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Mussolini and the Fascists come to power in Italy
Benito Mussolini rose to power in the wake of World War I as a leading proponent of Facism. Originally a revolutionary Socialist, he forged the paramilitary Fascist movement in 1919 and became prime minister on October 1922 -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on September 18, 1931, when the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria 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 and the Nazis come to power in Germany
In January 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor, the head of the German government, and many Germans believed that they had found a savior for their nation. -
Neutrality Acts passed in the US
The Neutrality Acts were passed by the United States Congress on August 31,1935, in response to the growing turmoil in Europe and Asia that eventually led to World War II. -
Munich Conference
The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation "Sudetenland" was coined. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. -
Kristallnacht
On the night of November 9,1938 ,"The Night of the Broken Glass" also known as Kristallnacht, almost 200 synagogues were destroyed, over 8,000 Jewish shops were sacked and looted, and tens of thousands of Jews were removed to concentration camps. -
Germany and the USSR sign the Non-Aggression Pact
August 23, 1939–shortly before World War II broke out in Europe–enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. -
Germany invades Poland-Beginning of WW2
The German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea, Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action. -
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War ll, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. It was a contest between the Western Allies and the Axis powers for the control of the Atlantic sea routes around the United States. -
France falls to Germany
The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries during the Second World War. Beginning on 10 May 1940, the battle defeated primarily French forces. -
Rescue at Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk was an important battle that took place in Dunkirk, France, during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany. The war started May 26, 1940 and ended June 3, 1940. -
Formation of the Axis Powers
Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, it was two of the three Axis powers that had initiated conflicts that would become theaters of war in World War 2 -
Presidential election of 1940
American presidential election held on Nov. 5, 1940, in which Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican Wendell L. Willkie. By becoming the first president to win a third term, Roosevelt broke the two-term precedent established by the country’s first president, George Washington. -
Congress passes the Lend Lease Act
In the late 1940 and passed in March 1,1941, the Lend-Lease Act was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. It authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Japan attacks the US Navy base at Peral Harbor, more than 2,000 military and civilians were killed, The US declared war on the empire of Japan. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. -
Allied Invasion/Victory in the Philippines
The Philippines Campaign or the Battle of the Philippines, fought 8 December 1941 – 8 May 1942, was the invasion of the Philippines by Japan and the defense of the islands by Filipino and United States forces. -
Rosie the Riveter campaign encourages women to get a job
Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States, representing the American women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies.These women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing the male workers who were in the military. Rosie the Riveter is commonly used as a symbol of feminism and women's economic power. -
Relocation of Japanese Americans to camps
Two months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 ordering all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the West Coast. This resulted in the relocation of approximately 120,000 people, many of whom were American citizens, to one of 10 internment camps located across the country. -
Bataan Death March
After the April 9,1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War ll, the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. -
Battle of Midway Island
The Battle of Midway Island was a naval and air battle fought on June 4,1942 in World War ll in which planes from American aircraft carriers blunted the Japanese naval threat in the Pacific Ocean after Pearl Harbor. -
D-Day Invasion
The code name for the first day of a military attack, especially the American and British invasion of German-occupied France during World War ll on June 6,1944. -
Presidential Election of 1944
On November 7,1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democratic nominee, sought his fourth term in office, defeated Republican Thomas E. Dewey in the general election. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, on December 16,1944 was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War ll in Europe. -
Yalta Conference
The conference convened in the Livadia Palace on February 4,1945 near Yalta in Crimea.United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin, respectively, for the purpose of discussing Europe's post-war reorganization. -
V-E Day
V-E Day was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. -
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development project that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War 2. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United Kingdom as laid down in the Quebec Agreement, dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 6,1945. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history. -
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan was announced by Imperial Japan on August 15 and formally signed on September 2,1945,bringing the hostilities of World War ll to a close. -
Formation of the United Nations
The United Nations was formed on October 24,1945 which is a international organization that increased political and economic cooperation among member countries. The organization works on economic and social development programs, improving human rights and reducing global conflicts.
