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March on Rome
The March on Rome marked the beginning of fascist rule, where there would no longer be parliamentary regimes of liberals and socialists. Armed fascist squads known as Blackshirts were to capture local places throughout Italy. The Prime Minister Luigi Facta ordered a siege for Rome but King Victor Emmanuel III would not sign the order. So, the army that might have stopped Mussolini was not sent to fight the fascists.
Encyclopedia Britannica,. "March On Rome | Italian History". N. p., 2016. -
Beer Hall Putsch
On November 8th-9th, 1923 Adolf Hitler and Nazi troops lead an alliance group in attempt to overthrow the German federal government. They were aiming to establish a new government where citizenship would be based on race. They thought of it as a heroic effort to save the nation. -
Kellog-Braind Pact
On August 27th, 1928 an agreement was signed by Germany, France and the United States to outlaw war. It was called the ¨Kellogg-Briand Pact.¨ However it had little effect because it did nothing to stop WWII. Anyone who failed to follow the promise was to be denied the benefits of the treaty. It was named after the United States Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg. -
US Stock Market Crash
On October 29th, 1929, Black Tuesday hit Wall Street. Stockholders traded about 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in one day. Millions of dollars were lost and thousands of investors were wiped out. Because of this huge loss, America and the rest of the industrialized world went into the Great Depression. -
Japan Invades Manchuria
On September 18th, 1931 Japan launched an attack on Manchuria, located in northeastern China. A few days later, Japanese armed forces occupied many strategic points in South Manchuria. Japan had been planning this attack for a long time, and China saw it as a message that Japan sought war with them. -
Naziś reach politial majority in Germany-Spring 1932- Janurary 30th,1933
Hitler knew he could not reach political majority without the support of existing institutions like the German Army and German Industrialists. In the spring of 1932, the SA and SS were banned all across Germany. On May 8th, 1932, a proposal came up to have the bans lifted if Hitler would support Schlicher in a conservative nationalist government. -
First Anti-Semitic Law is passed in Germany- 1933-1939
The persecution of Jews was central to Nazi ideology. Jews felt the effects of more than 400 regulations that restricted their public and private lives. Hundreds of individuals throughout the country were involved in the persecution of Jews as they enforced, and supported anti-Jewish legislation. The first major law to cut the rights of Jewish citizens was the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of April 7, 1933, which excluded Jews from civil service. -
Hitler becomes Germanyś Chancellor
Adolf Hitler was assigned chancellor of Germany on January 30th, 1933, which brought an end to German democracy. Lead by racist ideas, the Nazis eliminated basic freedoms and attempted to create a "Volk" community. In theory, a "Volk" community united all social classes and regions of Germany behind Hitler. In reality, the Third Reich quickly became a police state, where individuals were prone to arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. -
Japan Withdraws from the League of Nations
On February 24th, 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations because, they were blamed for events in Manchuria. The assembly voted that Japan remove their troops from Manchuria and restore it to Chinese. The Japanese did not approve of the vote because according to them Manchuria was theirs by right since it was them who recovered Manchuria from Russia. -
Rohm Purge- June 30, 1934- July 2, 1934
Hitler ordered a bloody removal of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed might become political enemies in the future. The Nazi Storm Troopers who had helped bring Hitler to power were especially targeted. Hitler feared that his followers had taken his “National Socialism” propaganda too seriously and might compromise his plan to suppress workers’ rights -
Hitler openly announces to his cabinet he will defy the Treaty of Versailles
During a cabinet meeting on March 15th, 1935, Hitler announced that Germany would openly defy the Treaty of Versailles and re-arm. Germany was going to build a new army with 36 divisions, totaling 550,000 men. Hitler thought that France might try to attack, but nothing happened. -
Creation of the Nuremberg Laws
Nazis announced new laws that excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying persons of "German or related blood." The Nuremberg Laws, as they became known, did not define a "Jew" as someone with particular religious beliefs. Instead, anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents was defined as a Jew, regardless of whether that individual identified himself or herself as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community -
