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Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor
Conservative leaders mistakenly believed they could control Hitler and use him for their purposes. They advised President Paul von Hidenburg to name Hitler chancellor. Hitler came to power legally, -
Adolf Hitler violated the Versailles Treaty
Hitler had long pledeged to undo the Versailles Treaty. Among its provisions, the treaty limited the size of Germany's army. The Fuher announced that Germany would not obey these restrictions. -
Munich Conference, Appeasement
France and Britain were preparing for war when Mussolini proposed a meeting of Germany, France, Britain, and Italy in Munich, Germany. The British urged appeasement, giving in to an agressor to keep peace. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Britain and Frane asked th Soviet Union to join them in stopping Hitler's agression. As Stalin talked with Britain and France, he also bargained with Hitler. The two dictators reached an agreement. Once enemies, Fascisit Germany and Communist Russia now publiciy pledged never to attack one another. Their leaders signed a nonagression pact. -
World War Ii Begins
Hitler invaded Poland and then invaded the Soviet Union and then the Soviet Union declares war on Germany. -
Blitzkrieg
The German invasion of Poland was the first test of Germany's newest military strategy. The Blitzkrieg involved using fast-moving airplanes and tanks, followed by massive infantry forces, to take enmey defenders by surprise and quickly overwhelm them -
Battle of Britain
Stunned by British resistance, Hilter decided to call of his attacks. Instead, he focused on the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. The Battle of Britain taught the Allies a curcial lesson. Hitler's attacks could be blocked -
Fall of Berlin (German Surrenders)
After the Battle of the Bulge, the war in Europe radpidly drew to a close. The Allies rolled across the Rhine River into Germany. By the middle of April, a noose was closing around Berlin. -
Atlantic Charter
Although the United States had not yet entered the war, Roosevelt and Churchill met secretly and issued a joint declaration. -
Pearl Harbor
American sailors at Pearl Harbor n Hawaii awoke to the roar of explosives. A Japanese was underway. U.S military leaders had known from a coded Japanese message that an attack might come. -
D-Day
Thousands of planes, ships, tanks, and landing craft and more than three million trrops awaited the order to attack. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander of this enormous force, planned to strike on the coast of Normandy, in northwestern France. -
United Nations
The United States and the Soviet Union temporarily set aside their differences. They joined 48 other countries in forming the United Nations. This international organization was intended to protect the members against agression. It was to be based in New York. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
At precisely 8:16 Am., the atomic bomb exploded above Hiroshima, a city on the Japanese island of Honshu.
