World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
Important events in World War II and its aftermath 1934 – 1944
1934 Dollfuss makes himself dictator of Austria but is killed in an unsuccessful Nazi coup; Chinese Communists begin the Long March, fleeing Chiang’s armies.
1935 Germany wins the Saar plebiscite and begins to re-arm.
1936 Germany seizes the Rhineland.
1937 Chinese Communists and Nationalists form a united front against a Japanese invasion.
1938 Hitler forces Austria to unite with Germany and is given much of Czechoslovakia after the Munich Conference.
1939 Germany and Russia sign a non-aggression pact; Russia invades Finland; Germany invades Poland; start of World War II.
1940 Germany conquers Denmark, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands; the British are evacuated from Dunkirk; Churchill becomes British prime minister; France signs an armistice with Germany, which occupies half the country; Hitler tries to subdue Britain by heavy bombing attacks, but loses too many planes to continue the Battle of Britain.
1941 Yugoslavia and Greece fall to Germany; Germany invades Russia; Japan invades Indo-china and bombs the American naval base at Pearl Harbor; the United States enters the war.
1942 Japan conquers the Philippines; a German threat to the Suez Canal is turned back at El Alamein; the allies invade North Africa; Japan suffers a serious naval defeat at the Coral Sea; the Russians inflict a crushing defeat on the Germans at Stalingrad, often called the turning point of the war.
1943 The allies invade Sicily; Mussolini is overthrown and Italy leaves the war; but German troops in Italy continue to fight the allied invasion; the U.S. recaptures the Solomon Islands from Japan.
1944 The allies invade Nazi-occupied France at Normandy; French resistance fighters liberate Paris; American forces land in the Philippines; much of the Japanese fleet is destroyed in the battle of Leyte Gulf; the Germans try to break the allied lines in the battle of the Bulge, but are hurled back.
Important events in World War II and its aftermath 1945 – 1962
1945 The allies cross the Rhine; the U.S. captures Iwo Jima and Okinawa; Roosevelt dies; Mussolini is killed; Hitler commits suicide; Germany surrenders; atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrenders; end of World War II; founding of the United Nations; the Nuremberg trials of war criminals begin.
1946 Italy is declared a republic; riots between Hindus and Moslems sweep through India; Communist and Nationalist forces begin battling for control of China.
1947 The U.S. intervenes in civil wars in Greece and Turkey; India and Pakistan gain independence.
1948 Gandhi is assassinated; Arab-Jewish strife increases in Palestine; Yugoslavia breaks away from Russia and closes its borders to Greek rebels; a Communist coup deposes the Czech government; Russia attempts to blockade Berlin, but the Western allies airlift supplies to the city; the U.S. inaugurates the Marshall Plan for economic recovery; the state of Israel is proclaimed.
1949 The UN negotiates a truce in Palestine; Chinese Nationalists flee to Formosa while the victorious Communists found the Chinese Peoples’ Republic.
1950 War breaks out in Korea; the U.S. and its allies intervene on the side of the south, while China supports the north.
l951 MacArthur is removed from command in Korea; truce negotiations begin.
1953 A cease-fire is concluded in Korea; Farouk of Egypt is deposed by nationalist army officers.
1954 The French withdraw from Indochina after a serious defeat at Dienbienphu.
1956 Britain, France and Israel invade Egypt, but withdraw after widespread protest; Algerians revolt against French rule.