Italy invades Ethiopia
This conflict was a noble grab for Africa and for the League of Nations to achieve permanent peace and justice through collective security. In reexamination it would seem that Ethiopia experienced the first Nazi-Fascist aggression in what became the bloody cascade into the Second World War. -
Hitler Militarizes the Rhienland
In January 1936 Hitler began to reoccupy the Rhineland. He wanted a defense strategy against France and the Soviet Union. On March 7th, 1936 32,000 German troops entered the Rhineland. -
Rape of Nanking
During this period hundreds of thousands of disarmed soldiers were murdered by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army. -
Germany Annexes Austria
German troops marched into Austria to annex the Third Reich. Austrian Nazis wanted to seizure the Austrian government and unite with Nazi Germany. Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg, gave into pressure from Hitler and resigned on March 11th. He pleaded that the Austrian army not resist the german advance into the country. -
Munich Conference
Hitler's next goal was to seize the Sudetenland which had a large German population and important industrial resources. Hitler knew he could succeed because if they resisted him, the German military would win. Hitler wanted all of the Germans in Czechoslovakia to be allowed to join the Third Reich. -
Kristallnacht
The Kristallnacht was a massive attack on Jews in the German Reich on November 9th, 1938. The attack happened after a 17 year old Jewish boy shot, and killed a member of the German Embassy because of the poor treatment to him and his family. -
Hitler demands the Sudentenland from Czechoslovaki
The main threat to the fledgling nation was from Hitler's plans for expansion and from the Sudeten Germans who were not happy at their inclusion in a Slav-controlled state.Hitler wanted to use the Sudeten Germans to create trouble in Czechoslovakia and, as he had in the Rhineland and Austria, use this as a pretence for invading and "restoring order". -
Battle of Britian- July 10th, 1939-October 31st, 1940
German and British air forces clashed in the skies in what was known as the largest sustained bombing campaign at that time. It was a significant turning oint in the war. The Battle ended when Germany's Luftwaffe failed to defeat the Royal Air Force. -
Einstein’s letter to FDR
After uranium fission was discovered, not many people believed atomic energy or atomic bombs were realistic. Leo Szilard believed it was possible and thought that the Nazis would get ahold of them and get a lead in developing them. Szilard urged Einstein to write a letter to the president informing him to avoid a large stockpile of uranium ore in the Belgian Congo from falling into Nazi hands. -
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Is officially the Treaty of nonaggression between Nazi-Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It was a perceived guarantee of non-belligerence by each party towards the other and a written commitment that neither would ally itself or aid an enemy of the other party. -
Nazi invasion of Poland- September 1st, 1939-October 6th, 1939
One of Hitler's first foreign policies was to sign a nonaggression pact with Poland. Not many Germans were happy about this because, Poland had received the former German provinces of West Prussia, Poznan, and Upper Silesia under the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. -
Evacuation of Dunkirk- May 27th, 1940-June 4th, 1940
The Evacuation of Dunkirk was code-named ¨Operation Dynamo.¨ It was the evacuation of allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk. When large numbers of British, Belgian and French troops were cut off and surrounded by the German army. -
France Surrenders
French General Charles de Gaulle made a broadcast to France from England urging his countrymen to continue the fight against Germany. The country was falling apart from the Nazi invasion. More than half or France was occupied by the Germans -
The Tripartite Pact
The Tripartite Pact was an agreement between Germany, Italy and Japan. It was a defensive military alliance that was directed at the U.S. The pact provided from mutual assistance if any of the countries would suffer from an attack by any nation not already in the war. -
Lend Lease Act
The Lend Lease Act was a program under which the U.S. supplied its allies with food, oil, material, weapons, warships and warplanes. In return the U.S. was given leases on army and naval bases in allied territory during the war. -
Operation Barbarossa- June 22nd, 1941-Janurary 7th, 1942
Operation Barbarossa was a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea. Operation Barbarossa was the major turning point in the war. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The bombing of Pearl Harbor led to the U.S. entering the war. The Japanese thought that the U.S. was going to try to join the war anyways so they wanted to get a head start at defeating their military and navy. -
