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Mussolini and the Fascists come to Power in Italy
Benito Mussolini became the leader of Italy after he was given the position to lead the country. Mussolini started the Fascist Party, which was a right winged organization that he wanted to use to make Italy whole again. Many of his followers gained the name "Black Shirts" as they wore black shirts. These follwers were referred to as thugs with badges , as they helped Mussolini gain more power and control with force. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Japan began to take part in acts of aggression after they started to expand their military. One of Japans first acts of aggression took place when they attacked the northeastern China region of Manchuria. Japan took complete control of the areas natural resources and domestic and foreign policies. Japan even went as far as renaming the area to Manchukuo. -
Hitler and the Nazis come to Power in Germany
Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany after he was elected to be leader. He soon became the leader of the Nazi Party. Hitler used propaganda to make the people of Germany feel like he was their savior. Adolf blaimed all of Germany's problems on Jews, and used this hatred to persecute millions of innocent people. Hitler used his position as head of the Nazis to gain control of everyone and everything in Germany. -
Munich Conference
The Munich Conference was a conference held between France, Great Britain, and Germany to discuss the recent conquests Germany was making of new land. The entire meeting dealt with appeasing Hitler to make sure he took over no more land. The area of Czechoslovakia was given to Germany to ensure the agreement. France and Britain left the meeting thinking they had stopped Germany, but they just postponed the war that was to come. -
Kristallnacht
Video "The Night of the Broken Glass" took place after a Jewish man killed a German public figure. After this incident, attacks were ordered on areas controlled by Germany. On this day thousands of Jewish buildings and organizations were destroyed, more than 200 Jews were killed, and thousands were arrested. -
Formation of the Axis Powers
The Axis Powers or the Axis formed around the time or WWII and consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Axis powers are referred to as the bad guys in WWII as they lost the war. The Axis Powers formed over opposition with the Allies and their lust for conquering more land. -
Germany and the USSR sign the Non-Aggression Pact
Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin met before the beginning of WW2 to sign the Non Aggresssion Pact with each other. This act was to ensure that the two nations would not attack each other if a war broke out in Europe. Stalin signed the pact to ensure Russia's safety from Germany, if a war did break out. Hitler signed the pact to prevent a war with Russia if he took over Poland (Split Poland).This pact was soon broken after Hitler ordered the German Army to attack Russia. -
Germany invades Poland/ The Beginning of WWII
After months of planning an attack on Poland, Germany attacked the country in a blitzkreig, or lightning war. Germany attacked Poland with speed and firepower, destroying the countries Air Force with the new weapons. This harsh attack led to the beginning of WW2, as France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. This declaration of war did nothing to help Poland as the country fell to Germany in a months timespan. -
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. The battle was fought in the water and in the air. -
Neutrality Acts passed in the U.S.
The Neutrality Acts of the 1930s was a list of acts that were passed to keep the U.S. out of WWII. These acts were passed in 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1939. One of the most influential act was the Neutrality Act of 1939. This act included the Cash and Carry policy in which the U.S. provided goods to the Allies if they came and picked up the goods with cash on sight. -
Rescue at Dunkirk
While France was being attacked brutally by Germany, Britain found an open window to escape the French port of Dunkirk. Around 338,000 British and French soilders escaped back to Britain. It has been speculated that if Britain had not escaped, they too would have fell to Germany. British Prime Minister, Wiston Churchill gave a speech about wars not being won by evacuation to address the situation. This event marked the end of Britain trying to appease Hitler and Germany. -
France falls to Germany
After underestimating German forces, France is attacked by Germany from an area they thought was intrusion proof. The Germans set up a plan to trap France against the English Canal by attacking the country from the front and the back. Even with Britain on its side, France fell to Germany and was forced to surrender. Germany then divided France into Occupied France and Unoccupied France. -
Presidential Election of 1940
The Presidential election of 1940 took place at the beginning of WW2 in late 1940. The Democratic nominee was the current President Franklin D. Roosevelt and The Republican nominee was Wendall Wilkie. This election caused controversy as Roosevelt went against presidental tradition by running for a third term. Roosevelt won the election and went on to serve the full term and got elected for a fourth term. He died before he could serve his fourth term. -
Congress passes the Lend Lease Act
