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Mussolini's March on Rome
An organized mass demonstration in October 1922 which led to Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party rising to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fascist Party leaders planned an insurrection, to take place on October 28. -
Hitler writes Mein Kampf
The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. It was a blueprint of his agenda. -
1st "Five Year Plan" in USSR
In the Soviet Union, the first Five-Year Plan (1928–32), implemented by Joseph Stalin, concentrated on developing heavy industry and collectivizing agriculture, at the cost of a drastic fall in consumer goods. -
Stalin becomes dictator of USSR
After Lenin died in 1924, Stalin eventually outmaneuvered his rivals and won the power struggle for control of the Communist Party. By the late 1920s, he had become dictator of the Soviet Union. -
Japan Invades Manchuria
Japan had invaded Manchuria without declarations of war, breaching the rules of the League of Nations. Japan had a highly developed industry, but the land was scarce of natural resources. Japan turned to Manchuria for oil, rubber and lumber in order to make up for the lack of resources in Japan. -
Holodomor
A man made famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor is a significant event in history due to it being considered a crime against humanity and a genocide. -
Hitler Appointed Chancellor of Germany
Hitler attained power in March 1933, after the Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act of 1933 in that month, giving expanded authority. This marked a crucial turning point for Germany and, ultimately, for the world. His plan, embraced by much of the German population, was to do away with politics and make Germany a powerful, unified one-party state. -
"Night of the Long Knives" in Germany
A purge of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler. He feared that the paramilitary SA had become too powerful, Hitler ordered his elite SS guards to murder the organization's leaders, including Ernst Röhm. -
Nuremberg Laws Enacted
The Nuremberg Laws were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party -
Italian Invasion of Ethiopia
Rejecting all arbitration offers, the Italians invaded Ethiopia. The aim of invading Ethiopia was to boost Italian national prestige, which was wounded by Ethiopia's defeat of Italian forces at the Battle of Adowa in the nineteenth century, which saved Ethiopia from Italian colonisation. -
The Great Purge and Gulags
A brutal political campaign led by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to eliminate dissenting members of the Communist Party and anyone else he considered a threat. At least 750,000 people were executed. -
Spanish Civil War
A civil war in Spain fought from 1936 to 1939. The war was a result of many factors, but the one primary causes of the Spanish Civil War was the failure of Spanish democracy. -
The Rape of Nanking
An episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Imperial Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing, at that time the capital of China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The first explanation was that a breakdown in discipline, caused by supply shortages, led Japanese troops to engage in atrocities. -
Kristallnacht
A pogrom against Jews carried out by SA paramilitary forces and civilians throughout Nazi Germany -
Nazi Germany Invades Poland
An attack on the Second Polish Republic by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. -
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the United States Pacific Fleet from interfering with its planned military actions in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.