The Wannsee Conference
The ¨Final Solution¨ was the codename for the systematic physical annihilation of the Jews. At some point in 1941, Hitler announced this European wide scheme for mass murder. None of the officials at the meeting disagreed with the Final Solution. -
Bataan Death March
Approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to march 65 miles to a prison camp. They had to march in intense heat and had harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands died along the way and that is why it is known as the Bataan Death March. -
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo. The air raid demonstrated that Japan was vulnerable to American air attack. It also gave a boost to American morale and damaged Japan's. -
Battle of Midway- June 3rd, 1942-June 7th, 1942
This was one of the most decisive naval battles of WWII. The US. was able to break codes and counter Japan's planned ambush of its aircraft carriers. It had permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. -
Batle of Stalingrad- August 23rd, 1942-Feburary 2nd, 1943
The Battle of Stalingrad was fought between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad. There were many direct assaults on civilians by air raids. It is often known as one of the largest and bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. -
Operation Torch- November 8th, 1942-November 10th, 1942
The US and UK launched an attack against French North Africa. Long and continuous arguments between British and American planners about the future of allied strategy were what triggered the attack. -
Island Hopping- November 16th, 1942-Janurary 22nd, 1943
The idea of Island hopping was to capture certain key islands until Japan was in range of American bombers. The attack was lead by Gen. Douglas MacArthur. -
Operation Overlord and D-Day
ABout 156,000 American British and Canadian troops landed on 5 branches along a 50 mile stretch of coast on France's Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history. It required extensive planning. -
Operation Valkyrie
Claus von Stauffenberg attended one of Hitler's conferences with a bomb in attempt to kill Hitler. The bomb was in Stauffenberg's briefcase that was planted under the conference table. The plan failed because, one of the attendants bumped the briefcase and it was moved, when the bomb went off, Hitler was not killed. -
Battle of the Bulge-December 16th, 1944-Janurary 25th, 1945
The first German assault of the Battle of the Bulge took place on December 16, 1944. There was a large snowstorm when the Germans attacked the Allied troops along an 80 mile front, the snowstorm was an advantage to the Nazis because it grounded the Allies aircraft. -
Discovery of Majdanek
The discovery of Majdanek was the first large concentration camp of WWII. Majdanek was found by the Russian army near Lublin, Poland. The camp was burned to hit the existence but the gas chambers was still evident. -
Hitlers Suicide
Hitler committed suicide in an air raid shelter by consuming a cyanide capsule and shooting himself. If he was still alive, he told his wife to kill him. He did this after knowing the Soviet Union was a day away. -
V-E Day
V-E Day stands for Victory in Europe Day. This day Nazi troops laid down their weapons, Documents from the surrender were signed in Berlin and East Germany. Europe fell May 6-7 to the allies. Celebrations followed the victory however, there were many postwar problems to be deal with. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
An American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki the next day. These bombings killed a total estimate of 130,000 people. Hirohito announced their surrender in WWII. America did this as revenge for Pearl Harbor. -
V-J Day
This day was the unconditional surrender of Japan to the Allies. The formal surrender took place in the U.S.S. Missouri anchored in Tokyo's Bay. -
Creation of the United Nations
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a declaration that 26 other countries leaders signed and became known as the United Nations. -
The Nuremberg Trials-November 20th, 1945-October 1st, 1946
These trials were held to bring the Nazi's to justice for killing the Jews. There were 13 trials in all and they were held in Nuremberg, Germany. These trials included high officials of the Nazi Party. -
Japanse War Crimes
The War crimes were not the only form of punishment for Japanese war criminals. The Potsdam Declaration called for trials of those who had deceived and misled the Japanese people into war. -
The begining of the Cold War-1947-1991
The United States fought the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The US didn't trust Stalin or his actions. The Soviet Union feared America's atomic bomb and wanted a secure border but was not given because the US was afraid Stalin was an evil dictator like Hitler.
