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Mussolini and the Fascists come to power in Italy.
When Benito Mussolini came to power, he created the world's first fascist state. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria showed that the Japanese dream of conquering the pacific was not restricted to islands. The Japanese treated their victims without mercy and renamed the entire region ''Manchukuo''. -
Hitler and the Nazis come to power in Germany.
When Hitler became chancellor in Germany, their economy did improve, but Hitler's hidden motives were much darker... -
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Neutrality Acts passed in the U.S.
The Neutrality acts were laws passed by the U.S. that attempted to keep the country out of World War 2. They mostly involved the prohibition of selling weapons to countries at war. Others, however; prohibited Americans from travelling on belligerent countries ships. The final, and possibly most important one, removed the trade embargo, and let the U.S. sell war materials to other nations on a policy of cash-and-carry. -
Munich Conference.
This is one of the most famous examples of appeasement. The leaders of Britain and France gave in to Hitler's demands for the Sudetenland (a region of Czechoslovakia) promised that he stop invading countries. It did not stop a war, as some had hoped, it merely postponed it. -
Kristallnacht
<ahref='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrombDUtOYY' >Kristallnacht video.</a> .Kristallnacht (night of broken glass) was the attack on German Jews by the Nazis. It ended with 91 dead Jews, 30,000 deported Jews, and multiple counts of vandalsim on Jewish property. -
Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact.
The Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression pact gave Hitler room to attack Poland without fear of repercussion from the Soviets. Hitler later broke the pact however, when he invaded the Russia on June 22, 1941. -
The invasion of Poland (beginning of World War 2)
The invasion of Poland Video .The invasion of Poland marked the beginning of World War 2. The invasion ended in 2 weeks, with Poland defeated. Angered that Germany had broke it's promise, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3. 1939. -
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Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the battle for the control of the seas around western Europe. It began when a German submarine sank a passenger ship, killing over 100 civilians. That event caused Britain and Germany's navy to go to war with one another, as each attempted to block the others ports. -
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Rescue at Dunkirk
The rescue of Dunkirk was the evacuation of 338,000 allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, France. Any sea-worthy vessel was used in the evacuation, including fishing boats. It is noteworthy, however; that Hitler did not attack the boats with his normal fury. It seemed as if he WANTED them to escape. Even though some boats were destroyed, it still became the largest evacuation in military history. -
France falls to Germany.
Following the rescue at Dunkirk, the Germans attacked a disoriented France and after brief ( but heavy) fighting, took over its capital in weeks. -
Formation of the Axis Powers
The document that made the Axis powers an official force was named the Tripartite pact. The original countries included Germany, Italy, and Japan. -
The election of 1940
The election of 1940 was different, in that the American people were more worried about what was happening overseas rather than electing a new leader. Also, given that most of the candidates policies did not differ significantly, few saw the point of electing someone else. Thus, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first and only president to serve 3 terms. -
Congress Passes the Lend-Lease Act.
The Lend-Lease act allowed the U.S. to donate any weapons or money to a country it believed was defending the U.S.. This allowed the U.S. to protect itself even though it was not ''truly'' at war. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor Video While the Japanese were discussing peace treaties with the U.S. some Japanese commanders were planning an attack which would eliminate the American threat in the pacific. The result was a devastating attack that killed over 3,500 U.S. servicemen. In a few days, this event caused America to enter world war 2. -
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Rosie the riveter camapign encourages women to get a job.
The ''Rosie the Riveter'' campaign was used to encourage women to get a job during World War 2. This was because most of the male workforce had left to go fight in the war. -
Relocation of Japanese-Americans to camps.
Japanese Internee Voice After the events of Pearl Harbor, war hysteria caused the president to sign Executive Order 9066. Although it claimed that it was meant to clear the Pacific ''war zone'' of ''suspicious individuals''. It actually sent all people of Japanese descent to relocation camps. The only reason that this occured was because of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was a grueling march that was over 50 miles. It started when Japanese forces captured American forces who had surrendered during a seige on their base. The Japanese were not expecting such a large number of soldiers and as such, saw no other use for them besides manual labor. The captured troops had to endure the grueling journey while being shot, statted , and beaten. Many died along the way there, as the Japanese didnt care if the captives had enough to eat or drink. -
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Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a joint military project that included the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain. It started off as an idea of nuclear fission, but quickly found military use. The end result of the project was the Atomic bomb, which was used to end the war in the Pacific with Japan. -
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Battle of Midway Island
The Battle of Midway Island was an intense battle between Japan and the U.S.. The Japanese had hoped to gain an edge on the U.S. by crushing the all ready weakened fleet at Pearl Harbor. Instead, they left themselves exposed for a counter-attack which crippled their own navy. -
D-Day Invasion
D-Day video D-Day was the attack that was a part of ''Operation Overlord.'' It consisted of 160,000 allied troops fighting German soldiers along the heavily fortified beaches of Normandy, France. Although the operation was successful, nearly 9,000 soldiers lost their lives. -
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Allied invasion/Victory in the Philipines.
Following a humiliating defeat 3 years earlier, the Allied forces in the pacific came back to the Phillipines with a vengeance. Under the lead of General Macarthur, the Allied forces eliminated the Japanese on the Phillipines and , from there, contemplated what to do next. -
Presidential Election on 1944
Much like his previous election , the American people were too pre-occupied with WW2 to worry about what president to elect. Also, Roosevelt's popularity was enourmous. Though his rival was charismatic, Roosevelt went on to be elected for a third time. -
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Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive. Hitler attempted to push the allies back away from France into Belgium. To do this, he sent 250,000 soldiers and hundreds of tanks against 80,000 tanks. He sent these soldiers into a poorly defended part of the Allied line. He also sent some German commandos in as spies in order to sabotage communication lines. Though the Germans lost, American morale was severely wounded, as they had lost some 60, 000 soldiers in a month. -
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Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was the second wartime meeting that included Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Sensing victory, the men began to make plans for post-war Europe, in which Stalin promised free elections for countries that he had conquered. He later went back on these promises, however; which led to the cold war. -
V-E Day.
V-E Day ( victory in Europe) is the day that Germany officially surrendered to the Allies in WW2. Despite this, however; their Japanese Allies refused to surrender, so the war was not truly over. -
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Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the workd into the nuclear age, and caused the Japanese surrender which ended world war 2. It is estimated that the 2 atomic bombs killed around 200,000 people. -
Surrender of Japan
Following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered unconditionally. This surrender officially brought an end to WW2, one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. -
Formation of the United Nations
The UN was originally composed of the allied powers who were at war with the axis. It simply stated that the allies would use their full resources against the axis powers and would not accept a separate peace. It later went on to become a ''general international organization'' that was dedicated to keeping world peace.
