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Rise of fascist dictators in Europe
Around this time, fascism started to become popular in certain European countries. The ideology of fascism called for an immense amount of nationalism and encouraged violence and discipline. Fascists were antidemocratic; they wanted the citizen to serve the state. Benito Mussolini, the dictator of Italy, was the first fascist dictator; he came up with the term "fascism." -
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Annexation of Austria
Also known as the Anschluss, this was when Austria was made a part of Germany. Hitler had forced the chancellor of Austria to appoint Nazis to important cabinet positions earlier in the year. He also had the massive German army preserve order in the country. The Anschluss went against the Treaty of Versailles, but Hitler got away with it because none of the western democratic countries did anything about it. -
Munich Conference
In 1938, Hitler wanted to annex part of Czechoslovakia (called Sudetenland) to Germany. He claimed that the German-speaking people of this area were being mistreated. On this date, the Munich Conference was called between Hitler and the leaders of France, the UK, and Italy. It was decided that Hitler could have Sudetenland only if he agreed not to invade anywhere else; of course, Hitler still ended up invading all of Czechoslovakia later on. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
On this date, the Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed, which was a peace agreement between enemies Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. They secretly agreed to not fight if the other country went to war and to divide up Poland and parts of Eastern Europe. This pact was based on each other's needs - Hitler hated communism and Stalin hated fascism. Hitler wanted "a free hand' in Poland" and did not want enemies to the west AND the east. Stalin had also bought himself time to build up the Soviet army. -
Japanese aggression in Asia
When World War II started in Europe, the Japanese realized that it was a chance for them to steal materials from European colonies in Southeast Asia. Japan had been trying to take over China since the later 1930s. They saw that they could use the stolen materials in the fight against China. These materials included oil, rubber, and tin. They knew that they could use these materials to build and fuel planes, and make weapons. -
Battle of the Atlantic
This was the longest continuous battle of WWII. It started when the war began and did not end until the Nazis were defeated. It was a battle that pitted German U-boats and warships and Italian submarines against Allied convoys that were transporting supplies across the Atlantic Ocean to Britain. The advantage in this battle constantly swapped back and forth. (Whoever was sending out the most defense would have the advantage.) Immense numbers of ships and submarines were lost in the battle. -
Phony War
Before this, the Germans had taken over Poland. The winter of the first year of WWII was a tense one for many countries because Hitler had been quiet since the invasion of Poland. Nobody knew when, who, or even if he would attack in the near future. Britain sent troops to wait with the French behind the Maginot Line, a French barrier to protect against invasion. Reporteres called this time the "phony war." -
Miracle at Dunkirk
This is the date that the last Britixh troops were shipped back to England from France. Germany had stormed into France, and the British troops that were stationed there during the "phony war" were forced to retreat. Eventually they were stuck between the German troops and the Atlantic Ocean, so Britain sent all boats and ships to the beaches of Dunkirk and Ostend to rescue the troops. Over 300,000 troops were saved. -
Fall of France
After the Miracle of Dunkirk, Germany continued south towards France's capital, Paris. Then Italy attacked France from the south, having declared war on them too. France was torn apart and was forced to surrender. On this date, Hitler got his revenge for the German defeat after WWI. He forced France to sign the surrender documents in the same train car that Germany previously had to sign the armistice in that ended WWI. -
Battle of Britain
After France fell, Britain was the only remaining threat to Germany in western Europe. Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister, encouraged Britain to stay strong when Hitler started to attack the country. Hitler carried out Operation Sea Lion - a daily bombardment of the southern coast of England by German bombers; they later targeted London. Yet this attack was a failure. The British citizens stayed strong, and the bombings just made them that much more determined to fight back. -
Nazi genocide
