-
Germany resented the blame of WW1. Russia would resent the loss of land to other nations. (slide4)
-
In 1924 Joseph Stalin takes over the Soviet Union after Lenin dies. Creates the second largest industrial power.(slide5)
-
1935 - Congress passed the Neutrality Acts that prohibited the selling of weapons to nations at war.
(slide9) -
1938 - German troops march into Austria unopposed
-
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 -
March 1939 - German troops occupy rest of Czechoslovakia
Many believe invading Poland would bring a two-front war to Germany -
Sept. 1939 - Hitler overruns Poland in blitzkrieg, or lightning war
-
1940 - Italy invades France from south as Germans approach Paris
France falls allowing Germany to occupy northern France -
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 -
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 -
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. -
December 7, 1941 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
2,403 Americans killed; 1,178 wounded
Over 300 aircraft, 21 ships destroyed or damaged -
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 -
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 -
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