2. November 1918
World War One Ends – Millions are dead.

3. January 1919 – Leaders of USA, Britain and
France meet at Versailles to decide the fate of
Germany.

4. June 1919 – Germany forced to sign the Treaty
of Versailles. They hate the terms and condemn
the Treaty as too harsh.

5. June 1919 – Germany loses territory
and the Rhineland is demilitarised.

6. April 1921 – Germany’s reparations set
at 6.6 Billion Pounds

7. November 1920 – The League of
Nations met for the first time –USA,
Russia or Germany were not members

8. August 1924 – The Dawes Plan (The
USA lends money to Germany to help
ease reparations burden)

9. August 1928 – Kellogg-Briand Pact (Ten
years after the end of WWI 85 nations
promise not to wage aggressive wars).

10. October 1929: Wall Street Crash triggers
the worst global economic depression in
history.

11. 1929 ?: The Great Depression – within a
few years there were 6 million unemployed
in Germany.

12. Early 1930s: Dictators in Germany, Japan
and Italy plan to solve their economic
problems by invading other territories.

13. October 1935: Italian dictator Mussolini
invades Abyssinia.

14. October 1935: The League of Nations does
not support Abyssinian Emperor Haile
Selassie

15. March 1936: Hitler ignores the Treaty of
Versailles and reoccupies the Rhineland.
No one stops him.

16. September 1931 – Japanese troop begin
their invasion of Manchuria, China. No one
stops them.

17. Early 1930s – Britain follows an
appeasement policy (giving into bullies to
avoid conflict)

18. July 1936 – German air force practice for
war by destroying towns in Spain. No one
stops them.

19. March 1938 – German troops ignore Treaty
of Versailles and invade Austria. No one
stops him.

20. September 1938 – Hitler signs the Munich
Agreement and promises to NOT invade
Czechoslovakia.

21. March 1939– Germany invades
Czechoslovakia.

22. August 1939 – Nazi Germany and
Soviet Union sign non-aggression Pact

23. September 3, 1939: Germany launches
‘blitzkrieg’ (Lightning War) against
Poland.

24. May to June 1940 – Hitler’s army
invades Western Europe, forcing mass
evacuation of British soldiers.

25. May 1940 – Winston Churchill
becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
Vows to stop Hitler.

26. June 1941 – Hitler launches Operation
Barbarossa (a surprise attack on
Russia)

27. December 7 1941– Japan’s attack on
Pearl Harbour brings the USA into the
war