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Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
Mussolini established totalitarianism and fascism, which stressed nationalism and placed the interests of the state above those of individuals. It favored a single, very strong leader, and a small group of devoted party members. -
Mein Kampf
A book Hitler wrote that means "my fight", said one of the Nazi's aims was "to secure for the German people the land and soil to which they are entitled on this earth,” even if this could be accomplished only by “the might of a victorious sword.” -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
German militarists launched a surprise attack and seized control of the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. After several months, Japanese troops controlled the entire province. -
Storm Troopers
Hitler's private army, many out of work men joined it. Many Germans were desperate and looked to Hitler as their last hope. -
Third Reich
Once in power, Hitler quickly dismantled Germany’s democratic Wiemar Republic. In place he made this, the Third German Empire. According to Hitler it would last 1,000 years. -
Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
Created nazisim, the German brand of fascism, based on extreme nationalism. Sought to unite all German-speaking people in a German empire. Racial purification and national expansionism were also elements of nazisim. -
Hitler's military build-up in Germany
After pulling Germany from the League of Nations, he violated the treaty and began a military buildup there. -
Hitler Invades the Rhineland
Invaded the recently demilitarized region in 1936, League did nothing to stop him. -
Francisco Franco
A general who led a group of Spanish army officers in rebelling against the Spanish republic. Started the Spanish Civil War and eventually became a fascist dictator. -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
Mussolini's first target for his Roman Empire, the League’s response was an ineffective economic boycott. -
Hitler's Anschluss
Means "union" with Austria, specifically. The US and the rest of the world did nothing about it. -
Munich Agreement
Hitler made this agreement with the French premier and British prime minister and said that the annexation of the Sudetenland would be his “last territorial demand.” They believed it and signed it over rather than risk war. -
Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
Took control of country after Lenin, sought to create a model communist state. Made everything collective, purged his opposers, and put all economic activity under state management. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
The Spanish Civil War forged close ties between the German and Italian dictators, who signed this formal alliance. -
Nonaggression pact
Stalin signed this pact with Hitler. The secret, second part of the pact was to invade and divide Poland among the two of them. -
Blitzkrieg
Lightning war, a military strategy used on Poland that employed advanced technologies like fast tanks and aircrafts to surprise and crush the enemy. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Two days after the attack on Poland this occurred. -
Phony War
For months after the fall of Poland, British and French troops sat on the Maginot Line, staring into Germany waiting for something to happen. Germany stared back, nothing happened. -
Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
Invaded “to protect [those countries’] freedom and independence.” Built bases along the coast. -
Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands
After invading Denmark and Norway, Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May -
Marshal Philippe Petain
Head of a Nazi-controlled puppet government established in Southern France. -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
France's Maginot Line proved ineffective, France eventually fell. -
The Battle of Britain
The Luftwaffe made bombing runs in Britain. Pounded London to disrupt production and break civilian's morale. Britain's Royal Air Force fought back better with radar, and Hitler called off the invasion of Britain six weeks later. -
Lend-Lease Act
Under this plan, the president would lend or lease arms and other supplies to “any country whose defense was vital to the United States.” Because of Britain running out of money. -
Pearl Harbor
A Japanese dive-bomber was followed by more than 180 Japanese warplanes launched from six aircraft carriers, shortly after Roosevelt declared war. Antiaircraft defense could not react and the base was devastated. -
Internment
The military governor of Hawaii was forced to order the internment, or confinement, of 1,444 Japanese Americans because the War Department ordered the evacuation of all Japanese Americans from Hawaii. -
Battle of the Atlantic
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler ordered submarine raids on ships on the US east coast to prevent food and war materials from reaching Great Britain and the Soviet Union. -
Manhattan Project
The Office of Scientific Research and Development's project to develop an atomic bomb as quickly as possible. -
Women's Auxiliary Army Corps
Under this bill, women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions. -
Office of Price Administration
The OPA fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods. Congress also raised income tax rates and extended the tax to millions of people who had never paid it before. -
War Production Board
The WPB ensured that the armed forces and war industries received the resources they needed to win the war. -
Battle of Stalingrad
In the summer of 1942, the Germans took the offensive in the southern Soviet Union to take the Soviet oil fields and Stalingrad, a major industrial center. Germans had 90% of the city, but the winter turned the tide, and the Soviets launched a counterattack in which they lost over a million soldiers but won, and the Germans surrendered. -
US convoy system
Convoys were groups of ships traveling together for mutual protection, destroyers with sonar would detect and shoot down submarines. -
Operation Torch
An invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa, commanded by
American General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Afrika Korps surrendered after months of heavy fighting. -
Korematsu v. United States
In 1944, the Supreme Court decided that the government’s policy of evacuating Japanese Americans to camps was justified on the basis of “military necessity.” They were later recompensated a portion of their losses. -
Bloody Anzio
Started from the Allied attempt to draw German troops off the Gustav Line. A succession of attacks resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, though no budge in the stalemate for four months.The Allies finally broke out of the beachhead in late May, facilitating the advance that led to the eventual capture of Rome. -
D-Day
June 6, 1944, the first day of the invasion. Shortly after midnight, three divisions parachuted down behind German lines. They were followed in the early morning hours by thousands upon thousands of seaborne soldiers—the largest land-sea-air operation in army history. By September 1944, the Allies had freed France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. -
Battle of the Bulge
German tanks drove 60 miles into Allied territory, creating a bulge in the lines that gave this desperate last-ditch offensive its name. Germans suffered huge losses and could do little but retreat after that. -
Harry S. Truman
President Roosevelt did not live to see V-E Day. On April 12, 1945, while posing for a portrait in Warm Springs, Georgia, the president had a stroke and died. That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation’s 33rd president. -
Unconditional Surrender
The Soviet Army stormed Berlin, Hitler shot himself in his headquarters, and his body was burned, the Third Reich surrendered. -
Death of Hitler
On April 29, he married Eva Braun, his longtime companion. The same day, he wrote out his last address to the German people. In it he blamed the Jews for starting the war and his generals for losing it. “I die with a happy heart aware of the immeasurable deeds of our soldiers at the front. I myself and my wife choose to die in order to escape the disgrace of . . . capitulation,” and so the next day Hitler shot himself and his wife swallowed poison. -
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day, General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich.
