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Mussolini - Rise of Fascist Dictator
In 1922, Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy. He went on to set up the first totalitarian government in Europe. Mussolini came to power through his fascist beliefs and socialist policies. He set the groundwork for later dictatorships in Europe. -
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Japan Shows Aggresion in Asia
Japan's first action of aggresion in Asia was in 1931 when they seized Manchuria. On July 27, 1937, Japna began its invasion into Eastern China. This was the beginning the Pacific portion of World War II. Japan's aggresion would continue until June of 1942, when the United States halted the Japanese offensive. -
Hitler - Rise of Fascist Dictator
Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. He was elected because politcal figures thought that they could control his actions. They soon found out that the radical leader of the Nazi party could not be controlled. After about a year, Hitler had enacted policies which made him the complete ruler of Germany. -
Austria is Annexed
In 1938, Hitler annexed Austria to Germany. Hitler initiated the Anschluss, and sent the German army into Austria to "preserve peace." After silencing the protesters, Germany succesfully completed their annexing of Austria. Although these actions did violate the Treaty of Versailles, no war actions were taken toward Germany. -
Munich Conference Takes Place
At the Munich Conference in September of 1938, France and Britain convinced Czechslovakia to appease Germany with part of the country. Germany gained the territory known as Sudtenland, which Hitler claimed three million Germans inhabitated. After gaining the territory, Hitler assured France and Britain that he no longer wanted any more land. They would soon see that this was simply a lie, and that Hitler's desire for more land was not satisfied. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact is Announced
In August of 1939, Hitler publicly announced that he had made the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Joesph Stalin, the communist leader of Russia. He said that the pact ensured peaceful realations between the two countires. Secretly, they both agreed not to fight each other if war broke out. Also, they secretly agreed that they would divide up Poland and other countries in Eastern Europe. -
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The Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest military campaign of World War II. It included multiple naval attacks by the British, the Germans, and the United States. The Germans deployed U-boats, while the British and United States deployed convoys, escorts, and some battleships. The tide turned toward the Allies in May of 1943 when they started having more success. The Allies ultimately ended up winning the Battle of the Atlantic when Germany surrendered in May of 1945. -
The Phony War
During this time period in the war, not much happened. The French held their ground, and the British send troops to hunker down with them. The war didn't really burst back into action until April of 1940. This was when Hitler launched his next blitzkreig toward Norway and Denmark, then towards the Netherlands and Belgium. -
The Miracle of Dunkirk
In May of 1940, German forces were swarming into France. Retreating British soldiers found themselves trapped between the English Channel and the advancing German forces. Desperatly, Britain sent all available ships, warships or not, to rescue soldiers. Miraculously, 300,000 soldiers were saved, and the rescue was dubbed the "miracle of Dunkirk." -
The Fall of France
On June 22, 1940, Hitler vengefully forced France to surrender. Ironically, this took place in the same railroad car as the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. Afterwards, Germany occupied northern France. Some French officers managed to escape to Britain, and continued their fight for liberty there. -
The Battle of Britain
After the fall of France, Britain remained the only western power in Europe. Germany thought that Britain would surrender, but were met with defiance. On August 12, 1940, Germany began Operation Sea Lion, and began their bombings of England's southern coast. They continued this for a month until September 7 when they decided to begin bombings of London. This bombardment of London continued for 57 nights, and cost the British 15,000 lives. Germany continued bombing on and off until June of 1941. -
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Nazi Genocide
By 1941, Germany had come up with a plan to systematically exteriminate all people "racially inferior," especially Jews. To achieve this, Hitler had death camps built to contain and slowly eliminate these groups of people. These people were treated like animals, and stripped of their dignity. By 1945, an estimated six million Jews and been massacred in the Holocaust, and the killing would continue until 1945, when the Nazis were defeated. -
Operation Barbossa
