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Weimar Republic Established in Germany
This is the name of the parliamentary government established in Germany after WWI. -
Adolf Hitler Became the Leader of the Nazi Party
On this day, Hitler became leader of the Nazi Party whose two goals were German nationalist expansionism and anti-semitism (anti-Jews). -
Washington Naval Conference
This was an international conference held betweeen nine nations that discussed the disarmament in the east and resulted in the emergence of the Five-Power Treaty, Four-Power Treaty, and Nine-Power Treaty. -
Washington Conference
This was an international conference held betweeen nine nations that discussed the disarmament in the east and resulted in the emergence of the Five-Power Treaty, Four-Power Treaty, and Nine-Power Treaty. -
Four Power Treaty
A treaty signed by the US, in which all agreed to maintain the status quo in the Pacific, respecting the Pacific holdings of the other countries signing the agreement. -
5 Power Treaty
This was one of several treaties from the Washington Conference to slow the arms race between Britain, France, Italy, Japan and U.S. to limit naval expansion with the goal of preventing future wars. -
Nine Power Treaty
This treaty was signed in Washington, DC by U.S., GB, Japan, Italy, France, Belgium, Portugal, and Netherlands agreeing to respect the independence of China and committed to the Open Door Policy of equal opportunity for commerce and industry of all nations in China but Japan violated this treaty in 1931 when it invaded Manchuria. -
Benito Mussolini Became the Leader of Italy
In 1922, Benito Mussolini was sworn in as prime minister of Italy at the age of 39 but eventually declared himself dictator of Italy in 1925 which only led to the downhill path of Italy in the following years. -
Joseph Stalin Became Leader of the USSR
Stalin took control from Lenin who had been weakened by multiple strokes and became the communist dictator of USSR. -
Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan was proposed by an international committee headed by Charles Dawes to ensure payments of reparations by Germany after World War I. -
Adolf Hitler Wrote Mein Kampf
This was an autobiography of Adolf Hitler in which he outlines his political ideas and future plans for Germany. -
Hirohito Became the Emperor of Japan
Hirohito was the 124th emperor of Japan and was the main reason the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. -
Kellogg-Briand Pact Signed
It is also known as the Pact of Paris where foreign minister of France Briand and U.S. secretary of state Kellogg made an agreement that was signed by 15 nations to settle all conflicts by peaceful means and outlawed war. -
Stock Market Crashed in the U.S.
Due to a panic, a record 16 billion shares of stock was exchanged on this day at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street and billions of dollars was lost wiping out thousands of investors and contributing to the Great Depression. -
Japan Invaded Manchuria
Japan attacked Chinese troops in Manchuria in their goal to take over the area and all of East Asia. -
Japan Invaded China
Japan attacked Chinese troops in Manchuria in their goal to take over the area and all of East Asia. -
Stimson Doctrine
U.S. secretary of state, Stimson, sent letters to China and Japan stating that they would continue with American treaty rights in China that was part of the "open door" policy but this did not stop Japan from continuing their occupation of Manchuria. -
The Holocaust Began
The Holocaust was the mass murder or genocide of 6 million Jews during WWII which began when Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany. -
Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany
On this day, German President Paul von Hindenberg named Hitler the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party), as Chancellor of Germany. -
Good Neighbor Policy
This is the U.S. foreign policy of FDR towards Latin America emphasizing cooperation and trade rather than military occupation. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) became President of the U.S.
During the Great Depression, FDR was inaugurated the 32nd President of the U.S. -
The New Deal Started
Series of domestic reforms done by President FDR in response to the Great Depression to provide the 3Rs, relief for unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy to normal levels, and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression. -
London Economic Conference
This was a meeting of representatives from 66 nations with the goal to achieve agreement of measures to fight global depression, revive international trade, and stabilize currency exchange rates. -
U.S. formally Recognized the Soviet Union
On this day, negotiations of FDR with the Soviet Union led FDR to end a 16 year period of non-recognition of the Soviet Union. -
Pan-American Conference
The last Pan-American conference was held in Lima, Peru before the outbreak of WWII and it asserted that Latin American nations would resist all forms of foreign aggression. -
Tydings-Mcduffie Act
Also known at the Philippines Independence Act, it was a U.S. federal law allowing for independence of the Philippines (from the U.S.) and self-government after a period of 12 years. -
Reciprocal Trade Agreement
This Act gave the U.S. president the authority to adjust tariff rates and negotiate trade agreements without receiving prior congressional approval. -
Adolf Hitler Defied Treaty of Versailles
Hitler defied the military limitations set by the Treaty of Versailles and re-arm. -
Neutrality Acts
Series of Acts passed by Congress in the 1930s in response to the growing turmoil in Europe and Asia where U.S. was promoting isolationism and non-intervention after being involved in the costly WWI. -
Germany Reoccupied the Rhineland
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler violates the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pact by sending German military forces into the Rhineland, a demilitarized zone along the Rhine River in western Germany. -
Francisco Franco Led a Fascist Revolt in Spain
Francisco Franco led the Nationalist rebel group in a civil war in Spain that lasted 3 years and became the fascist dictator for Spain in 1939. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
This was a coalition formed in 1936 between Italy and Germany. -
Quarantine Speech
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for an international "quarantine of aggressor nations" where he was calling for economic pressure be put on counties like Japan, Italy, and Germany rather than outright war. -
Rape of Nanking
Having already seized China’s Manchuria in 1931, this was an episode of mass murder and mass rape by Japanese soldiers on China’s capital Nanking. -
Adolf Hitler took the Sudentenland
In the Munich Agreement, Germany began their occupation of Czechoslovakia by annexation of its northern and western regions known as Sudetenland. -
Adolf Hitler Took the Sudetenland
In the Munich Agreement, Germany began their occupation of Czechoslovakia by annexation of its northern and western regions known as Sudetenland. -
Anschluss
On this day, Hitler announced the union of Austria and Germany, annexing this smaller nation into the greater Germany. -
Hitler Hosted Munich Conference
On this day, Mussolini (Italy) and Hitler (Germany), Daladier (France) and Chamberlain (British Prime Minister) sign the Munich Pact which hands Czechoslovakia over to Germany to keep peace. -
Kristallnacht
On this day which is also called ”Night of Broken Glass”, Nazis in Germany torched synagogues and vandalized Jewish homes, schools, and businesses killing 100 Jews. -
Hitler took Czechoslovakia
On this day, Germany took over Czechoslovakia which was a nation that was sacrificed as part of the Munich Agreement in an attempt to keep peace with Germany. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact Signed
This was an agreement between Germany and Soviet Union to not attack each other. -
Germany Invaded Poland (Blitzkrieg)
After this invasion, Poland remained under German occupation until anuary 1945. -
Sitzkrieg Began
This refers to the 7 month period of time after Germany invaded Poland in WWII that was relatively calm and involved little fighting (“sitting war”) and rather than the Allies attacking, they waited for Germany to invade France. -
Winston Churchill Became the Prime Minister of GB
This Prime Minister successfully brought Britain through WWII. -
Auschwitz Death Camp Opened
Auschwitz was a network of concentration and death camps operated in Polish areas that had been annexed by Nazi Germany during WWII. -
Allies Evacuate Dunkirk
Also known as Operation Dynamo, this was the evacuation of Allied troops from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France after large numbers of British, French, and Belgium troops were cut off and surrounded by the German army. -
Vichy Government Established in France
This is the government established in France after it surrendered to Germany and it followed Nazi laws including deportation of Jews to concentration camps -
Battle of Britain
This was the intense air battle between Germany and Britain and this was won by Britain and was the first time Germany had faced defeat in World War II. -
Destroyers for Bases Deal
In this agreement, 50 destroyers were transferred from the United States Navy to the Britain Royal Navy in exchange for 8 bases on British possessions. -
Tripartite Pact Signed
This was the alliance of Japan, Germany, and Italy in forming the Axis Powers. -
Election of 1940
The start of WWII in Europe resulted in FDR running for a third term and he won by a landslide electoral vote, partly because of uncertainty of the other candidates in leading us through a war. -
Cost-Plus System
This sped up war production by paying companies larger profits if they worked fast and produced a lot. -
Four Freedoms
In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. -
Lend- Lease Act
This Act empowered Presdent Roosevelt to aid any country whose defense the President deemed vital to the defense of the U.S. and in effect, allowed Roosevelt to transfer military materials to Britain. -
Operation Barbarossa
This was the name for Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union during WWII. -
Atlantic Charter
This was signed by FDR (U.S.) and Churchill (Britain) listing 8 points to be followed in their vision of post-WWII world. -
Office of Price Administration
This U.S. federal agency was established to curb wartime inflation by setting price controls on nonagricultural products and by rationing essential consumer goods. -
Shoot-on Sight Orders
On this day, President Roosevelt issued an order to the U.S. Navy to shoot German or Italian warships in the west Atlantic on sight. -
Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor
This was the surprise Japanese naval attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and this attack led to U.S. entry into WWII. -
The U.S. Declared War on Japan
On this day, the United States, headed by President Franklin Roosevelt, requested and received a declaration of war against Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor the day before. -
Rosie the Riveter
This cultural icon of the U.S. represents American women who worked in factories during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies. -
War Production Board
This former U.S. government agency supervised the production of $185 billion worth of weapons and supplies. -
Hitler enacted the Final Solution
Nazi’s Germany plan to exterminate the Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Europe and resulted in the most deadly part of the Holocaust. -
Double V
This was the efforts of black Americans to fight in the war during WWII to win a victory against racism both at home (against black American racism) and abroad (against Hitler’s racism) and to fight segregation in the armed forces. -
Nisei were Interned in Relocation Centers in the U.S.
