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Locarno Conference
Gustav Stresemann (German) respects eastern borders of France and Belgium & agress to demilitarization of Rhineland. Germany admitted to League of Nations. Aristide Briand (France) yields claims to invade Germany. France finishes separate treaties with Poland & Czechoslovakia for mutual assistance. France tries to create a cordon sanitaire around Germany. -
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Pact outlawed offensive war signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan. -
Mukden Incident
Japan attacks Manchuria and creates Manchuckuo. Japan withdraws from League of Nations. US creates Stimson Doctrine (refuses to recognize Manchukuo but did nothing else). -
Adolf Hitler Named Chancellor of Germany
German Faust made Mephistopheles the head of the government. -
Night of the Long Knives
Hitler purges SA. Hindenburg dies and army swears oath of obedience to Hitler. -
Great Purge
Party Secretary Sergei Kirov murdered (murder ordered by Stalin). Stalin begins purge. 400,000-10 mil deaths. 4 mil-7 mil arrests. -
Mussolini invades Ethiopia
Great Britain didn't regard Ethiopia as involving any vital interests. France tries to improve relations with Italy. Britain asks for League sanctions. Mussolini triumphs because of the failure of the League. -
Germany remilitarizes the Rhineland
GErmany denounces Locarno Treaty and reoccupy the Rhineland. France doesn't do anything. Great Britain concerned about Italy and Abyssinia. HItler convinced West can't attack him. -
Rome-Berlin Axis formed
2 fascist steates embrace. -
AntiComintern Pact
Germany and Japan sign this pact against enemy Russia. -
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Spanish Civil War
Nationalist forces led by Francisco Franco attempt to overthrow government. Hitler and Mussolini provide help for Franco transport, troops, the Condor Legion. Germans test Blitzkrieg techniques. -
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Stalin's purge of his military
Disorganization of Red Army after many are shot. -
Incident at the Marco Polo Bridge
Japanese Kwantung Army invades China. U.S. policy with China remain the Open Door. -
Hossbach Conference
Conference between Hitler and Constantin Freiherr von Neurath and others. Hitler discusses living space in East for Germany. All 3 disagree/replaced 3 months later. -
Panay Incident
Japanese aircraft attack and sink US gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River. -
Anschluss
Hitler invites Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg to pressure him to accept Nazis into his cabinet. Hitler makes him resign and Germany Army cross the border of Austria and announces Anschluss, the annexation of Austria. -
Munich Agreement
Hitler swallows Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain meets French President, Eduard Daladier. Mussolini and Hitler agree to a German partition of Czechoslovakia. Germany would occupy Sudetenland. France and Great Britain guarantee new borders. Hitler assures Chamberlain that he had no more territorial demans. APPEASEMENT -
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Sitzkrieg or Phony War
The Germans refine their plans; the Allies waste their opportunity. -
Germany absorbs Moravia, Bohermia, and Slovakia
Chamberlain states Britain will resist an attempt to dominate the world by force. -
Great Britain guarantees Poland
West decides Hitler cannot be trusted. -
Mussolini invades Albania
Britain and France offer Greece and Rumania guarantees of independence. Denmark, the Netherlands, and Switzerland are added a few days later. -
Battle of Khalkin Gol
Japanese invade Soviet territory at Khalkin Gol. Marshal Zhukov envelops the position and destroys the Japanese force. Japan doesn't like Red Army. -
Pact of Steel signed
Hitler wants to attack Poland and destroy it. Also announces rearmament program must be completed by 1934 or 1944. -
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
If either became involved in a war, the other would remain neutral. Secret provisions divided Poland into halves. Russia received a free hand in Finland, Estonia and Latvia; Germany in Lithuania. Economic treaty permits Germany to make large purchases of critical materials. Stalin gains a large buffer zone between the Soviet Union and the German border; he also gains time, which, considering the impact of the Great Purge on the Red Army, isenormously important. -
Germany invades Poland
Britain and France declare war on Germany. Stalin invades Poland Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia on Sept. 17. -
Stalin invades Finland
Stalin wishes to push the Finnish border farther away from Leningrad. -
Germany invades Denmark and Norway
The German blitzkrieg begins. Fearing a British invasion of Norway, Hitler decides to strike first. -
Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain
Aims for victory. -
Germany invades Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, and France
Germany invades Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, and France. US is affected by the war (becomes interested). -
Destroyers for Bases Deal
FDR ircumvents isolationists by trading 50 over-age destroyers desperately needed by the British for naval/air bases in the West Indies. -
Winston Churchill: "We shall fight on the beaches" speech
Churchill wanted to fight till the end, he doesn't care when and where. -
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Battle of Britain
Churchill: Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. -
Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis formed
European and Pacific wars are now linked. -
Mussolini invades Greece
Mussolini ends up haveing to save the Italian Army. -
FDR re-elected for a 3rd term
FDR re-elected and enormous U.S. war making capacity begins to be mobilized. -
Lend Lease Act
This act assits anyone resisting aggression, and it passed. Initially benefits China and Grea Britain. -
U.S. occupies Greenland bases
U.S. occupies Greeland and extends range of naval patrols & seizes all Axis shipping in U.S. ports. Hitler address war with Russia. -
Hitler invades Yugoslavia and Greece
Hitler invades Yugoslavia and Greece. Purpose is to secure southern flank for invasion of Russia and bail Mussolini. -
Russo-Japanese Non-Aggression Pact
Japan concludes a nonaggression pact with Russia. Japan wants to clear its flank before moving into Indochina and the Dutch East Indies. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler addresses senior commanders and tells them they would wage a "race war without pity." Hitler was preparing for total war. -
U.S. occupies Iceland
U.S. occupies Iceland and extends North Atlantic patrols further. -
Japan occupies Indochina
Japan invades Indochina. FDR freezes Japanese assets and embargoes oil and scrap iron sales to Japan. Pacific war inevitable. -
Greer Incident
German U-boat torpedoes a US destroyer; FDR issues a "shoot-on-sight" order; U.S. is now fighting an undeclared war in the North Atlantic. -
Pearl Harbor
U.S. attacked by air and naval forces of Japan. Days later, Japan attacks Hong Kong, the Philippines, and invades Malaya. -
Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S.
Geman declaration of war against U.S. (HUGE German mistake). U.S. fully committed to a global war.