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WWI Ends
After the bloody battle of WWI, ended by Britain, France, and the US. the world declared it "the war to end all wars." Sadly, this would not be the case. -
Stock Market Crash
On October 29th, 1929, just 11 years after WWI was declared over by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the US faced a great crash in the stock market. The US wasn't the only place that had financial problems at the time. By the 30's, many citizens in the US, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and Italy were in severe debt and were unemployed. This period is what we know as the Great Depression. One of the leading factors to WWII. -
Japan invades Manchuria
Like Germany and Italy, Japan wanted to expand its empire. But being the small island nation it is, Western countries recommended that they shouldn't try to expand. But Japan was persistent and increased its military. Japan had a strong military which included an army, navy and air force. All of these increased in size and power and in 1931, Japan overtook Manchuria. By 1938, Japan had overtook most of eastern China and decided they wanted to take control over all of Asia and the Pacific. -
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
In Germany, a political party started to rise. This party is known as the "Nazi Party", a very nationalistic and violent organization. Hitler became leader of this party and once he became chancellor, he turned Germany into a military dictatorship. Hitler believed that Germans were superior to Jews, Slavs, Gypsies and communists. He convinced Germany that they were unimportant and should be captured, exiled or even executed. -
Mussolini attacks Ethiopia
Italy was also undergoing financial problems, this led to riots and strikes that deeply affected the country. Many Italian citizens started to support the fascist party, saying it would help restore Italy to its glory days. When Benito Mussolini, the leader of the Italian fascist party promised it's citizens that he would restore their country back to the way they wanted, he decided that he would send out his troops to invade Ethiopia to establish Italian greatness. -
Kristallnacht
By now, Germany had persecuted most of its minorities, though there was one major group they still hadn't dealt with. The Jews. The Nazi party despised this group of people. On November 9th 1938, the Nazi party sent out mobs to destroy stores, synagogues and homes that were occupied by the Jewish. German citizens and police stood aside and watched this chaos unfold. This night was titled Kristallnacht, meaning Night of Broken Glass. It was called this due to the glass in the streets after. -
Germany Invades Poland
In 1938, Hitler forced Austria to ally with Germany. He also ruled over Czechoslovakia, Great Britain and France. Hoping that this would satisfy the Nazi's hunger for power. But, on September 1st 1939 German troops stormed into Poland in their tanks. Britain and France did not like the idea and declared war on Germany. Though, they weren't prepared for how fast and powerful German troops could be. Hitler managed to conquer Poland in a month. This is what many believe to be the beginning of WWII. -
France falls powerless to Germany
In June, 1940, the red, white and black swastika flag swayed over Paris, France. Germany finally overthrew France, leaving Great Britain to be the only Western power still free from Hitler's possession. -
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
On a sunday morning in Hawaii, citizens didn't wake up to an alarm clock, they woke up to an alarming crash. Hundreds of Japanese planes bombed Hawaii's "Pearl Harbor". Pearl Harbor was the headquarters of the US pacific fleet. These bombings resulted in the destruction of 18 US ships and destroyed all of the US planes in the area. The attack killed more than 2,000 US soldiers, sailors and citizens. This attack is what eventually prompted the once neutral country into joining WWII. -
The Battle of Midway
After the declaration of war on Japan, the US joined with 25 other countries to end fascist expansion in the world. But three major powers arose. Called 'The Big Three", these countries were Great Britain, the US and the Soviet Union. Great Britain and the US sent troops to fight against Japan. American cryptologist decoded the Japanese naval code. Helping them to advance on Japan. During the battle of midway both sides were great in their powers but the Japanese were ultimately defeated. -
Germany retreats and overpowers Italy
The Nazi's held teritory in North Africa until May 16th 1943. They soon retreated back to Germany due to many losses. On their way they made it to the Italian island of Sicily. Mussolini's government had failed and collapsed. Italy wanted to end their part in the war but German forces fought against that. It wasn't until almost a year later in June 1944 that Italy was released and liberated from the war. -
D-Day
Allied troops circled the coast of Normandy and bombarded German defenses. Taking out the Germans in Normandy. The allies continued to take out the Germans until finally reaching Germany. As they started to finish the fight, they found the awful traces of the concentration camps, death camps and the aftermath of the genocide held under Hitler's power. -
Germany Surrenders
Germany surrendered on May 7th, 1945. This ended WWII in Europe, but the war continued in the Pacific. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bomb Pictures
Pictures of the mushroom clouds over Japan's cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima -
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US drops bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6th, the US dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan's city of Hiroshima, and once Japan didn't back down after soviet troops invaded, the US dropped another bomb on Nagasaki. Both combined killed over 220,000 people and wounded thousands of others. -
Nuremberg War Crimes Trials
The Nuremberg War Crime trials were a series of trials (held after WWII) that were hosted by allied forces. The trials set to punish Nazi soldiers for their crimes not only against international laws but crimes that didn't abide by the laws of war.
