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Failure of the Treaty of Versaille
Germany resented the blame of WW1. Russia would resent the loss of land to other nations. (slide4) -
Stalin Takes Over
In 1924 Joseph Stalin takes over the Soviet Union after Lenin dies. Creates the second largest industrial power.(slide5) -
USA and Neutrality
1935 - Congress passed the Neutrality Acts that prohibited the selling of weapons to nations at war.
(slide9) -
German Union with Austria
1938 - German troops march into Austria unopposed -
Bargaining for Sudetenland
1938 - Prime Ministers of Britain and France meet with Hitler
Sign Munich Agreement which would hand Sudetenland over to Germany
Appeasement—giving up principles to pacify an aggressor
Winston Churchill condemns appeasement policy and warns war will follow -
German Offensive Begins
March 1939 - German troops occupy rest of Czechoslovakia
Many believe invading Poland would bring a two-front war to Germany -
Blitzkreig in Poland
Sept. 1939 - Hitler overruns Poland in blitzkrieg, or lightning war -
Fall of France
1940 - Italy invades France from south as Germans approach Paris
France falls allowing Germany to occupy northern France -
Battle of Britain
Summer 1940 - Germany prepares to invade Britain
Battle of Britain
German planes bomb British targets
Britain uses radar to track and shoot down German planes -
Lend-Lease Act
1941 - Lend-Lease Act
U.S. to lend or lease supplies for defense
1941 - Hitler invades Soviet Union
Roosevelt sends lend-lease supplies to Stalin -
Japan Attacks the US
Hideki Tojo
Chief of staff of army that invades China becomes prime minister
Japan seizes French bases in Indochina and U.S. cuts off trade
Japan needs oil from U.S.
1941 - U.S. breaks Japanese codes and learns Japan planning to attack U.S.
December 6 - Japanese envoy instructed to reject all U.S. proposals. -
Pearl Harbor Attacked
December 7, 1941 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
2,403 Americans killed; 1,178 wounded
Over 300 aircraft, 21 ships destroyed or damaged -
US Joins with Britain
he Battle of the Atlantic
Hitler orders submarine attacks against supply ships to Britain
Wolf packs destroy hundreds of ships in 1942
Allies organize convoys of cargo ships
Destroyers with sonar; planes with radar
Construction of cargo carriers speeds up -
Allies Liberate Europe
Dwight Eisenhower directs Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944
The Allies Gain Ground
General George Patton leads Third Army and reach Paris in August
FDR re-elected for 4th term with running mate Harry S. Truman -
Unconditional Surrender
April 1945 - Soviet army storms Berlin and Hitler commits suicide
Eisenhower accepts unconditional surrender of German Reich
May 8, 1945, V-E Day: Victory in Europe Day
FDR dies April 12; Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes president