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Mussolini becomes Prime Minister
He first ruled in a democratic and constitutional manner but then in 1925 he turned Italy into a totalitarian country. -
Stalin comes to power
Millions of citizens died under his reign, five year plan to turn Russia from a peasant country into a global superpower, eliminated anyone who opposed him, his farming policies led to famine, developed a cult of personality. (day not known) -
Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
He started the Holocaust, he got rid of the Treaty of Versailles, and invaded other countries in which one of them became the catalyst that began WWII. He was a totalitarian leader, and took over Germany by force. He took inspiration from Mussolini. -
Holocaust
Also known as “the Shoah”, it consisted of a mass genocide in which 6 million European Jews were killed by Nazi Germany. This genocide progressed, from having Jews wearing armbands to signify their religion, to having them moved to slums, and then finally moving them to concentrations camps, where they were gassed and worked to death. -
The Non-Agression Pact was created
Germany and Russia signed a pact that the two countries agreed not to take military action against each other. This was later broken by Hitler, after he breaks the agreement by attempting to invade Russian territory. -
Invasion of Poland and start of WWII
The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. With more than 2,000 tanks and 1,000 planes the Germans broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on Warsaw in encirclement attack. Warsaw surrendered on September 3 1939. -
Phony War ¨Sitzkrieg¨
Eight month period at the start of WWII in which there were no large scale military operations, while the Allied powers did nothing. -
Battle of the Atlantic
(European Battle) The Battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats and other warships of the Kriegsmarine and aircraft of the Luftwaffe against the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Navy, the United States Navy, and Allied merchant shipping. -
Battle of Britain
A large scale aerial battle that took place in England in which Germany strategically bombed cities. -
Lend-lease Act passed in US is created
Material and services supplied by the US to allies during WWII and such aid was to be repaid after the war. (exact date not known) -
Hitler invades Soviet Union
Hitler believed that Germany could use Blitzkrieg tactics with the same level of success as his other operations, but in the end failed, since he underestimated the power of the Soviet Union. Also, they had no gear against the cold. -
Pearl Harbor Attack
The attack happened because Japan wanted to destroy the US Pacific Fleet so it not stop Japanese expansion. -
America declares war on Japan and enters WWII
They declared war in response of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. -
War Production Board created
Supervised war production during WWII. Military production increased and safety regulations. -
Executive Order 9066
Authorized the Secretary of War (in America) to make certain areas military zones. Eventually, EO 9066 cleared the way for the deportation of Japanese Americans, Italian Americans, and German Americans to internment camps. -
Battle of Coral Sea
(Pacific Battle) Battle between the Japanese Navy and naval forces and air forces from the United States and Australia. -
Battle of Midway
(Pacific Battle) The Japanese sent a majority of their navy towards Midway island, which was being used by the US as an airfield. It was fought by aircraft launched from aircraft carriers. -
Battle of Stalingrad
(European Battle) A major battle on the Eastern front, in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia, on the eastern boundary of Europe. -
Operation Torch
(European Battle ) Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of the Second World War. -
Invasion of Sicily/Italy
(European Battle) The Allied invasion of Sicily was code-named Operation Husky. The Allies captured Sicily from the Axis Powers. -
D-Day
(European Battle) Consisted of the Normandy landings. Which was the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord. -
Office of War Mobilization created
(OWM) An executive “super agency” created to more effectively coordinate America’s industrial and economic mobilization efforts during World War II. (date not given) -
Iwo Jima
(Pacific Battle) This was a major battle in which the U.S. Marines landed on (and eventually captured) the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese during World War II. -
Okinawa
(Pacific Battle) Allied forces invade the island of Okinawa and engage the Japanese in the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War. -
Battle of Berlin
Fought between Germany and Soviet Army. The Soviet Army outnumbered the German soldiers.(Russia:2,500,000 soldiers, Germany: -
Hitler commits suicide
He shot himself in the head (after taking cyanide pills0, while his wife Eva took cyanide pills. He was in his Fuhrerbunker at the time. Soon after, Germany surrendered to the Allies. -
V-E Day
Also known as Victory in Europe Day, which was celebrated after Germany was defeated. More than 13,000 British POWs were released, and nowadays they put up flags to acknowledge defeating the Nazi war machine. -
Droppin of the Atomic Bombs
The American bomber Enola Gay dropped a 5 ton atomic bomb, the first of its kind, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The blast killed 80,000 people, and reduced the 4 square miles to ruins. -
End of WWII
The final wars were months earlier, but on this specific day, Japan formally surrendered aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. General Douglas MacArthur accepted the surrender on behalf of the United Nations.