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Stalin becomes dictator of USSR - How?
Stalin rose to this unprecedented level of power due to his capabilities and understanding of the workings of the Communist Party. Stalin translated these strengths into total control of the Soviet Union after the Russian Civil War (1917-1920). Stalin was not the natural successor of Vladimir Lenin, but he could use his position within the Soviet Communist Party to become the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union. -
Mussolini’s March on Rome -outcome
The Italian government and King Victor Emmanuel 3 considered declaring martial law and using the army to suppress the march. They ultimately chose to appoint Mussolini as Prime Minister, hoping to avoid further violence and instability. Mussolini gradually consolidated power, suppressed political opposition, and established a totalitarian regime. The Italian Fascist Party became the dominant political force, and Mussolini ruled Italy until he was overthrown in 1943 during World War II. -
Hitler writes Mein Kampf
In Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote about his ideology and presented himself as the leader of the extreme right. He talked about his life and his youth, his 'conversion' to antisemitism (the hatred of Jews) and his time as a soldier in the First World War. He raged against the Treaty of Versailles and the reparations that Germany had to pay because of the Treaty. He did not believe in parliamentary democracy. Mein Kampf is full of racist ideas and hatred of Jews and communists. -
1st “five year plan” in USSR– purpose
In the Soviet Union the first Five-Year Plan (1928–32), implemented by Joseph Stalin, concentrated on developing heavy industry and collectivizing agriculture, at the cost of a drastic fall in consumer goods. The first five year plan was created in order to initiate rapid and large-scale industrialization across the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In order to become an industrial powerhouse, modern machinery was adopted across the country to maximize production efficiency and output. -
Japan invades Manchuria – why?
In the 1930s, events transpired that challenged all of these policies. On September 18, 1931, an explosion destroyed a section of railway track near the city of Mukden. The Japanese, who owned the railway, blamed Chinese nationalists for the incident and used the opportunity to retaliate and invade Manchuria. Also seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries, Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. -
Holodomor - why?
Feeling threatened by Ukraine's strengthening cultural autonomy, Stalin took measures to destroy the Ukrainian peasantry and the Ukrainian intellectual and cultural elites to prevent them from seeking independence for Ukraine. Stalin initiated mass-scale political repressions through widespread intimidation, arrests, and imprisonment. Thousands of Ukrainians who had supported pro-Ukrainian policies were executed by the Soviet regime. -
Hitler appointed chancellor of Germany
President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler as chancellor of Germany. In a series of complicated negotiations, ex-Chancellor Franz von Papen, backed by prominent German businessmen and the conservative German National People’s Party (DNVP), convinced Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor, with the understanding that von Papen as vice-chancellor and other non-Nazis in key government positions would contain and temper Hitler’s more brutal tendencies. -
“Night of the Long Knives” in Germany - purpose
Hitler feared that the SA and Ernst Röhm, their leader, were a potential threat to his leadership. This fear was intensified by Göring and Himmler, who gave Hitler news of Röhm organizing a potential coup. Carried out primarily by the SS and the Gestapo, over 150 people were murdered and hundreds more were arrested. -
Italian invasion of Ethiopia
Italo-Ethiopian War, (1935–36), an armed conflict that resulted in Ethiopia’s subjection to Italian rule. Often seen as one of the episodes that prepared the way for World War II, the war demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations when League decisions were not supported by the great powers. It also served as a rallying point, especially after World War II, for developing African nationalist movements. -
Nuremburg Laws enacted - what were they?
On September 15, 1935, the Nazi regime announced two new laws related to race. The Reich Citizenship Law defined a citizen as a person who is of German or related blood. This meant that Jews, defined as a separate race, could not be full citizens of Germany. They had no rights. The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor was a law against what the Nazis viewed as race-mixing. It banned future intermarriages and sexual relations between Jews and people of German or related blood. -
The Great Purge and gulags
A brutal political campaign led by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to eliminate dissenting members of the Communist Party and anyone else he considered a threat. Although estimates vary, most experts believe at least 750,000 people were executed during the Great Terror, which started around 1936 and ended in 1938. More than a million survivors were sent to forced labor camps, known as Gulags. This ruthless and bloody operation caused rampant terror throughout the Soviet Union. -
Spanish civil war
Military revolt against the Republican government of Spain, supported by conservative elements within the country. The Nationalists, as the rebels were called, received aid from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The Republicans received aid from the Soviet Union as well as from the International Brigades, composed of volunteers from Europe and the United States. In the end, the nationalist won the Spanish civil war. -
The Rape of Nanking
To break the spirit of Chinese resistance, Japanese General Matsui Iwane ordered that the city of Nanking be destroyed. Much of the city was burned, and Japanese troops launched a campaign of atrocities against civilians. The Japanese butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages, many of whom were mutilated or killed in the process. -
Kristallnacht
From November 9 to 10, 1938, in an incident known as “Kristallnacht”, Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses, and murdered close to 100 Jews. In the aftermath of Kristallnacht (“Crystal Night” or the “Night of Broken Glass”), some 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps. German Jews had been subjected to repressive policies since 1933, when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. -
Nazi Germany invades Poland
Nazi propagandists accused Poland of persecuting ethnic Germans living in Poland. They falsely claimed that Poland was planning, with its allies Great Britain and France, to encircle and dismember Germany. The SS staged a phony attack on a German radio station. The Germans falsely accused the Poles of this attack. Hitler then used the action to launch a “retaliatory” campaign against Poland. With Germany's successful tactic called Blitzkrieg, Germany officially started world war 2. -
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor began just before 8 a.m. local time Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. For over an hour, in two waves, some 350 Japanese aircraft—having taken off from six aircraft carriers 230 miles north of Oahu—attacked the naval base. Japanese forces wreaked havoc on US naval vessels and on US aircraft on the island’s airfield. In all, 2,403 Americans, including 68 civilians, died in the attack.