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Washington Naval Conference Begins
The US, Great Britain and Japan agreed to scrap some of their largest ships and, along with France and Italy, promised to limit the tonnage of their existing large ships, abandon gas warfare and restrict submarine warfare. -
Beer Hall Putsch
At a rally in a Munich beer hall, Hitler proclaimed a Nazi revolution, or putsch. The next day, he tried to seize the Bavarian government in what became known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler, supported by the German General Erich F. W. Ludendorff, led over 2,000 storm troopers on a march against the Bavarian government. But state police opened fire and stopped the procession, killing 16 marchers. The plot failed. Hitler was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison of which he only served 9 mo -
Dawes Plan Went Into Effect
The U.S. Department of State sent Charles Dawes to Germany to discuss their economy and to devise a means for the government better to meet its international obligations under the Treaty of Versailles. The resulting Dawes Plan sharply reduced German reparations from $542 million to $250 million annually and renegotiated the schedule for the payment of these monies. The US loaned Germany $2.5 billion for economy development to pay their reparations. -
Mein Kampf is Published
The title means "My Struggle". In this pompous work and boring work, Hitler condemned the decadence of Western society and singled out for special contempt Jews, Communists, and liberals. He wrote that Germans were superior because of their "racial purity." Therefore, they had the "moral right" to conquer and displace the "lesser" races of Eastern Europe and Russia. -
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Signed by 64 nations, the treaty renounced aggression and outlawed war. Without any kind of provisions for enforcement, however, it was just a symbolic gesture. The Senate reserved the right of self defense and repudiated any responsibility for enforcing the treaty. -
First of 3 Neutrality Act Passed
These laws were designed to keep the US out of war. The 1935 Act banned the sale of arms to nations at war and warned American citizens to sail on belligerent ships. In 1936, a 2nd act added ban on loans, and in 1937, a 3rd act made these prohibitions permanent and required, on a 2-year trial basis, that all trade other than munitions be conducted on a cash-and-carry basis. -
Japan Seeks Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Japanese nationalists believed that the US, Britain, and France had treated Japan unfairly after WW I, despite its participation against Germany. They believed that Japan should expel the French, British, Dutch and Americans from Asia and create this Prosperity Sphere where Japan would be the economic leader in the area. -
Japan Invades China
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Japanese Bomb American Gunboat in China
Japanese airplanes in China bombed the American gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River, killing 2 and wounding 30. The Japanese government issued a formal apology. -
Germany Annexes Austria
Hitler begins his plan of conquest. After having remilitarized the Rhineland in 1936, Hitler now annexed Austria. -
Munich Agreement
After annexing Austria, Hitler pushed again when he demanded the Sudentenland from Czechoslovakia. The territory had 3.25 million German speakers. The British and the French refused to stand up to Hitler, following instead a policy of appeasement. Meeting in Munich, the leaders of Edouard Daladier of France and Neville Chamberlain of Britain abandoned their security obligations to the Czechs, giving the Sudentenland to Hitler in exchange for a promise of no more annexations. -
Germany Occupies Czechoslovakia
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Pact of Steel Signed
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini of Italy sign this agreement of cooperation -
Non-Agression Pact
Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union that included a secret clause for the division of Poland. -
Japan Invades French Indochina
German victories in the Netherland and France encouraged Japan to expand. Indonesia (Dutch East Indies), French Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam) and Malaya, contained raw materials like tin, rubber and petroleum that were essential to Japan. If Japan could seize these regions and incorporate them into their empire, it would make them virtually self-sufficient economically and the dominant power in Asia. -
Tripartite Pact is Signed
Japan signs a treaty with Germany and Italy in Berlin. The pact stated that the signers would come to each others' aid if attacked. They would also respect each others' spheres of influence. -
Lend-Lease Act Passed
Congress passed this measure authorizing the President to lease, lend or otherwise dispose of arms and other equipment to any country whose defense was considered vital to US security. It was important in aiding Great Britain to which the US extended unlimited credit, and later in assisting the Soviet Union. -
Operation Barbarossa
Despite its agreement with the Soviet Union, Germany invades the Soviet Union with 3 million men in largest military operation in history. Stalin was caught off guard completely. The Soviet Union will join the Allies on July 12th. -
America Stops Exports to Japan
Although the US was unwilling to fight Japan in the Pacific while Europe's fate was still threatened by Germany, the US did stop exporting to Japan aviation gas, scrap iron and other war materials. It also froze Japanese assets under US control. -
Atlantic Charter
Joint proclamation between the Winston Churchill and FDR that laid out war aims. Roosevelt insisted on a commitment to oppose territorial conquest, support self-government, promote freedom of the seas, and create a system of economic collaboration. For months, FDR had been instructing the navy to report sightings of German submarines to the British thereby, essentially, fighting an undeclared war. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japanese warplanes attacked US naval forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii at 7:55 in the morning. They destoryed or damaged more than 21 American ships and more than 300 planes. On Dec 11, Germany and Italy declared war against the US. -
United States Executive Order 9066
FDR authorized the secretary of war to define restricted areas and remove civilians who were threats to national security. The primary targets were 112,000 Japanese Americans in CA and parts of WA, OR, and AZ. At the end of April 1942, Japanese in the coastal states were given a week to organize their affairs and report to assembly centers where they would be moved to 10 internment camps in isolate locations. -
Manhattan Project Begins
This top-secret program developed the atom bomb. The idea for the project began in 1939, shortly before World War II began. Albert Einstein had written to FDR about the possibility of such a weapon and the danger of falling behind the Germans. J. Robert Oppenheimer directed scientists at Los Alamos, NM in designing a nuclear-fission bomb. The first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945, creating a fireball brighter than several suns a mushroom cloud that rose 40,000 feet. -
Yalta Conference Begins
The "Big Three": Winston Churchill of Britain, Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, and FDR met at Yalta, a famous Black Sea resort in the Crimea to plan the final stages of World War II and after. They agreed to a world peacekeeping organization (future United Nations); to reestablish order in Europe and to help the defeated countries create democratic governments; to divide Germany into four zones; to hold free elections in Poland, and to extend the Soviet Union's territory into Poland. -
FDR Dies in Office
Roosevelt suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died. Harry Truman becomes President and he will oversee the end of the war. -
US Drops Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima
The first bomb killed at least 80,000 people and poisoned thousands more with radiation. A second bomb, at Nagasaki took 40,000 lives. Japan ceased hostilities on August 14 and surrendered formally on Sep. 2.