On July 29, 1919, the Peace Treaty of Versailles ended the
First World War, which was fought between Germany and the Allied Powers. The
Treaty imposed on Germany
legal and military restrictions and set out the reparations to be paid to the
Allied forces. Germany
lost many territories
as well. The terms of the Treaty led to the following
events:
1919-1929
1919 - Great Britain and the USA
made guarantees to assist France
in case of German invasion. 1919-1920 - In
order to prevent another terrible
war, the League of
Nations was founded, and it had members from 42 countries
initially. 1921- France and Poland signed a secret agreement to
assist one another in case of German aggression. 1922 - Fascist
Mussolini came to power in Italy.
1925 - Germany, Belgium,
Great Britain, France,
and Italy signed the Treaty of Mutual Guarantee in Locarno.
1926 - The Soviet
Union and Germany
signed the Treaty of Berlin. Germany
became
a member of the League of Nations. 1928 - The USA, Great Britain,
Germany, Belgium, Italy,
Japan, Czechoslovakia, and Poland signed the Pact
of Paris. 1929 - The
construction of the Maginot Line began in France.
1930-1938
1931 - Japan invaded Manchuria. 1932 - Soviet
Union signed Non-Aggression Pacts with Finland,
Poland, and France.
1933 - Hitler
came to
power and formed the Third Reich in Germany. Nazis banned all other
parties and burnt books by Einstein, Freud, Thomas Mann, Jack London,
Herbert
G. Wells, and many others. Germany
withdrew from the League of Nations. 1934 - Germany and Poland signed the Non-Aggression
Declaration. The Night of the Long Knives took place in Germany. Hitler
became fuhrer of Germany.
1935 - Italy invaded Ethiopia, and started
the Second
Italo�Abyssinian War. The Nuremberg Race Laws were issued. 1936 - The Rome
Berlin Axis was formed. Germany
and Japan
signed the Anti-Comintern Pact. 1938 - Germany announced union with Austria.
World War II
1939 - In March, Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. In April, Italy invaded Albania. In August, Germany and the Soviet
Union signed a secret
non-aggression pact. On September 1, Germany invaded Poland. On September 3, Britain, France,
New Zealand, and Australia declared war on
Germany. That was the beginning of
the Second World War. 1940 - In March, Finland surrendered to the Soviet
Union. Over the next 3 months,
Denmark,
Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway
surrendered to Germany.
Italy declared war on France and Britain. In June, France surrendered to
Germany. In July, the Battle of
Britain began. Italy invaded
Egypt and Greece. Hungary
and Romania
joined the Axis Powers. 1941 - Yugoslavia
and Greece
surrendered to Germany.
Germans captured Minsk and surrounded Leningrad, and went on to take Kiev,
Odessa, Kharkov,
and
Rostov. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The USA and Britain
declared war on Japan.
1942 - The Royal
Air Force bombed Germany,
and
the USA bombed Japan.
The Battle of the Coral Sea
and the Battle of Midway started, as well as the Battle of El Alamein and the
Battle of Alam
el Halfa. The Battle of Stalingrad began. 1943 - Montgomery captured Tripoli.
Americans bombed Germany for the first time, and the Germans
surrendered in Stalingrad. The Allies landed in Sicily, Salerno,
and Taranto.
Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met in Teheran. 1944 - The siege
of
Leningrad
ended. German forces withdrew to the Adolf Hitler Line. D-Day landings took
place. Polish Home Army uprising began in Warsaw.
Operation Dragoon was started. The Allies liberated Paris,
Dieppe, Atrois, Verdun,
Abbeville, Rouen, Antwerp,
and Brussels.
The Battle of
Bulge took place in the Ardennes. 1945 - Churchill,
Roosevelt, and Stalin met in Yalta.
The Allies took Koln and liberated Buchenwald. President
Roosevelt died, and Truman became president. The Russians reached Berlin, and Hitler
committed suicide. The first and the second atomic bombs
were dropped.
Churchill, Clement Atlee, Stalin, and Truman met in Postdam. V-J Victory Day.
Although World War II ended with the victory of the Allied
forces, it was the most terrible war in the history of the world. More than 22
million soldiers and more than 40 million civilians died during the war.
For more information about World War II, you can go to:
Treaty
of Versailles : The complete Versailles
treaty with all 440 articles, maps, photos, charts, and cartoons
World War II :
Chronology of the major events of World War II
The Battle of Britain :
Royal Air Force history site with detailed information about the Battle of
Britain, as well as daily reports, air power, units, and others
The Siege of
Leningrad : Information about the history of St. Petersburg, including the 900-day
�Blokada� with illustrations
Pearl Harbor : An
account of the Pearl Harbor attack in
1941
Battle
of the Coral Sea : Comprehensive information about the Battle of the Coral Sea,
including records of commanders, battles, weapons, and others
Battle of
Midway : Detailed info on the Battle of Midway Island, with some
images
The
Battle of El Alamein : Brief information about the battles in the
deserts of North Africa, as well as the
commanders, and others
V-J Victory Day : Information
about the victory of the Allied forces, including the war in the Pacific,
the surrender of Japan, battle maps, speeches, video clips, and others