This act gave president Roosevelt the authority to sell, lend, and lease any form of defense material to any counrty who was part of the Allies. Roosevelt was to use this act whenever he thought it was neccesary to benifit the interest of the defense of the U.S. Near the end of WWII the U.S. had sent more than $40 billion of aid to the Allies. This act was referred to an economic war against the Axis Powers. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This came as a shock to the U.S. as they were discussing peace talks with the head of Japans army. The Japanese attacked the base with such rage and force that killed more than 2,000 Americans and destroyed 21 ships and 188 aircrafts. This attack lasted for 2 hours and left a scar in American history. This event prompted the U.S. to delare war on Japan. This brought the once isolated U.S., into the war. -
Relocation of Japanese Americans to camps
With Japan being a major enemy of the U.S. after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this began to affect the treatment of Japanese Americans in the U.S. Japanese Americans were force to move inland into the U.S. and away from coastal areas. After the devastating move, the Japanese were forced into small shabby internment camps were they had to live. This form of containment was brought forth by the passing of Executive Order 9066. -
Bataan Death March
This march took place after Japanese soilders forced Allied Soilders to march a gruesome 63 miles in which 7,000 Americans and Filipino troops died. The soilders were sick and malnourished as they were forced on this long journey. A memorial stands today to comemorate the men who were forced on this long walk. -
Rosie the Riveter Campaign encourages women to get a job
This campaign encouraged women to take on jobs that men once had and to support war efforts. The campaign showed a woman with her sleeves rolled up and her hair tied up with the caption "We can do it". The name was inspired by a song. -
Battle of Midway Island
Referred to as the most important naval battle of WWII, The Battle of Midway was a turning point of WWII in the Pacific. The United States defeated the Japanese after destoying 4 of Japans aircraft carriers and 240 aircrafts. Even though Japan still was strong, it would never pose a threat to Hawaii or the Pacific again. -
Manhattan Project
Talks of creating a bomb by splitting an atom began in the early 1930s, but Roosevelt ordered a national priority to develop an atomic bomb in 1942. The program was called the Manhattan Project and it costed several billion dollars. The first atomic bomb was tested in the desert in New Mexico, and its effects proved the power that the U.S. now held. -
D-Day Invasion
This day is the day Allied forces hit Germany with a strong force. Thousands of soliders invaded the country with the main objective being to destroy German sources of communication and transportation. The battles on D-Day took place on beaches in Germany and the victory of these battles by the U.S., completed the first and most important step in defeating Germany. -
Allied Invasion/Victory in the Phillipines
The Phillipine campaign was the American and Filipino campaign to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. The Japanese Army had overrun all of the Philippines during the first half of 1942. The Liberation of the Philippines commenced with amphibious landings on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte on October 20, 1944, and hostilities in a small part of the Philippines continued through the end of the war in August 1945. -
Presidential Election
[Voice](mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/152a49eb014a69d4)The Election of 1944 took place a couple of months before WWII ended and it included Roosevelt as the Democrat nominee and Thomas Dewey as the Republican nominee. This was Roosevelts fourth time running for office and he won election. Roosevelt died before he could serve his fourth term and Harry Truman replaced him as president in office. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge took place when the Germans tried to attack Allied soilders and weaken Britain's and the U.S. military forces. The Germans almost succeeded with the weather on their side, but the Allies gained the upper hand, once the weather cleared up. This battle was suppose to help the Germans advance in the war, but it actually weakened the Germans to a point of no return by pushing them farther out of France. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was a meeting between the Big Three about how Europe would be organized after WWII ended. The meeting was also to discuss information about Germany and East Asia. The meeting was not a friendly one as an analyzation of a picture showed that the three viewed each other as potential enemies rather than victors. (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin) -
V-E Day
VideoV-E Day was the day people celebrated the surrender of Germany to the Allies. This day marked the end of WWII in Europe. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Video Harry Truman was the president when the decision to drop a bomb on Japan came up. On August 6, 1945 the U.S. dropped a bomb on Hiroshima. On August 9, 1945 the U.S. dropped a bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Over 240,000 people were killed by the blast and radiation. -
Surrender of Japan
Japan formally surrendered on September 2, 1945 after the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on the country. The day was called VJ Day or Victory over Japan Day. The U.S. became one of the world's strongest nations after WWII. -
Formation of the United Nations
The United Nations was formed to succeed where the League of Nations had failed. The United States led the charge for establishing the group. The objectives of the organization included peacekeeping, security, human rights, economic development, and humanitarian projects. The organization was easily given permission to form and the headquaters was set up in New York City.
