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The march on Rome was a coup lead by Mussolini and his party of Fascists. It resulted in him seizing power from prime minister Luigi Facta and King Victor Emmanuel III, becoming the prime minister of Italy. While his dictatorship was not fully established, it was a big step in him taking control of Italy. -
Mein Kampf ("My Struggle") is an autobiography and manifesto written by Adolf Hitler. It outlines his political beliefs and plan for Germany as well as the rest of the world. It promoted Anti-Semitism, the idea of a master race, and Lebensraum. -
Stalin's "5 Year Plan" has his idea for a massive push in industrialization and agricultural collectivization. It forced farmer's land into large, stage controlled collective farms, invested into coal, steel etc industries, and dictated production quotas and resources. It resulted in widespread suffering, forced labor, and chaos. -
After the death of Valdimir Lenin in 1924, Stalin seizes power, despite Lenin's criticisms about him. Stalin eliminates his rival, Leon Trotsky, to prevent him from seizing power as a likely option as Lenin's successor. By 1929 all of Stalin's rivals were eliminated, securing his position as dictator. -
In response to China and the Soviet Union gaining power, Japan invaded Manchuria in order to secure their access to its natural resources and prevent China from invading it. Manchuria became the puppet state of Manchukou until the end of WW2. -
Holodomor was a massive man made famine in Ukraine from 1932-33. It was a part of the wider Soviet famine as a result of Stalin's 5 year plan which affected grain producing areas in the Soviet union as it turned to industrialization. The death toll ranges from 3.5-10 million people. -
Hitler seized power by promising salvation from the German people which helped him be put in power. He was given power by the prior chancellor and other people in power who convinced the president to turn over power to Hitler. From there Hitler gained more and more power until he became dictator. -
The Night of Long Knives was a purge on everyone in the Nazi party who was a threat to Hitler and the Nazi party. Hitler's biggest threat was Ernst Rohm who was assassinated along with anyone else who wasn't completely loyal. Between 85-400 or more people were executed. -
The Nuremberg were 2 anti-Semitic laws enacted by Nazi Germany. The laws were that only someone of pure German blood could be a citizen of Germany, and that Jewish people couldn't marry a German person or have sexual relationships with anyone "of German or kindred blood". These laws reduced Jewish people to "state subjects" and separated them from German people to prevent "race defilement". -
The Italian invasion of Ethiopia was the second Italo-Ethiopian war which was an annexation of Ethiopia driven by Italy's desire for imperialism. It offered potential mining resources and job opportunities for unemployed Italians. This resulted in many casualties and foreshadowed WW2 as the League of Nations failed to stop them. -
The Spanish Civil was started by a military coup against the Republican government of Spain. It was between Republicans and Nationalists and the ideological clashes of those parties. Nationalist forces won in 1939 leading to Francisco Franco's dictatorship. -
On December 17th 1937, Japan captured the Chinese capital city of Nanjing. They massacred around 300,000 civilians, raped tens of thousands of women, looted and burned down buildings. The violence eventually stopped when a Chinese led, Japanese influenced government was formed. -
The Great Purge was a massacre led by Stalin, to remove any threats to the communist party or anyone he considered to be a threat. About 750,000 people were killed from 1936 to 1938. However millions were also sent to gulags that remained throughout the USSR reign. -
Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, was an organized attack on Jewish owned businesses by the SS, German civilians, and Nazis. They broke windows and pillaged shops, only for the businesses to be fined for littering the next day. there were over 90 deaths and over 7,000 Jewish owned businesses vandalized. -
The German invasion of Poland was Hitler's movement to gain back the land lost in World War 1 that Hitler considered to be their divinely appointed "Living space". It was successful because of the Nazi-Soviet pact that divided Poland, preventing a 2 front war with the USSR. -
The bombing of Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack from Japan on Hawaii's naval base. Even though the US at the time was neutral, Japan decided to attack the US first rather than wait for an inevitable conflict between them as tensions were rising. The US responded by dropping 2 atomic bombs on Japan which forced them to surrender, eventually ending WW2.