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Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo. His death is the event that sparks World War
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo. His death is the event that sparks World War I
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Germany invades Belgium, beginning of World War I
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Germany invades Belgium, beginning World War I
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Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany. The United States enters World War I on the side of France and Britain
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The Germans sign a peace treaty with the new Bolshevik government of Russia. The terms of the treaty give Germany huge tracts of land that had been the Ukraine and Poland, and peace on the Eastern Front allows Germany to shift soldiers to the Western Front, causing serious problems for the French, British, and Americans
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Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. His Nazi Party, or the Third Reich, takes power and Hitler is essentially the dictator of Germany
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The Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended World War I, was an instrument of vengeance against the Central Powers, and dissatisfaction over its terms left the defeated nations vulnerable to extremist movements promising revenge
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The Germans launch a large attack in the Battle of the Bulge. They lose to the Allies sealing the fate of the German army
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Japan agrees in principle to unconditionally surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders on September 2, 1945, ending World War II
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European economy collapsed. US Secretary of State George Marshall devised the "European Recovery Program", which became known as the Marshall Plan
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Decline of the old great powers and rise of the the Soviet Union (USSR) and USA