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Stalin becomes dictator of USSR
He served as both General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–1952) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (1941–1953). Initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he consolidated power to become the Soviet Union's de facto dictator by the 1930's. Stalin's government promoted Marxism–Leninism abroad through the Communist International and supported European anti-fascist movements during the 1930's. -
Mussolini’s March on Rome - outcome
March on Rome, the insurrection by which Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in late October 1922. It marked the beginning of fascist rule and meant the doom of the preceding parliamentary regimes of socialists and liberals. The 1922 March on Rome was to establish Mussolini and the Fascist Party he led, as the most important political party in Italy. In November 1921, the fascist parties of Italy joined forces to create the Fascist Party. It became an official political party. -
Hitler Writes Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926. -
1st “five year plan” in USSR – purpose
The first five year plan was created in order to initiate rapid and large-scale industrialization across the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The five-year plans for the development of the national economy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics consisted of a series of nationwide centralized economic plans in the Soviet Union, beginning in the late 1920's. -
Japan invades Manchuria – why?
During 1931 Japan had invaded Manchuria without declarations of war, breaching the rules of the League of Nations. Japan had a highly developed industry, but the land was scarce of natural resources. Japan turned to Manchuria for oil, rubber and lumber in order to make up for the lack of resources in Japan. It was caused by the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, a Chinese territory. It occurred after the Japanese Rail Company in Manchuria was attacked and vandalized. -
Holodomor - why
Drought has been mentioned as the major reason for the Holodomor by Soviet sources since 1983. This explanation has been modified by the Western historian Dr. Mark Tauger, who concluded that the famine was not fundamentally "man-made". He says that rustic plant disease, rather than drought, was the cause of the famine. -
Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany
Hitler attained power in March 1933, after the Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act of 1933 in that month, giving expanded authority. President Paul von Hindenburg had already appointed Hitler as Chancellor after a series of elections and associated backroom intrigues. Hitler took the titles of führer, chancellor, and commander in chief of the army. He expanded the army tremendously, reintroduced conscription, and began developing a new air force—all violations of the Treaty of Versailles. -
“Night of the Long Knives” in Germany - purpose
Night of the Long Knives, in German history, purge of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler on June 30, 1934. Fearing that the paramilitary SA had become too powerful, Hitler ordered his elite SS guards to murder the organization's leaders, including Ernst Röhm. The Night of the Long Knives represented a triumph for Hitler, and a turning point for the German government. It established Hitler as "the supreme leader of the German people", as he put it in his July 13 speech to the Reichstag. -
Nuremberg Laws Enacted
The Nuremberg Laws were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on September 15, 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. The laws excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of "German or related blood." -
Italian Invasion of Ethiopia
The aim of invading Ethiopia was to boost Italian national prestige, which was wounded by Ethiopia's defeat of Italian forces at the Battle of Adowa in the nineteenth century, which saved Ethiopia from Italian colonization. This was used as a rationale to invade Abyssinia. Rejecting all arbitration offers, the Italians invaded Ethiopia on October 3, 1935. In response to Ethiopian appeals the League of Nations condemned the invasion in 1935 and voted to impose economic sanctions on the aggressor. -
The Great Purge & Gulags
The Great Purge, also known as the “Great Terror,” was a brutal political campaign led by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to eliminate dissenting members of the Communist Party and anyone else he considered a threat. Although estimates vary, most experts believe at least 750,000 people were executed during the Great Purge, which took place between about 1936 and 1938. -
Spanish Civil War
The war was a result of many factors, but the one primary causes of the Spanish Civil War was the failure of Spanish democracy. This failure resulted from the refusal of the Spanish political parties and groups to compromise and respect democratic norms. The left side, known as the Republicans, was formed by the Spanish government together with unions, communists, anarchists, workers, and peasants. The other side were the Nationalists, the rebel part of the army, the bourgeoisie, the landlords. -
The Rape of Nanking
In what became known as the “Rape of Nanking,” the Japanese butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages, many of whom were mutilated or killed in the process. Following a bloody victory in Shanghai during the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese turned their attention towards Nanking. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November Pogrom, was a pogrom against Jews carried out by SA paramilitary forces and civilians throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938. The German authorities looked on without intervening. -
Nazi Germany Invades Poland
Germany invaded Poland to regain lost territory and ultimately rule their neighbor to the east. The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war–what would become the “blitzkrieg” strategy. On October 6, following the Polish defeat at the Battle of Kock, German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic, though Poland never formally surrendered. -
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, just before 08:00, on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. They intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the United States Pacific Fleet from interfering with its planned military actions in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.