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Treaty of Versailles Ends WWI
Video: Treaty of Versailles Paves Way for WW2 The harsh treatment of Germany following WWI will lead directly to events that start World War 2. -
Mussolini Comes to Power in Italy
VIdeo: Rise of Facism & Militarism
Mussolini with his gathered fascist army marches on Rome and seizes power. -
Hitler Publishes Mein Kampf
Volume One of Adolf Hitler’s philosophical autobiography, Mein Kampf, is published. It was a blueprint of his agenda for a Third Reich and a clear exposition of the nightmare that will envelop Europe from 1939 to 1945. -
Stalin Gaines Power
Video: Stalin Takes Over in Russia
After the death of Lenin in 1924, Stalin started removing others that might be competition for holding all the power in Russia. -
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Axis Powers Begin Invasion, Alignments, and Violence
Video: Military Harbingers
Animated Map- Western Europe 1939-41 Japan Invades Manchuria 1931
Fascist Italy invades, conquers, and annexes Ethiopia. 1935-36
Japan Invades China, 1937
Germany Annexes Austria 1938
Nazi attacks of Jews in Germany 1938
Germany Takes control of Czechlosovakia 1938-39
Italy annexes Albaina 1939
Germany Invades Poland 1939 -
Hitler Becomes Chancellor of Germany
Reading: Nazis Take Over Germany On the evening of Jan. 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler, the newly appointed Chancellor of Germany, stood in a government building at an open window watching a torchlight parade of 25,000 Nazi troops march through the streets of Berlin. Thousands of Germans cheered as they marched by, and Hitler was giddy with delight. "No power on Earth will get me out of here alive," someone heard him say. -
Munich Agreement
Video: "Peace In Our Time"- Chamberlain & Appeasement Neville Chamberlain negotiates with Hitler giving him what he wants in Czechoslovakia. This is known as appeasement, and it made Hitler believe no one would stand in his way. -
Poland Invaded by Germany
Video: Outbreak of War Great Britain and France declare war as a result, and this is considered the start of the war in Europe. -
Battle of Britain
July 10 1940 - October 31, 1940
Animated Map: Western Europe 1939-1941
Transcript By the middle of 1940 most of Europe, including France had been conquered, and Germany now turned it's fighting in Western Europe toward the British. -
Tojo comes to power in Japan
Hideki Tojo comes to power in Japan -
Lend Lease Introduced by FDR
Video: From Neutrality Act to Lend-Lease Act
It authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.” It allowed the transfer of supplies without compensation to Britain, China, the Soviet Union, and other countries. -
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TURNING POINT: Italy Invades Egypt
Animated Map: of the Med & N.Africa 1940-1945
Transcript Allied Victories in Northern Africa will allow them to slowly start moving toward an invasion of Sicily and then the Italin mainland. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Interactive: Pearl Harbor Video: The Attack on Pearl Harbor The Japanese attack the American navy at Pearl Harbor. Animated Map: The Pacific 1939-1941
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TURNING POINT: Stalingrad
Animated Map: Eastern Europe 1942-1945
Transcript Video: Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad begins, and turns the Germans back away from Moscow. -
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TURNING POINT: D-Day Invasion
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Yalta Conference begins
VIDEO: The Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference was a meeting of British prime minister Winston Churchill, Soviet premier Joseph Stalin, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt early in February 1945 as World War II was winding down. -
Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima
Video: Dropping the Atomic Bombs The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” -
