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Military leaders believed they needed more living space for a growing population, so militarists attacked and took control of the Chinese province of Manchuria. Soon after, the League of Nations condemned Japan for this action, so Japan quit the League.
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Because of the Depression, high unemployment, war debts and a poor economy, many Germans turned to Hitler as their last hope. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor, he established the Third Reich and dismantled Germany's democratic Weimar Republic.
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In an effort to keep the United States out of future wars, Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts. The first two acts outlawed arms sales or loans to nations at war. The third act extended the ban on arms sales and loans to nations engaged in civil wars.
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A group of Spanish army officers rebelled against the Spanish republic. Revolts broke out all over Spain, and aroused passions not only in Spain but throughout the world.
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Japan launched an all-out invasion of China. Despite congressional efforts to legislate neutrality, Roosevelt found it impossible to remain neutral, and the United States continued sending arms and supplies to China. Roosevelt called on peace-loving nations to isolate aggressor nations in order to stop the spread of war.
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Hitler invited French premier Edouard Daladier and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain to meet with him at Munich. They signed the Munich Agreement, which turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without any fighting.
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Hitler declared that in order to grow and prosper, Germany needed to absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich. He wanted to annex Czechoslovakia in order to provide more living space for Germany and to control its natural resources.
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As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler. They committed never to attack each other. Germany and the Soviet Union also signed a second pact, agreeing to divide Poland between them.
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This invasion was the first test of Germany's newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg, or lightening war. Germany used fast tanks and more powerful aircraft to take Poland by surprise.
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Germany's goal was to cut off food and war materials from reaching Great Britain and the Soviet Union. They were almost successful until the Allies organized their cargo ships into convoys which were escorted across the Atlantic by destroyers equipped with sonar for detecting submarines.
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A Treaty of Non-Aggression was made between Germany and Denmark, where each stated that the parties to the Treaty were "firmly resolved to maintain peace between Denmark and Germany under all circumstances." Nevertheless, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.
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Italy invaded France from the south, and Germany invaded France from the north. Hitler's terms were that Germany would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government would be set up in southern France.
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Germany relentlessly bombed Britain in an attempt to destroy Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF). The RAF fought back using new technology called radar, forcing Hitler to call off the invasion of Britain indefinitely.
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Britain had no more cash to spend in the arsenal of democracy. Roosevelt suggested a lend-lease policy, in which the president would lend or lease arms and other supplies to "any country whose defense was vital to the United States."
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The Atlantic Charter was a pledge between the U.S. and England for collective security, disarmament, self determination, economic cooperation and freedom of the seas. It became the basis of a new document called "A Declaration of the United Nations."
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Pearl Harbor, the largest U.S. naval base in the Pacific, was hit by a Japanese dive-bomber, followed by 180 Japanese warplanes launched from 6 aircraft carriers. The next day, Congress quickly approved Roosevelt's request for a declaration of war against Japan.
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Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle led 16 bombers in an attack on Japan. This daring raid lifted America's spirits and dampened Japan's spirits.
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The Allies were successful in stopping Japan from attacking the island of Midway. Americans had broken the Japanese code so they were aware that Midway was their next target.
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After near defeat, the Soviet army closed around Stalingrad, trapping the German Army in and cutting off their supplies. The German army finally surrendered, and the Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the war for the Soviets.
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Churchill and Roosevelt didn't think the Allies had enough troops to attempt an invasion on European soil. Instead they launched Operation Torch which was an invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa. It was commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
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The Allies wanted to establish a position in Italy so they could attack the German territories and resources and relieve the Soviet Union from the German advance. The forces captured Sicily first with forced the resignation of Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini.
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The D-Day invasion was the largest land-sea-air operation in army history. At the end of the operation, French resistance forces and American troops liberated the French capital after four years of German occupation.
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The Allies sent a million troops, tons of supplies and vehicles to France. They unleashed a massive air and land bombardment against the enemy providing a gap in the German line of defense through which General Patton and his Third Army could advance and liberate the French capital from four years of German occupation.
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The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a disaster for Japan even though they threw their entire fleet into it. Although they used a new tactic, the kamikaze or suicide-plane, Japan lost 3 battleships, 4 aircraft carriers, 13 cruisers and almost 500 planes in just 3 days of battle.
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This was a month-long battle in which the Allies were successful in turning back the last major German offensive of the war. The Germans suffered major losses in both manpower and weapons.
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Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta in the Soviet Union. For 3 days, they discussed the fate of Germany and made an agreement to a temporary division of Germany into 4 zones. Stalin promised "free and unfettered elections" in Soviet-occupied Eastern European countries, and to join the war against Japan.
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This island was critical to the United States as a base from which heavily loaded bombers might reach Japan. More than 6,000 marines died taking this island, the greatest number is any battle in the Pacific to that point.
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The Allies faced fierce opposition at Okinawa. 7,600 American lives were lost and 110,000 Japanese lost their lives. The taking of Iwo Jim and Okinawa opened the way for an invasion of Japan.
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President Roosevelt died shortly before the war in Europe ended. Following his death, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation's 33rd president.
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A week after Hitler's death, General Eisenhower accepted the surrender of the Third Reich. The allies celebrated Victory in Europe Day.
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Hiroshima was an important military center in Japan. It took only 43 seconds for almost every building in Hiroshima to be destroyed after an atomic bomb was dropped on the city.
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3 days after a bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, a second bomb, code-named Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki. Only half of the city was left after this bomb, and an estimated 200,000 people had died as a result of injuries and radiation poisoning caused by the atomic blasts.
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Victory over Japan Day - Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Japan's formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 19455.
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The discovery of Hitler's death camps led the Allies to put 24 Nazi leaders on trial for crimes against humanity, crimes against the peace, and war crimes. The defendants included Hitler's most trusted party officials, government ministers, military leaders, and powerful industrialists. In the end, 12 defendants were sentenced to death and the others were sent to prison.
