Causes and course of WW2

Invasion of Ethiopia (1935)

Mussolini's Italy invaded the African nation of Ethiopia, revealing the League of Nations' inability to stop aggressor nations and emboldening Hitler and Mussolini to pursue further expansion.

Rome-Berlin Axis (1936)

A formal alliance between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany that aligned the two dictatorships politically and militarily, later expanded to include Japan as the Axis Powers.

Concentration Camps

Nazi-run prison systems used to detain, exploit, and murder perceived enemies of the state, including Jews, political opponents, and others, evolving into death camps during the Holocaust.

Kristallnacht (1938)

"The Night of Broken Glass" — a coordinated Nazi pogrom in which Jewish businesses, synagogues, and homes were destroyed across Germany and Austria, marking a violent escalation of anti-Jewish persecution.

Anschluss (1938)

Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria, achieved through political pressure and military intimidation, which expanded the Reich and demonstrated that Western powers would not resist Hitler's territorial ambitions.

Appeasement

The British and French policy of making concessions to Hitler (most notably at the Munich Conference, ceding Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland) in hopes of avoiding war, which instead encouraged further aggression.

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939)

A non-aggression treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that secretly divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, freeing Hitler to invade Poland without fear of a two-front war.

Blitzkrieg

German "lightning war" tactics combining fast-moving tanks, motorized infantry, and air support to overwhelm enemies before they could mount a defense, used devastatingly in Poland, France, and beyond.

Battle of Britain (1940)

A prolonged air campaign in which the German Luftwaffe attempted to destroy the Royal Air Force and force Britain into submission; Britain's successful defense marked Hitler's first major strategic defeat.

Operation Barbarossa (1941)

Germany's massive surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front — the largest land campaign in history — which ultimately stretched German forces to the breaking point.

Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

Japan's surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii, destroying much of the Pacific Fleet and bringing the United States into World War II.

Holocaust

The systematic, state-sponsored genocide carried out by Nazi Germany resulting in the murder of six million Jews and millions of others, including Roma, disabled people, and political prisoners.

Potsdam Conference (1945)

A post-victory meeting of Allied leaders (Truman, Churchill/Attlee, and Stalin) that determined the occupation and restructuring of defeated Germany and issued an ultimatum to Japan to surrender.