
in Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany -
22. Marshal Philippe Petain
Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, -
23. The Battle of Britain
Hitler had 2,600 planes at his disposal. On a single day August 15 approximately 2,000 German planes ranged over Britain. The RAF fought back brilliantly. With the help of a new technological device called radar, British pilots accurately
plotted the flight paths of German planes, even in darkness.
On September 15, 1940 the RAF shot down over 185 German
planes; at the same time, they lost only 26 aircraft. Six weeks later, Hitler called off the invasion of Britain -
18. Phony war
On the Siegfried Line a few miles away German troops stared back. The blitzkrieg had given way to what the Germans called the sitzkrieg (“sitting war”), and what some newspapers referred to as the phony war. -
19. Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
Suddenly, on April 9, 1940, Hitler launched a surprise invasion
of Denmark and Norway in order “to protect [those countries’] freedom and independence.” But in truth, Hitler planned to build bases along the coasts to strike at Great Britain. -
20. Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands
Next, Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. The phony war had ended -
21. Germany and Italy's invasion of France
Hitler’s generals sent their tanks through the Ardennes, a region of wooded ravines in northeast France, thereby avoiding British and French troops who thought the Ardennes were impassable. The Germans continued to march toward Paris. Italy entered the war on the side of Germany and invaded France from the south as the Germans closed in on Paris from the north. -
24. Pearl Harbor attack
The bomber was followed by more than 180 Japanese warplanes launched from six aircraft carriers. As the first Japanese bombs found their targets, a radio operator flashed this message: “Air raid on Pearl Harbor. This is not a drill.” -
11. Francisco Franco
In 1936, a group of Spanish army officers led by General Francisco Franco, rebelled against the Spanish republic. -
26. Korematsu v. United States
In 1944, the Supreme Court decided, in Korematsu v. United States, that the government’s policy of evacuating Japanese Americans to camps was justified on the basis of “military necessity.” -
27. Battle of the Atlantic
In the first four months of 1942, the Germans sank 87 ships off the Atlantic shore. Seven months into the year, German wolf packs had destroyed a total of 681 Allied ships in the Atlantic.The convoys were escorted across the Atlantic by destroyers equipped with sonar for detecting submarines underwater. They were also accompanied by airplanes that used radar to spot U-boats on the ocean’s surface. With this improved tracking -
28. U.S. convoy system
The convoys were escorted across the Atlantic by destroyers
equipped with sonar for detecting submarines underwater. They were also accompanied by airplanes that used radar to spot U-boats on the ocean’s surface. With this improved tracking -
29. Battle of Stalingrad
For weeks the Germans pressed in on Stalingrad, conquering it house by
house in brutal hand-to-hand combat. By the end of September, they controlled
nine-tenths of the city—or what was left of it. Then another winter set in. The
Soviets saw the cold as an opportunity to roll fresh tanks across the frozen landscape
and begin a massive counterattack. The Soviet army closed around
Stalingrad, trapping the Germans in and around the city and cutting off their supplies. -
30. Operation Torch
Operation Torch, an invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa, -
31. Unconditional surrender
That is, enemy nations would have to accept whatever terms of peace the Allies dictated -
32. Bloody Anzio
This battle, “Bloody Anzio,” lasted four months—until the end of May 1944—and left about 25,000 Allied and 30,000 Axis casualties. During the year after Anzio, German armies continued to put up strong resistance. -
34. The Battle of the Bulge
On December 16, under cover of dense fog, eight
German tank divisions broke through weak American
defenses along an 80-mile front. Hitler hoped that a victory
would split American and British forces and break up Allied
supply lines. Tanks drove 60 miles into Allied territory,
creating a bulge in the lines that gave this desperate last ditch
offensive its name, the Battle of the Bulge. -
35. Death of Hitler
Hitler shot himself
while his new wife swallowed
poison. In accordance with
Hitler’s orders, the two bodies
were carried outside, soaked
with gasoline, and burned. -
36. V-E Day
On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day—Victory in
Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over. -
37. Lend-Lease Act
By late 1940, however, Britain had no more cash to
spend in the arsenal of democracy. Roosevelt tried to help by suggesting a new plan that he called a lend-lease policy. Under this plan, the president would lend or lease arms and other supplies to “any country whose defense was vital to the United States.” -
38. Harry S. Truman
On April 12, 1945, while posing for a portrait in Warm Springs, Georgia, the president had a stroke and died. That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation’s 33rd president. -
39. Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps
Under this bill, women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions -
40. Manhattan Project
Hoping to shorten that time, the OSRD set
up an intensive program in 1942 to develop a bomb as quickly as possible. Because
much of the early research was performed at Columbia University in Manhattan, the Manhattan Project became the code name for research work that extended across the country -
41. Office of Price Administration
The OPA fought inflation by freezing
prices on most goods. -
42. War Productions Board
the government needed to
ensure that the armed forces and war industries received the
resources they needed to win the war -
33. D-Day
D-Day—June 6, 1944, the first day
of the invasion. Shortly after midnight, three divisions
parachuted down behind German lines. They were followed
in the early morning hours by thousands upon
thousands of seaborne soldiers—the largest land-sea-air
operation in army history. -
25. Internment
internment, or confinement, of 1,444 Japanese Americans, 1 percent of Hawaii’s Japanese-American population.