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Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
By 1921, Mussolini had established the Fascist Party. Fascism stressed nationalism and placed the interests of the state above those of individuals. To strengthen the nation, power must rest with a single strong leader and a small group of devoted party members. -
Mein Kampf
In his book, Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Militarists launched a surprise attack and seized control of the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. Within several months, Japanese troops controlled the entire province that was rich in natural resources. -
Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
Nazism: the German brand of fascism was based on extreme nationalism.
By mid 1932, the Nazis had become the strongest political party in Germany. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed prime minister. -
Storm troopers
Many men who were out of work joined Hitler's private army, the storm troopers (or Brown Shirts). -
Third Reich
Hitler established the Third Reich, or Third German Empire. According to Hitler, the Third Reich would be a "Thousand-Year Reich"- it would last for a thousand years. -
Hitler's military build-up in Germany
In 1933, Hitler pulled Germany out of the League. In 1935, he began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
Mussolini began building his new Roman Empire. His first target was Ethiopia, one of Africa's few remaining independent countries. By the fall of 1935, thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance on Ethiopia. By May 1936, Ethiopia had fallen. Haile Selassie, the emperor, appealed to the League for assistance. -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
A year later, after 1935, Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Francisco Franco
In 1936, a group of Spanish army officers led by General Francisco Franco, rebelled against the Spanish republic. Revolts broke out all over Spain, and the Spanish Civil War began. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
The war forged a close relationship between the German and Italian dictators, who signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. -
Hitler's Anschluss
On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria unopposed. A day later, Germany announced that its Anschluss, or "union", with Austria was complete. -
Munich Agreement
On September 30, 1938, Daladier and Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement, which turned Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired. -
Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
By 1939, Stalin had firmly established a totalitarian government that tried to exert complete control over its citizens. In a totalitarian state, individuals have no rights, and the government suppresses all opposition. -
Non-agression pact
As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin surprised everyone by signing a nonagression pact with Hitler. On August 23, 1939 fascist Germany and communist Russia now committed never to attack each other. -
Blitzkrieg
From the German word meaning "lightning war", a sudden, massive attack with combined air and ground forces, intended to achieve quick victory. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
On September 3, two days following the terror in Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
Phony war
The phony war was an 8 month period at the start of World
War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germany's Saar district. -
Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
On April 9, 1940, Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway in order "to protect [those countries'] freedom and independence." But in truth, Hitler planned to build bases along the coasts to strike at Great Britain. -
Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands
Hitler turned against the Netherlands (as well as Belgium and Luxembourg), which were overrun by the end of May. The phony war had ended. -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
Italy entered the war on the side of Germany and invaded France from the south as the Germans closed in on Paris from the north. -
Marshal Philippe Petain
Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Petain, would be set up at Vichy, in southern France. -
The Battle of Britain
A military campaign of World War II, in which the Royal Air Force, defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi's Germany air force, the Luftwaffe. -
Battle of the Atlantic
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler ordered submarine raids against ships along America's east coast. The German aim in the Battle of the Atlantic was to prevent food and war materials from reaching Great Britain and the Soviet Union. -
Pearl Harbor attack
A surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor. -
Lend-Lease Act
A law passed in 1941 that allowed the United States to ship arms and other supplies, without immediate payment, to nations fighting the Axis powers. -
Office of Price Administration
An agency established by Congress to control inflation during World War II. -
War Productions Board
An agency established during World War II to coordinate the production of military supplies by U.S. industries. -
Internment
Internment: confinement or a restriction in movement, especially under wartime conditions.
General Delos Emmons (military governor of Hawaii) was eventually forced to order the internment, or confinement, of 1,444 Japanese Americans, 1 percent of Hawaii's Japanese-American population. -
Operation Torch
Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II which started on November 9, 1942. -
U.S. convoy system
The Allies responded with desperation by organizing their cargo ships into convoys. Convoys were groups of ships traveling together for mutual protection. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Largest confrontation of World War II in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southern Russia. -
Women's Auxiliary Army Corps
U.S Army unit created during World War II to enable women to serve in noncombat positions. -
Manhattan Project
The U.S. program to develop an atomic bomb for use in World War II. -
D-Day
A name given to June 6, 1944- the day on which the Allies launched an invasion of the European mainland during World War II. -
The Battle of the Bulge
A month-long battle of World War II, in which the Allies succeeded in turning back against the last major German offensive of the war. -
Korematsu v. United States
In 1944, the Supreme Court decided, in Korematsu v. United States, that the government's policy of evacuating Japanese Americans to camps was justified on the basis of "military necessity". -
Bloody Anzio
A battle of the Italian campaign of World War II, the operation was opposed by German forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno. -
V-E Day
A name given to May 9, 1945, "Victory in Europe day" on which General Eisenhower's acceptance of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany marked the end of World War II in Europe. -
Harry S. Truman
On April 12, 1945, the president had a stroke and died. That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation's 33rd president. -
Unconditional surrender
On 6 August 1945, the US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and three days later a second on Nagasaki. With that and the Soviet declaration of war on 8 August, the Japanese were forced into a surrender that was virtually unconditional. -
Death of Hitler
On April 29, 1945, Hitler wrote out his last address to the German people. In it he blamed the Jews for starting the war and his generals for losing it. The next day Hitler shot himself while his wife swallowed poison. In accordance with Hitler's orders, the two bodies were carried outside, soaked with gasoline, and burned.
