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Mussolini's March to Rome
March on Rome, the insurrection by which Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in late October 1922. The March marked the beginning of fascist rule and meant the doom of the preceding parliamentary regimes of socialists and liberals. This march was, for the most part, a violent insurrection against the government of Italy. This takeover was in hopes to return Italy to a international power. -
Stalin Becomes Dictator of USSR
Stalin assumed leadership over the country following Lenin's death in 1924. Under Stalin, socialism in one country became a central tenet of the party's dogma. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory of socialism in one country, collectivization of agriculture, intensification of class conflict, a cult of personality, and subordination of the interests of foreign communist parties to those of the Communist Party. -
Hitler Writes Mein Kampf
dolf Hitler's Mein Kampf was part autobiography and part political treatise. Mein Kampf (which means "My Struggle") promoted the key components of Nazism: rabid antisemitism, a racist world view, and an aggressive foreign policy geared to gaining Lebensraum (living space) in eastern Europe. This was significant because years later, he would enforce these ideas in Nazi Germany, but many people skimmed over his writing and didn't believe him. -
1st "Five Year Plan" of 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. The Soviet Union's achievements were tremendous during the first five-year plan, which yielded a fifty-percent increase in industrial output. This led to Russia being more prepared for the second world war. -
Japan Invades Manchuria
During 1931 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. This event had major significance due to the blatant expansion of Japan expansion without any pushback. -
Holodomor
The Holodomor also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, was a famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. It was caused by collectivization, which led to a drop in production, the disorganization of the rural economy, and food shortages. It also sparked a series of peasant rebellions, including armed uprisings, in some parts of Ukraine. The result of Stalin's policies was the Great Famine (Holodomor) of 1932–33—a man-made famine. -
Hitler Appointed as Chancellor of Germany
As the Nazi Party was now the largest party in the Reichstag, it was entitled to select the President of the Reichstag and were able to elect Göring for the post. Energized by the success, Hitler asked to be made chancellor. Hitler's emergence as chancellor on January 30, 1933, 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 Long Knives
Night of the Long Knives, in German history, purge of Nazi leaders by Adolf Hitler on June 30, 1934. Fearing that the paramilitary SA had become too powerful, Hitler ordered his elite SS guards to murder the organization's leaders, including Ernst Röhm. The Night of the Long Knives represented a triumph for Hitler, and a turning point for the German government. It established Hitler as "the supreme leader of the German people", as he put it in his July 13 speech to the Reichstag. -
Nuremberg Laws Enacted
Nürnberg Laws, two race-based measures depriving Jews of rights, designed by Adolf Hitler and approved by the Nazi Party at a convention in Nürnberg on September 15, 1935.This racial definition meant that Jews were persecuted not for their religious beliefs and practices but for a so-called racial identity transmitted irrevocably through the blood of their ancestors. These laws were the first step in isolating Jews and enforcing Antisemitism in the German community. -
Italian Invasion of Ethiopia
In October 1935 Italian troops invaded Ethiopia. Because of the Ethiopian refusal to abide by the Italian version of the treaty and despite economic handicaps at home, the Italian government decided on a military solution to force Ethiopia to abide by the Italian version of the treaty. 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 (1896). -
The Great Purge and Gulags
The Great Purge was from 1934-1936. Stalin used his secret police to spy on the people who disagreed with him. Then the police would arrest them and sent them to labor camps in Siberia or kill them. These camps were called gulags and they were often starved and beaten. This was another ruthless way that dictators maintained power during the pretenses of WWII. -
Spanish Civil War
As the Republican government started to prioritize the army less, both financially and in its areas of use, the military grew more unhappy with the government. Eventually, this discontent would lead to the military uprising which started in Morocco and spread to Spain, starting the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Civil War (1936–39) was the bloodiest conflict western Europe had experienced since the end of World War I. About 200,000 people died systematic killings, mob violence, or torture. -
The Rape of Nanking
In what became known as the “Rape of Nanking,” the Japanese butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages, many of whom were mutilated or killed in the process. Nanking should be remembered not only for the number of people slaughtered but for the cruel manner in which many met their deaths. Chinese men were used for bayonet practice and in decapitation contests. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom, was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung paramilitary forces along with civilians throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938. Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jews. This name symbolized the final shattering of Jewish existence in Germany. After Kristallnacht, Nazi's made Jewish survival in Germany impossible. -
Nazi Germany Invades Poland
Germany invaded Poland to regain lost territory and ultimately rule their neighbor to the east. The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war–what would become the “blitzkrieg” strategy. This significant event was the main factor that begun the Second World War. They also invaded Poland alongside Russia, as part of an agreement between the two countries. -
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
Japan decided to attack the U.S Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, hoping that the U.S would negotiate peace. The attack at Pearl Harbor was a huge gamble, but one which did not pay off. The strike climaxed a decade of worsening relations between the United States and Japan. Most importantly, this event brought the biggest power in the world into the war.