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Period: to
World War II
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The Great Depression Starts
The Great Depression was an economic depression that marked the beginning of World War II. The Great Depression affected all countries. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50%. Unemployment in the U.S. rose to 25%, and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Stock prices fell and many people who had invested in stocks became broke.The stock market officially crashed on October 29, 1929. This day was known as Black Tuesday. -
Britain's Appeasement of Germany
The Munich Agreement was part of the British and French policy of appeasement, meeting German's demands in order to avoid war. Hitler would not stop just with Sudetenland. -
Japan conquers Manchuria in Northern China
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on September 19, 1931, when Manchuria was invaded by the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan immediately following the Mukden Incident. The Japanese established a puppet state, called Manchukuo, and their occupation lasted until the end of World War II. -
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
In 1933, Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg. -
Roosevelt Elected President
Theodore Roosevelt was elected President of the United States of America in 1933. He was elected right in the middle of the Great Depression, after Herbert Hoover. He had to do a lot to reform America. He was well-liked by the Americans and he did a lot to help them. -
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg laws were introduced by Hitler. They were laws directed towards Jews and other non-Aryans that lived in Germany. The laws took away a lot of Jewish peoples' rights. They boycotted Jewish businesses and did not allow Jewish people to marry Germans. -
Hitler and Mussolini Form the Rome-Berlin Axis
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Japan Invades China
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Germany jnvades Austria
The Anschluss was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany. Austrians had refused but finally surrendered to Germany on March 12. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) was a series of attacks against Jewish people in Germany. About 19 Jewish people were killed in the attacks. The attacks were organized by SA. A lot of windows were broken in Jewish synagogues, shops, and businesses. 30,000 Jewish people were also arrested that night. -
Manhattan Project
It was a research project that developed the first atomic bombs. The bombs were used by the US against Japan. The project began in 1939 and is still going on today. -
Germany & Soviet Union have a nonaggression pact
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Germany Invades Poland
When Hitler came into power, he signed a non-aggression treaty with Poland. Hitler broke this agreement and attacked Poland in 1939. The Polish army surrendered after a few weeks. Because of this, France and Britain declared war on Germany. -
Germany invades Denmark and Norway
Denmark surrendered on the day of the attack. Norway surrendered two months later, on June 9, 1940. -
Germany invades France and Belgium
Germany attacks France and the neutral Low Countries. Luxembourg is occupied on May 10; the Netherlands surrenders on May 14; and Belgium surrenders on May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement by which the Germans occupy the northern half of the country and the entire Atlantic coastline. In southern France, a collaborationist regime with its capital in Vichy is established. -
German air force (Luftwaffe) bombs London and other civilian targets in the Battle of Britain
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Japan joins the Axis Powers
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Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease act was a law that started a program where the US supplied the United Kingdom, the USSR, Republic of China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materials between 1941 and 1945. This was before the US entered the war. -
Tuskegee Airmen
Tuskegee Airmen is a group of African American pilots who fought in the war. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the armed forces. They were segregated and there was a lot of discrimination against them. -
Germany invades the Soviet Union
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The Nazis implement the “Final Solution”
The "Final Solution" for the Nazis was the authorization of the killing of millions of Jewish people in incarceration camps. They burned them, put them in gas chambers, or let them starve. On July 31, 1941, the "Final Solution" was authorized by a Nazi leader. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is located in Oahu, Hawaii. It is a naval base for the United States. In 1941, it was bombed by Japan. This event is what brought the US into the war. -
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter is a symbol for women of the United States. During the war, women took on new jobs in factories. They made munitions and war supplies to help the war effort. Rosie the Riveter represents women's growing power during the 1930s and 1940s. -
Japanese American Incarceration
During World War II, about 110,000 Japanese Americans were taken from their homes into incarceration camps. There they lived together, but separate from all Americans. They were taken because they looked like the enemy, the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor. Often they were given no warning before being incarcerated. On February 19th, 1942. President Roosevelt authorized the internment. -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death was a march led by the Imperial Japanese Army. They took 60-80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war after Battle of Bataan in the Philippines and made them march to a camp. Approximately 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100-650 American died before they got to Camp O'Donnell. This is considered a Japanese war crime because the prisoners were abused and murdered along the way. -
Battle of Midway at Midway Atoll
This was the most important naval battle in World War II. The United States Navy defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy after 3 days. (June 4-7) The Japanese thought that if they won, they could take over the Pacific. -
British forces stop the German advance at El Alamein
All throughout July (First battle of El Alamein) -
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. It was the sight of a battle between the US and Japan. The US won. It was their first major victory. (August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943) -
German forces surrender at Stalingrad
The battle of Stalingrad was a major battle in World War II. Nazi Germany and the rest of the Axis powers fought the Soviet Union for control of Stalingrad. At first the Germans were wiining, especially when they used their Luftwaffe, but then the Allies began to take control. They defeated the German Army and they had all surrendered by February 1943. (August 23, 1942 and February 2, 1943) -
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands. It is the site of the battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945–March 1945 between the United States (US) and the Empire of Japan during World War II. The US won and kept the island until 1968. -
D-Day
D-Day was when160,000 Allied troops landed on the French coastline to fight Nazi Germany in Normandy, France. More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft fought on D-Day. 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded. The Germans were stationed in Normandy and expected the Allies to come fight them from the front, but they attacked from behind. This surprised the Germans and they lost the battle. -
Battle of the Bulge
(16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) The Battle of the Bulge was a German offensive. About 610,000 men fought and there 89,000 casualties. This was the biggest and bloodiest battle for the US. -
Yalta Conference
(Until February 11) The Yalta Conference was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the US, the UK, and the Soviet Union. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and General Secretary Joseph Stalin came to discuss Europe's post-war reorganization. The conference convened in the Livadia Palace near Yalta, in the Crimea. -
Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest water assault in the Pacific War of World War II.The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. -
Roosevelt dies, Truman becomes President
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Formation of the United Nations
50 nations met in San Francisco to discuss a new peacekeeping organization to replace the weak and ineffective League of Nations. -
Germany surrenders
Germany surrendered in late May and early April after the Allies began to control more of Germany. The Allied forces began to advance in Berlin. They also began to take a lot of prisoners. -
Formation of the United Nations
all 50 nations ratified the charter, creating a new internation peacekeeping body known as the United Nations. President Roosevelt had urged Americans not to turn their backs on the world again. Unlike the League of Nations, the United States is a member of the United Nations. -
Potsdam Conference
Allies held the Potsdam Conference to plan the war's end. Decision was made to put the Nazi war criminals. (Until August 2, 1945) -
Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were conducted by the United States during the end of World War II in 1945. This was the only time nuclear weapons were used. (until August 9) -
Japanese officials sign an official letter of surrender on the U.S.S. Missouri, ending World War II
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Nuremberg Trials
(Until Ocrober 1, 1946) 24 defendants, including some of Hitler's top officials. Hermann Goering- creater and head of Gestapo (secret police). Charged with crimes against humanity. 19 found guilty, 12 sentenced to death. People are responsible for their actions, even in wartime, -
Marshall Plan
Congress approved Secretary of State George Marshall's plan to help boost European economies. The U.S. gave more than $13 billion to help the nations of Europe to get back on their feet.
