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Mussolini and the Fascists come to power in Italy
Mussolini fled to Switzerland to avoid being drafted into the Italian military, but returned in 1904 and formed the Fascist Party in 1919. The Fascist Party gained support by running on a vehemently nationalist platform and winning 35 seats in the 1921 election. In 1925, Mussolini declared himself dictator in Italy making Italy a Fascist country. -
Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
In the 1930s, Japanese controlled the Manchurian railway which gave them an excuse to invade Manchuria. They claimed Chinese soldiers sabotaged the railway, so they attacked the Chinese army and conquered Manchuria. The League sent a delegation and when it reported back, it said Manchuria should be returned to China. At an assembly, 40 nations voted that Japan should withdraw but instead, Japan left the League and invaded China. -
Hitler and the Nazis come to power in Germany
Many Germans had little to no faith in their government(Weimar Republic), and were unemployed because of the depression that struck Germany. Hitler promised a better life for the Germans, persuading them to be on his side. In 1933, the Nazis won 33 percent of votes and Hitler was appointed chancellor. -
Neutrality Acts passed in the U.S.
In the 1930s, critics argued that the U.S. part in WWI was driven by bankers and munitions, traders with business interests in Europe. These findings fueled a growing "isolationist" movement; therefore, the U.S. government enacted a series of laws designed to prevent the U.S. from being embroiled in a foreign war by clearly stating the terms of U.S. neutrality. -
Munich Conference
The Munich Conference was a meeting including Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovakians were not consulted. The Czechoslovakian government initially rejected the proposal but was forced to accept it on Sept. 21st. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht "Night of broken glass"The Kristallnacht, or "Night of Broken Glass", was the wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms that took place on Nov. 9, 1938. This violent outbreak was instigated by the assassination of Ernst vom Rath. -
Non-Aggression Pact
Shortly before WWII, rivalries Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Nonaggression Pact, agreeing to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. -
Germany invades Poland
Hitler used the blitzkrieg strategy to invade Poland. This included extensive bombing early on to destroy the enemy's air capacity, railroads, communication lines, and munitions dumps, followed by a massive land invasion with overwhelming numbers of troops, tanks, and artillery. Once Hitler had a base of opertaions within the target country, he began setting up security forces to annihilate all enemies of Nazi ideology. -
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic began with the Germans sinking merchant ships in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. A British destroyer attacked a U-boat and captured the Enigma coding machine and code books. This helped them re-route the convoys in order to avoid the wolf packs. In May 1941, the Bismarck was sunk by the British fleet. Once the U.S. entered the war, America was sending out more ships than the U-boats could sink and destroying more than Germany could replace. -
France Falls to Germany
German forces repeatedly attacked French troops. Beginning with the invasion of France, the German troops bypassed the Maginot Line advancing into France and encircling French and British divisions to the north. The British Expeditionary Force, along with the best units of the French army, were still in the north and seen little fighting, but to be safe, they retreated to Dunkirk which resulted in the Dunkirk evacuation. On June 5th, the Germans swung southward and French resistance collapsed. -
Rescue at Dunkirk
Rescue in Dunkirk WWIIThe German forces advanced into France planning to win a victory over the diarrayed French Army. General Viscount Gort ordered his commanders to retrat to the port of Dunkirk. On May 24th, Hitler ordered his tanks to halt their pursuit of the retreating Allied forces. Ships came from England to help with the rescue. Guided by smoke and flame filling the sky, the rescuefleet made its way through continuous German attack and treacherous waters. -
Formation of the Axis Powers
In 1936, Germany and Italy announced a Rome-Berlin Axis after signing a treaty of friendship. Later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Commintern Pact which Italy also joined the following year, On May 22, 1939 Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel forming the Axis alliance. On Sept, 27, 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact which became known as the Axis alliance. -
Presidential Election of 1940
The presidential election of 1940 was between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Wendell L. Willkie. Roosevelt was running for a third time which became a major issue, He promised there would be no foreign wars if he was re-elected. Wendell was against Roosevelt's failure to end the Great Depression and eagerness for war. Roosevelt won a victory by building support from labor unions, big-city political machines, ethnic voters, and the traditionally Democratic Solid South. -
Lend Lease Act is passed
