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Japanese Agression In Asia
In 1920 Japanese military began gaining power. In 1928 Frank B. Kellog & french foreign ministers created agreement that made war illegal. When 1930 came around it was clear that the world power would not be put into effect. In 1931 a small group of Japanese officers staged a fake attack on the rail workers, Mukden saying it was China & Japan that took over the entire property. -
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Italys Conquest of Ethopia
Mussiloni was in power as a facist dictator. He worked to improve the nations economy. He believerd overseas expansion would help ease some of Italy's economic problems. In 1936 Mussolini announced Ethiopia was part of the Italian Empire. -
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Civil War in Spain
In 1923 rebels overthrew he goverment and set up a military dictatorship. The goverment fell in 1931 when the army withdrew its support. They planned to establish freedo, of religion and to seperate church and state issues. In 1936 Falangis uprisings led to the outbreak of the Civil War in Spain. By the end of 1936 Nationalists controlled most of northern Spain. -
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Phony War
In 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland. The Finns appealed to the League of Nations. Although the Finns fought bravely, their struggle ended in March 1940. On April 9, 1940 the phony war endded with a sudden German invasion of Denmark and Norway. In May 1940 Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister. -
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US Involvement.
The Neutrality Acts passed between 1935 and 1937. The US stated its wish to stay neutral in future wars. These laws said Americans could not sell war equipment to warring nations. Americans couldn't make loans to these nations or sail on their ships. American ships were restricted from entering war zones. These isolationists, as they were called had come to power at the end of World War I. -
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Austria amd Czechoslovakia
German troops marched in 1936 into Rhineland, violating the Treaty of Versailes. In Ovtober 1936, Hitler and Mussolini created and alliance called the Rome-Berlin Axis. In the end of 1936 the three nations who would later enter World War II as the Axis Powers had hidden their aggressive intentions under the cover of fighting communism. -
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Crisis in the Sudentenland
When riots broke out in September, Czechoslovakia placed the region under martial law. HItler announced he would invade and annex the Sudentenland. He was doing this to protect his fellow Germans. The loss of this heavily arment mountian region meant disaster. Czechoslovakia was leaving the country defenseless against Germany. -
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Nazi-Soviet Pact
In August 1939 the Western democracies recieved a huge shock when Hiler proudly announced a German-Soviet nonaggression pact. Also called the Nazi-Soviet Pact. This agreement publicly stated that Germany and the Soviet Union would never attack each other. Each would remain neutral if the other went to war. -
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Battle of Britian
After France fell, many predicted that Britian would prove to be even weaker than France. Hitler began scattering bombing raids on Great Britian, gradually increasing them in intensity. When he offered to negotiate a peace of settlement, Churchill refused. At the end of June, Churchill braced the British people for the dangerous battle that he felt sure would come. -
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German Attack on Soviet Union
On June 22 1940 the war began a new phase. Without declaring war, German armies invaded the Soviet Union. Hitler had opened a huge new front in the east. It was 2,000 miles long from north to south. Churchill offered aid to the Soviet Union. The US also said it was willing to help. Sending aid to the Soviets, however, was very difficult. -
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Evacuation of Dunkerque.
British forces were extremely outnumbered. They struggled to help trapped forces of Dunkerque. German forces stopped their advance. Every available ship and boat in britian was ordered to Dunkerque. Between May 27 and June 4th about 338,000 men were safely transported across the channel to England. However they did lose all their heavy equipment. -
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The Fall of France
Germany turned southward to attack the heart of France early June 1940. The French fought a difficuly, loosing battle. The French army expected stationary battles such as those in World War I. They were not trained nor equipped for this new war. German planes bombed and machine-gunned civilans who tried to escape the attack, causing great panic and disorder. -
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American Entry into the War
On December 7, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise bombing raid on the American canal naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. They planned to strike such a severe blow that the US was unable to fight in the Pacific. On December 8th, congress declared war open on Japan. As did the British Parliament. -
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Battle of Midway.
The Japanese advance in the Pacific took its first loss in May 1942. In the Battle of Coral Sea. American and Australian air and naval forces defeated a Japanese fleet headed for Australia. Americans defeated the Japanese in important Battle of Midway in June. With these two victories, the US Navy began to turn the tide in the war against Japan. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
In summer 1942 the Germans pushed the Soviets back to Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad went on for six long months. German forves pushed inside the city, suffering terrible lossed on the way. Instead of falling back the determined Soviets defended the city street by street. In November 1942 Soviets began a counterattack. In 1943 Hitlers troops surrendered. Stalingrad became a major turning point in the war as the Germans never fully recovered from their defeat. -
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Victory in Europe.
On June 6, 1944 D-Day as the military called it, the long awaited landing began on France's Normandy coast. Within a month, more than 1 million Allied troops had landed. After heavy fighting Allied troops moved into northern France. Shortly afterward, Allied forces landed on the Mediterranean coast of France and fought their way Northward. -
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Victory Over Japan.
Although was ended in Europe it continued in the Pacific. American marines captured the island of Iwo Jima after a month of the most bitter fighing in the war. In the battle 263 Allied ships were sunk or damaged by suicide attacks of Japanese pilots. In Feburary 1945 Roosevelt and Churchill met with Stalin at Yalta, in the Soviet Union.