Nisei were 110,000 American born Japanese people that were forced to go to war relocation camps shortly after the attack to Pearl Harbor due to anti-Japanese sentiments. -
MacArthur’s “I shall return” speech
After struggles to keep Philippines from falling to Japan, U.S. Army General MacArthur was ordered by FDR to leave and many American and Filipino soldiers died in the Bataan Death March and he made this famous speech promising to return to the Philippines which he did 2 years later. -
Bataan Death March
This was the forced transfer by the Japanese Army of 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war after the 3 month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines in WWII during which many prisoners died. -
Doolittle Raids Over Japan
The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, on 18 April 1942, was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu island during World War II, the first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
This was a major naval battle in the Pacific in WWII between the Japanese Navy and the Navy and Air Forces of the U.S. and Australia. -
Manhattan Project Began
This was a research and development project led by the U.S. that produced the first atomic bombs during World War II. -
Battle of Midway
The U.S. navy sank four Japanese carriers forcing Japan to withdraw from Midway Island and this battle marked the turning point of World War II in the Pacific. -
Battle of El Alamein
Battle in WWII resulting in Allied victory by British troops over Germany in North Africa (El Alamein, Egypt). -
Battle of Guadalcanal
For six months, the United States and its Pacific Allies fought a campaign against Japan for the island of Guadalcanal. -
Island Hopping Campaign
Leapfrogging (also called "islandhopping") was a military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against Japan and the Axis powers during World War II where you bypass heavily fortified Japanese locations and instead concentrate the limited Allied resources on strategically important islands that were not well defended but capable of supporting the drive to the main islands of Japan. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This was a major bloody battle of WWII where Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union to take control of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Soviet Union and Germany was unsuccessful and this was a major turning point in the European based WWII. -
Operation Torch
This is the name of the invasion by Allies (U.S. and Britain) of French North Africa. -
Casablanca Conference
This was the first war conference between the Allied powers held in Casablanca, Morocco and the most significant accomplishment was the approval by boh Roosevelt and Churchill of unconditional surrender of axis powers. -
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act
Also called War Labor Disputes Act, it was a measure enacted by Congress over FDR’s veto giving the President power to seize and take over war plants that were on strike or threat of strike if it might affect war production. -
Allies Landed in Sicily
Also called Operation Husky, this was a major WWII campaign in which the Allies took Sicily (island off of Italy) from the Axis Powers. -
Tehran Conference
Meeting among Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin in Tehran, Iran where they planned the military strategy against Germany and Japan and made important decisions about the post-WWII era. -
Operation Overlord (D Day)
Future President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, then commander of the Allied Expenditionary Forces in WWII, gave the go-ahead for the massive invasion of Europe called Operation Overlord. -
Kamikaze Pilots Appear in the Pacific
These pilots were suicide attack pilots for Japan against Allied ships and this was a way for them to destroy warships more effectively. -
General MacArthur Returned to the Philippines (Leyte Gulf)
U.S. General MacArthur returned to the Philippines at Leyte Gulf and a series of assaults led to the fall of Japan in the Philippines. -
FDR’s 4th Term
On this day, FDR is elected to an unprecedented 4th term and to this day and he is the only President to serve more than 2 terms. -
Battle of the Bulge
This was a surprise attack by Germany through the forests of Belgium, France, and Luxemborg on the Western Front but in the end Germany was defeated. -
Yalta Conference
Sometimes called Crimea Conference and also codenamed the Argonaut Conference, it was the 2nd of three WWII meetings of the heads of government of U.S. (FDR), United Kingdom (Churchill), and Soviet Union (Stalin) to re-establish the nations of war-torn Europe after WWII. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Also called Operation Detachment, this was a major battle in which the U.S. Army fought for and captured Iwo Jima from the Japanese. -
Battle of Okinawa
Also called Operation Iceberg, this was the largest land-air-sea battle in the Pacific (in Japan) where a large number of Japanese (including civilians) and Americans died. -
Mussolini was Executed
Knowing that the Axis Powers were defeated and that he would go to prison as a war criminal, he and his mistress tried to escape to the neutral country of Switzerland but on the way were shot and killed by Italians. -
Hitler Committed Suicide
Hitler commits suicide in his underground bunker in Berlin by taking a cyanide pill and by gunshot wound to the head. -
Germany Surrendered
This is the day that Germany surrendered in WWII, also known as V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day). -
V-E Day
Both GB and U.S. celebrate this Victory in Europe Day when Germany was defeated and laid down their arms. -
Potsdam Conference
This was the third of three post WWII conferences among U.S. (Truman), Great Britain (Churchill), and Soviet Union (Stalin) in Potsdam, Germany to make post WWII decisions. -
Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima marking the end of WWII. -
Atomic Bomb Dropped on Nagasaki
On this day a 2nd atomic bomb is dropped on Japan by the U.S. and resulted in Japan’s unconditional surrender. -
V-J Day
Known as Victory over Japan Day and is the day Japan surrendered, ending WWII. -
United Nations Charter
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima marking the end of WWII. -
Japan Surrendered
Aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan surrenders to the Allies. -
Italy Invaded Ethiopia
Italy invaded Ethiopia despite economic sanctions by the League of Nations which highlighted the weaknesses of this league. -
Nuremberg Trials
Trials of Nazis involved in crimes committed during the Holocaust of WWII.