By 1941, the Nazis had decided on a solution for the "problem" of racially inferior people (mostly Jews), and this was a genocide. However, Hitler wanted to get rid of others too, such as Slavs, Gypsies, and the mentally ill. Hitler had death camps built in places like Auschwitz, Poland, which were where Jews would be shipped to. They would then be stripped of their clothes, separated, and eventually efficiently executed in horrible ways. In total, the Nazis killed over six million Jews. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler decided to give up on the bombardment of Britain and focused on something new: taking over the Soviet Union. He wanted to obtain the area's resources, end communism in Europe, and defeat his rival, Joseph Stalin. Hitler sent three million soldiers to the Soviet Union, catching Stalin off guard and taking millions of lives. The siege of Leningrad was awful for the Soviets, who were living off of virtually nothing. However, thousands of Germans died in the horrible Soviet winter. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The U.S. was unhappy was Japan's aggression in Asia, so we stopped giving war materials to Japan. The Japanese were angry about this. General Tojo was an extreme militarist that was gaining power in Japan at this time. He ordered a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, an American military base in Hawaii. Nineteen ships were damaged/destroyed, and 2,400 people died. After this, the U.S. declared war on Japan - we had officially entered WWII. -
Battle of Midway
This battle changed the course of WWII in the Pacific. On this date, 37 Douglas Dauntless bombers attacked two Japanese aircraft carriers. A few hours later, the other two carriers in the fleet were destroyed too. 270 Japanese aircrafts were lost. Now Japan, the major naval power of the Pacific, had its dreams of becoming an empire crushed. This turned the tide of the war. -
Battle of El Alamein
This battle was part of a turning point in the war. This victory by the Allies began to turn the tide in their favor. First, British General Bernard Montgomery and his army stopped the advance of the troops of a brilliant German commander named Erwin Rommel, who retreated across Libya, into Tunisia. Later in 1942, American General Dwight Eisenhower's troops trapped Rommel's army, who surrendered in May 1943. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This was one of the most costly battles. Hitler wanted to take over the city named after Stalin; Stalin was determined to defend it. The Germans surrounded the city, but then the Soviets surrounded the Germans. A "street-by-street" battle was carried out. Eventually the German army ran out of ammunition and food and was forced to surrender. Hitler lost about 300,000 soldiers in this battle. -
Invasion of Italy
This battle was another one that slowly started to push the war in the Allies' favor. A British and American fleet landed in Sicily, and then southern Italy and defeated the Italians in about a month. The Italians were fed up with Mussolini, who was overthrown. But Hitler sent troops to rescue Mussolini. The Allies slowly fought their way up Italy, suffering many losses along the way. -
D-Day
By 1944, the Allies decided that they were ready to invade France and drive Germany out. They chose this day to do it. At night, Allied paratroopers landed behind enemy lines, and 176,000 Allied troops were carried across the English Channel to France. Allied troops also advanced from Italy. Germany was surrounded on all sides, so it retreated out of France. The Allies recaptured Paris and all of France was freed. -
Battle of Okinawa
This was the largest battle over water in WWII. After much island hopping, the U.S. decided to make the island of Okinawa an aircraft base in order to prepare for a mainland attack of Japan. The Japanese attacked the island viciously. This battle is known as the "typhoon of steel" because of the numerous suicide attacks by the Japanese and the sheer amount of ships and vehicles that the Americans used. Japan lost 100,000 soldiers; we had 65,000 casualties. -
Battle of Berlin
This was the final major battle of WWII. The Soviets got through the German front and advanced almost 25 miles a day until they reached the German city of Berlin. Two Soviet army groups attacked Berlin from the south and the east. They eventually reached the city's center, and Berlin finally surrendered. Before the end of the battle, Hitler and many of his followers committed suicide. Fighting still continued until the official end of the war on September 2, 1945. -
Nazis defeated
The Allies advanced toward Germany after freeing France. The Germans launched a bloody counterattack at the Battle of the Bulge, but did not break through. Germany was now being bombed every single day by the Allies - it was falling apart. Eventually the Allied troops and Soviet troops fought all the way through Germany. Soon Germany surrendered, as did many other Axis armies. This date was proclaimed V-E Day - Victory in Europe. -
Use of atomic weapons
The first atomic bomb to be used in the war was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the U.S. It was done in order to end the war quicker. 70,000 people were instantly killed; many more died later of radiation poisoning. Yet Japan did not respond, so the U.S. dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, which killed 40,000 people. -
Surrender of Japan
Japan still argued among themselves about whether or not to surrender, even after the bombings. Finally, Emperor Hirohito forced the government to surrender, which is something unheard of for an emperor. Finally, on this date, the formal peace treaty was signed. This took place on the Missouri, and American battleship that was in Tokyo Bay. -
United Nations
After the end of WWII, the Allies set up an international organization that would ensure peace, just as they did at the end of WWI. The United Nations, however, ended up playing a much bigger role in world affairs than the League of Nations did. At the first UN meeting, each nation was given one vote, and the U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China were given the authority to ensure peace, so they could veto anything. The UN helped out all over the world and still does today.