In June of 1941, Hitler began Operation Barbossa: the assault of Germany on the Soviet Union. Although this did break the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Hitler continued anyway in his desire to end Communism. The siege went well at first with three million German soldiers being put on the offensive. However, when the winter came the Soviet Union gained a slight advantage, and the cold halted the German advance. -
Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
In 1940, Japan's aggresion was getting out of control, and the United States banned the sale of war supplies to Japan. Talks were held beween these two countries to ease the tensions, but a radical General Tojo didn't want to negotiate. With talks at a standstill, General Tojo ordered the attack of Japanese planes on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. On December 11, 4 days after the attack, the United States declared war on Japan, and joined World War II. -
The Battle of Midway
In May and June of 1942, the United States was fighting a war in the Pacific against Japan. At first, the momentum seemed to be with Japanese forces. However, during the Battle of Midway, the tide turned, and the United States greatly weakened the Japanese navy. After the battle, the United States took the offensive, and began their strategy of island-hopping to defeat Japan. -
The Battle of El Alamein
At the Battle of El Alamein, the Allies won a major victory. General Rommel, known as the "Desert Fox" for his tactical skills in desert warfare, was forced back by the Britsh General Bernard Montgomery. The Nazi general had encountered great success in Egypt before being pushed back into Tunisia by the British. Later in 1942, Dwight Eisenhower, an American general, advanced on Rommel's forces and forced them to surrender. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad occured when Hitler decided to attempt to capture the Russian city of Stalingrad. The warfront was going well for Germany until the cold, harsh winter came, and the battle turned into a street-by-street battle. It was chaos; massive gun fights ensued for small buildings and streets. The Germans forces there ended up surrendering on February 2, 1943 with 300,000 casualties. -
The Invasion of Italy Begins
With their victory in Northern Africa, the Allies advanced into Italy. They quickly forced Italy into an armistice. However, Hitler didn't give up on Italy, and sent his forces to help out Mussolini. For a further year and a half, fighting countinued on the Italian peninsula against German forces. -
D-Day
D-day was the day that the United States chose to begin their invasion of France. Around 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft were deployed by the United States in this enormous battle. After soldiers landed in Normandy, France, they fought through German forces until they reached and retook Paris. With France free again, the Allies could focus on defeating Germany and Japan. -
The Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the biggest and one of the last Pacific battles of World War II. The result was mass destruction of Japan for soldiers and civilians. The battle contained kamikaze Japanese bombers as well American soldiers attempting to take air bases. At this battle, America quickly recognized that the Japanese refused to surrender. -
United Nations is Formed
In April of 1945, 50 representatives from different nations came to San Francisco to make a charter for the United Nations. These countries planned for the United Nations to have a greater impact on world events than the League of Nations. The voting was done by the General Assembly, and also by a smaller, more powerful group called the Security Council. The United Nations has helped solve many of the world's problems, even if it is sometimes ineffective because of conflicting countires' views. -
The Battle of Berlin
Stalin wanted to weaken Hitler by taking the capital of Germany: Berlin. The Russians greatly outnumbered the Germans in both equipment and men. The Russian troops ended up winning the two month battle and taking Berlin. This victory was crucial for defeating the Nazi forces. -
Nazis Defeated
With Berlin nearly taken and Germany completely surrounded, Hitler knew the end was near. Benito Mussolini had been captured and executed, and the Soviet Union was closing in on Hitler. With no options left, Hitler commited suicide. Soon after, on May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered, and the war in Europe ended the next day. Only Japan was left standing for the Axis powers. -
United States Uses Atomic Bombs
The United States issued an ultimatum to Japan; surrender or face a force of "utter and complete destuction." When Japan refused to surrender, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Still, Japan did not surrender, so on August 9, 3 days after the first atomic bomb, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Combined, there were 110,000 civilian casualties between the two bombs. -
Japan Surrenders
Faced with heavy civilian casualties from the two atomic bombs, the Japanese goverment still debated surrender. They wondered whether more bombs would come, or if it was worth continuing the war. Finally, Emperor Hirohito forced the Japanese government to surrender on August 10, 1945. However, it was not until September 2 of the same year that the official peace treaty was signed.
