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Treaty of Versailles in effect
Treaty of Versailles DocumentThe Treaty of Versailles is one of, if not the most, highly criticized peace treaty in modern history. It forced Germany to assume full blame of the war, and mandated that they pay massive amounts of money to other countries as compensation for the war. In essence, it turned Germany against the rest of the world. It had numberous other failures on top of this such as failing to provide France with adequate security. -
Stock Market Crash
This particular crash, beginning on the 24 of October, 1929, was the most devestating crash in United States history, and signalled the start of the Great Depression. This not only had a major effect on the United States, but the rest of the Western World as well. The depression through Germany into a massive depression, along with many other countries, which caused the more extremist parties, such as the Nazi Party, to become more popular. -
Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany
This was the event that really set Nazi Germany off and running. As the Nazi Party had become the largest single party in the Reichstag, Hitler demanded to be appointed chancellor. Forced by political pressure, German president Paul von Hindenburg reluctantly appointed Adolf Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany in order to quell political turmoil. -
Munich Conference
The Munich Agreement Primary DocumentThe Munich Conference is the biggest and best example we have of the policy of Appeasement, and how it is terribly ineffective. The conference was called in order to try to disperse the tension in Europe. The Western European Democracies, led by the UK, turned over Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia, to Hitler in order to attempt to quench his thirst for more territory. As, we now know, this tactic failed horribly. -
Hitler invades Poland
This is the event which most people consider to be the start of WWII. This is because Britain and France promptly declared war on Germany following this attack, following up on their promise to defend Poland against any unprovoked attacks. However, this had no effect on Germany, as they swiftly conquered Poland, causing Warsaw to surrender within just a few weeks, on September 27. -
France falls to Germany
After successfully invading several other European countries, German forces began their invasion of France on May 10, 1940. They swiftly advanced on British and French forces, causing the famous evacuation of British military forces at Dunkirk. Following this, French forces put up a brief, stiff resistance, but France eventually surrendered to Germany on June 22. The Fall of France served as a major wake-up call to many in the States, as British forces were now the only thing stopping Germany -
Selective Training and Service Act of 1940
With war raging in Europe and Japan making threatening moves in the Pacific, Roosevelt desperately needed to strengthen the US military, as it was totally unprepared for war. Under this law, Congress made it possible for the President to train 1.2 million troops and 800,000 reserves in order to bolster the US military. This law was later changed in order to adapt for the needs of a global war. -
Lend-Lease Act signed into law
Lend-Lease Act Primary Document
Although the US was technically still neutral, this law, at least economically, was the beginning of the State's major involvement in WWII. It allowed the President to send weapons to Britan without payment as required in the Neutrality Act of 1939. Also, it allowed for the United States to skirt the idea of war debts, which the US had experienced plenty of grief from after WWII -
Atlantic Conference
On June 22, 1941, the Hitler launched an attack on the Soviet Union. With the surrender of the Soviet Union a real possibility, Winston Churchill and FDR held a secret meeting in a battleship off of the coast of Newfoundland, called the Atlantic Conference. The most important thing that came from this meeting was the Atlantic Charter, which outlined goals for a better world after the war. A main point from the Atlantic Charter was the right of a people to choose their own government. -
Pearl Harbor
While all the other events on my timeline were events that led up to the US joining WWII, this was the event that actually caused the US to declare war. In the early hours of Dec. 7, Japan launched a devestating attack on Pearl Harbor, a US military base in Hawaii, causing around 3,000 casualities and destroying the entire Pacific battleship fleet. The US was at war 4 days later.