1958 An army revolt overthrows the French republic and brings Gen. de Gaulle to power.
1961 Generals who oppose de Gaulle’s Algerian policy revolt, but are quickly suppressed.
1962 Algeria gains independence; fighting between India and China.
World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
Even before the Korean War, the United Nations had proved that it could take effective action to control serious conflicts. It first took such action in the conflict over Palestine. During World War I, the British had ousted the Turks from Palestine. When the war was over, the League of Nations placed that land under the authority of Britain. The British then issued the famous Balfour Declaration, which promised the Jewish people that Palestine would someday become their homeland, but the Arabs of Palestine and the surrounding countries strongly objected to this and year after year passed without the British …
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World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
Although the cold war was the most important fact in the politics of the post-war world, few persons could have foreseen that it would lead to fighting in the small, remote country of Korea. Yet, as small and remote as it was, Korea had a strategic location. It was near three large powers — Russia, China and Japan — and the Japanese said it “points like a dagger at the heart of our country.” The Japanese won control of Korea in the Russo-Japanese War and by 1905 they ruled it as part of their empire. During World War II, the …
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World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
Like Gandhi and Nehru in India, one of China’s greatest leaders, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, learned from the West as well as the East. Born in 1867 of a Christian family, he received most of his education in Hawaii; while an exile, he lived in Europe, America and Japan. Although Dr. Sun had been educated to be a surgeon, he soon gave up the practice of medicine to lead his people against their Manchu rulers. The Chinese were successful in overthrowing the Manchus and in 1912 they proclaimed their country a republic. Dr. Sun, who became known as the “father of …
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World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
Even before the end of World War II, it was clear that Asia and Africa would soon be shaken by a great movement for independence. Everywhere the colonial peoples wanted to be free of the rule of other countries. The British, who controlled more colonies than any other nation, knew that they faced the break-up of their empire. Churchill was opposed to giving up any of Britain’s power. In 1942, he said, “I haven’t become the king’s first minister to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.” A number of Englishmen shared his view, including some members of the …
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World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
On June 25, 1940, the Japanese war minister said, “The present international situation is developing in a manner advantageous to Japan’s national policy. We should not miss the present opportunity. . . Japan’s national policy was scarcely a secret. It had already linked itself by treaty to the aggressor nations of Germany and Italy – for several years it had been fighting an undeclared war against China. Although Chinese guerrilla forces were fighting back the Japanese controlled most of the Chinese railroads and held such cities as Peiping, Shanghai and Canton. They planned to establish something they called the “Greater …
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World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
Now the people of Europe began to hear a new sound, a sound that would haunt them throughout the years of war — the wail and shriek of air-raid sirens. At night, the lights of Europe went out and the “blackout” made familiar streets strange places of darkness. Street lamps were left unlit and windows were covered with heavy draperies. Any stray gleam of light might help guide enemy bombers to their targets. Hurrying about their wartime duties, the people of Britain and France began to wonder. They had not wanted war and yet war had come. Why? What had …
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World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
Czechoslovakia was a country of many peoples. The largest groups were the Czechs and the Slovaks, but in the region called Sudetenland lived 3,000‚000 Germans. Although Sudetenland had never belonged to Germany — it had once been under the rule of Austria — Hitler was determined to “bring the Sudeten Germans home.” The Nazis had been active in Sudetenland for some time and after Hitler took over Austria they became busier than ever. Throughout the spring and summer of 1938, the Sudeten Germans made demands on the Czech government. In Germany, there were threatening troop movements. Hitler also began the …
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World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
Even before Pearl Harbour, there had been cooperation between the United States and Britain. In August of 1941, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met secretly, on a cruiser at sea off the coast of Newfoundland. There they drew up the Atlantic Charter, a document stating the principles on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world. They pledged that neither country would seek more territory. They hoped that, “after the final destruction of Nazi tyranny,” all men in all lands could “live out their lives in freedom from want and fear,” and they called on …
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World War 2 and its Aftermath 1934 – 1944
Adolf Hitler, stood above the German town of Berchtesgaden, in a large, imposing house in the mountains and stared out a window. It was a fine February day in the winter of 1938 and the snow-covered peaks of the Alps glistened in the clear air. The man at the window seemed not to see the peaceful mountains. Berchtesgaden was close to the border of Austria and he seemed to see beyond the mountains into the heart of Austria itself — an Austria filled with marching troops‚ cheering crowds and the swastika banners of the Nazis. Staring at this vision, he …
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