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Mussolini was Prime Minister of Italy from 1922-1925. He then set up an official dictatorship which lasted until 1943.
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Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933. He then used his supporters in the Reichstag to obtain power.
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Hitler denounced the Locarno Pact and began remilitarizing the Rhineland. Two years later, they attacked bordering nations and began to expand.
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Germany's first act of true aggression was on March 12, 1938. This was when Germany occupied and annexed Austria.
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The Munich Pact allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland. This was land in western Czechoslovakia.
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Poland was to be divided and annexed by Germany and Russia according to the German-Soviet Pact of August 1939. Germany invaded on Spetember 1st and defeated the Polish military within weeks.
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The Battle of France only took a month and ten days, with very little actual fighting. German armor easily overpowered the Maginot Line and pushed through the country.
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Belligerents: UK, Canada
Germany, Italy
Location: British Airspace
Casualties: UK: 1,262 aircrew killed
422 wounded
1,547 aircraft destroyed
Germany: 2,698 aircrew killed
967 captured
638 missing
1,887 aircraft destroyed Britain was victorious. This battle was significant because it showed that Germany could be stopped, even with the UK at a numbers disadvantage. -
The Axis Powers formed on September 27, 1940. They consisted of Japan, Germany, and Italy.
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The Lend-Lease Act was used to give military aid to Britain. It allowed the President to give military aid to any country that they believed would be necessary for the defense of the US.
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On this day, Germany began Operation Barbarossa, the largest german military operation of WWII. Operation Barbarossa was the german invasion of the Soviet Union.
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The US enters World War II in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan. Within days, Germany and Italy declared war on the US in respone to the US entering the war.
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Belligerents: USA
Japan
Location: Pearl Harboro, Hawaii Territory, US
Casualties: USA: 2 battleships totally lost
2 battleships sunk and recovered
4 battleships damaged
2 other ships sunk
3 cruisers damaged
3 destroyers damaged
3 other ships damaged
188 aircraft destroyed
159 aircraft damaged
2,403 killed
1,178 wounded
Japan: 4 midget submarines sunk
29 aircraft destroyed
64 killed
1 captured
The Japanese were victorious. This is the battle that brought the US into WWII. -
Belligerents: US
Japan Location: Midway Atoll Casualties: US: 307
Japan: 3,057 The US was victorious, with this battle leading to Japan's defeat in the Pacific Theater. -
Belligerents: US, Australia, New Zealand, UK
Japan Location: Guadacanal in the Solomon Islands Casualties: Allies: 15,000
Japan: 19,200 The Allies won a strategic victory, which lead to a strong start to the Allied campaign in the pacific. -
Belligerents: Germany, Romania, Italy, Hungary, Croatia
USSR
Location: Stalingrad, USSR
Casualties: Axis: 850,000
USSR: Over 1.1 million The USSR was victorious. The battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in WWII, as it showed the USSR's true grit, in that they would not give in to any type of siege, no matter the loss of life. -
Operation Torch was the Aglo-American invasion of Vichy France colonies in Northwest Africa. Allies sought to remove Axis powers from the continent of Africa.
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This was the meeting between Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. They met in Tehran, Iran.
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Belligerents: United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourgish Resistance
Germany Location: The Ardennes Casualties: Axis: 65,000-125,000
Allies: 91,000 The Allies were victorious. This battle was significant, as it was Germany's final offensive maneuver of the war. -
The Yalta Conference was held between Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was held to determine the post-war future of Europe.
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Belligerents: US
Japan Location: Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands Casualties: US: 28,000
Japan: 18,500 The US was victorious, and this signaled the eventual defeat of Japan at the hands of the US. -
Belligerents: US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia
Japan Location: Okinawa, Japan Casualties: US: 75,000
Japan: 100,000 The US was victorious, but this battle's civilian casualties signaled to the US that an invasion of the Japanese mainland was completely out of the question. -
Victory in Europe Day was a holiday celebrated on May 8, 1945. It was a celebration of the Allies' acceptance of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender.
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On August 6, Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima. On August 9, Fat man was dropped on Nagasaki. Surrender was announced six days later.
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Victory over Japan Day was declared by FDR on September 2nd as a day of celebration. The celebration was for the surrender of Japan, held in Tokyo.
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The Taft-Hartley Act, still in effect, is an act that limits the powers of labor unions. It was passed as an "anti-communism" measure.
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The Warsaw Pact was a document stating the collective defense of the USSR and seven of its satellite states. This Pact helped lead to the Cold War, as it seemed to be a way to prepare for war.