The Lend Lease Act was signed by Roosevelt in March 1941, This Act permitted him to sell, transer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government, any defense article. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Attack on Pearl HarborJapanese forces had been secretly planning to bomb the U.S., resulting in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. On Dec.7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base. More 2,000 American soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. This event forced America to join WWII. -
Allied Invasion/Victory in the Philippines
The Allied invasion/victory in the Philippines is also called the Philippines campaign, the Battle of the Philppines, or the Liberation of the Philippines. This was the American and Filipino campaign to defeat and expel Japanese forces occupying the Philippines. -
Relocation of Japanese Americans to Camps
Two months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, ordering all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the west coast. Approximately 120,000 people were relocated to one of 10 internment camps located across the country. Some Japanese-Americans were allowed to return to the west coast in 1945. In 1988, Congress awarded restitution payments to each survivor of the camps. -
Bataan Death March
After the surrender of the Bataan Peninsula by U.S., approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to march to prison camps under harsh conditions and treatment by the Japanese guards. Thousands of people died. -
Battle of Midway Island
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway took place. Pacific fleet commander Admiral Chester E. Nimitz solved the Japanese fleet codes. This helped him figure out the plans of the Japanese. The plan was to sink the Amerian aircraft carriers that escaped destruction at Pearl Harbor. With this knowledge, Nimitz placed available U.S. carries in position to surprise the Japanese moving up for their preparatory air strikes on Midway Island. -
Rosie the Riveter Campaign
Between 1940 and 1945, the Rosie the Riveter campaign was started for women who entered the workforce during World War II. Rosie the Riveter was the star of a gorvernment campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for the munitions industry. This was the most iconic image of working women during the war. -
D-Day Invasion
General Dwight Eisenhower's D-Day Invasion SpeechThe battle began on June 6, 1944 when about 156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along the coasts of Frence's Normandy region. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring, the Allies had defeated the Germans. -
Presidential Election of 1944
The 1944 Presidential election was between Franklin Roosevelt and Thomas Dewey. There was doubt that Roosevelt would run and win a fourth term, but Roosevelt had yet another victory. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945 and was replaced by Harry Truman. -
Battle of the Bulge
A major German offensive campaign launched through the Ardennes forests and Luxembourg towards the end of WWII. Its objective was to split the Allied armies. The line defining the Allied front took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving the battle its name. There was a draw due to crucial German shortage of fuel and the gallantry of American troops. -
V-E Day
V-E Day was the day the Germans surrendered in Europe. On this day, Great Britain and the United States celebrate victory in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Yalta Conference
A conference held between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The leaders agreed to demand Germany's unconditional surrender and began plans for a post-war world. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The Atomic Bomb: Hiroshima and NagasakiAn American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over Hiroshima. 90 percent of the city was wiped out by the bomb and 80,000 people were killed. Thousands died later due to radiation exposure. Three days later, B-29 dropped anotehr bomb on Nagasaki. 40,000 people were killed in this explosion. -
Surrender of Japan
The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed along with intensive bombing of Japanese cities, leaving the country and its economy devastated. The Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration, demanding an unconditional surrender of Japanese armed forces. Not being able to withstand anymore attacks, the Declaraion was accepted and the Japanese surrender was announced. -
Formation of the United Nations
January 1, 1942, representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers met in Washington to sign the Declaration of the United Nations endorsing the Atlantic Charter. Representatives of 50 nations met in San Francisco April-June 1945 to complete the Charter of the United Nations. The Senate approved the UN Charter on July 28, 1945 by a vote of 89 to 2. The United Nations came into existence on October 24, 1945, aftert 29 nations had ratified the Charter. -
Manhattan Project
In 1939, the world's scientific community discovered that German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting atoms. In fear, Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Roosevelt urging the development of an atomic research program. In 1941, the effort to design an atomic bomb received the code name, the Manhattan Project. By the summer of 1945, the bomb was ready to test. On July 16th at Trinity Site, the bomb was tested and the results were successful.
