US History 1900s-Present

WWII in Europe - D-Day (1944)

(FDR) , June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which "we will accept nothing less than full victory." More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day's end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy.

Great Depression

(HH) , starting with collapse of the US stock market in 1929, period of worldwide economic stagnation and depression. Heavy borrowing by European nations from USA during WW1 contributed to instability in European economies. Sharp declines in income and production as buying and selling slowed down. Widespread unemployment, countries raised tariffs to protect their industries. America stopped investing in Europe. Lead to loss of confidence that economies were self adjusting, HH was blamed for it

WWII in the Pacific - Pearl Harbor (1941)

7:50-10:00 AM, December 7, 1941 - Surprise attack by the Japanese on the main U.S. Pacific Fleet harbored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii destroyed 18 U.S. ships and 200 aircraft. American losses were 3000, Japanese losses less than 100. In response, the U.S. declared war on Japan and Germany, entering World War II.

First New Deal, 1933-1935 Second New Deal, 1935-1938

A series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending the Great Depression. FIRST NEW DEAL ~ Other New Deal programs that impact our lives today include banking reform (like FDIC insurance which keeps your money at the bank safe), stock market regulations (to keep companies from lying about their profits), farm programs, housing programs, and laws protecting and regulating unions. Second NEW DEAL ~ One of the most important aspects of the Second New Deal was the Social Security Act passed in 1935. This act was made to assist the elderly in retirement. It provided a pension to retired people, cared for orphans and the disabled, and set up a system of unemployment insurance. Currently, retirement benefits are paid for by a payroll tax. Half of the tax is paid by the worker and half by the employer.

WWII in the Pacific - Japanese Internment Camps (1942-1945)

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War II. Not long after the attack, on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed an executive order that allowed the military to force people of Japanese ancestry into internment camps. Around 120,000 Japanese-Americans were sent to the camps. The camps were made because people became paranoid that Japanese-Americans would help Japan against the United States after the Pearl Harbor attack. They were scared that they would sabotage American interests. However, this fear was not founded on any hard evidence. The people were put in the camps based only on their race. They had not done anything wrong. It is estimated that around 120,000 Japanese-Americans were sent to ten camps spread out around the Western United States. Most of them were from west coast states like California. They were divided into three groups including the Issei (people who had immigrated from Japan), the Nisei (people whose parents were from Japan, but they were born in the U.S.), and the Sansei (third generation Japanese-Americans). The interment finally ended in January of 1945. Many of these families had been in the camps for over two years. Many of them lost their homes, farms, and other property while they were in the camps. They had to rebuild their lives.

War Crimes of WWII

After the war, many leaders from Japan and Germany were brought to trial. They had violated the rules of war according to the Geneva Convention and had also committed crimes against humanity. These crimes included the Holocaust, slave labor, and the terrible treatment and torture of prisoners of war. Many of these leaders were executed for their crimes.

European Union

An international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members. an organization which is concentrating on the economy of the member states providing them with a single platform to market their products and sell them to a unified economy.

The Stock Market Crash

Another leading component to the start of the Great Depression. The stock became very popular in the 1920's, then in 1929 in took a steep downturn and many lost their money and hope they had put in to the stock. The stock market crash signaled the beginning of the Great Depression that would last for ten years until 1939. During this period, unemployment rose to around 25%, banks failed across the country, and hundreds of thousands of businesses went bankrupt. While the stock market crash was not the only cause of the Great Depression, it did have a major impact.

Korean War (1950-1953)

Before World War II the Korean Peninsula had been a part of Japan. After the war it needed to be divided up. The Northern half went under the control of the Soviet Union and the Southern half under the control of the United States. The two sides were divided at the 38th parallel. Eventually two separate states formed with North Korea forming a communist government with Kim Il-sung as leader and South Korea forming a capitalist government under the rule of Syngman Rhee. The two sides did not get along and there were constant skirmishes and battles along the border at the 38th parallel. Attempts were being made to negotiate a unified country, but they were going nowhere. On June 25, 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea. The South Korean Army fled and forces from the United Nations came to help out. The United States provided the majority of the United Nations forces. Soon the South Korea government only occupied a small part of Korea on the southern tip. At first the United Nations was only trying to defend South Korea, however, after the first summer of fighting, President Truman decided to go on the offensive. He said the war was now about liberating North Korea from communism. General George MacArthur led the UN forces on an attack at the Battle of Inchon. The Battle was a success and MacArthur was able to move in and rout much of the North Korean army. He soon had retaken control of the city of Seoul as well as South Korea back up to the 38th parallel. Ridgway fortified the border just north of the 38th Parallel. Here the two sides would battle for the rest of the war. North Korea would attack the south at various points and the UN army would retaliate trying to prevent more attacks. On July 17, 1953 a treaty was signed that ended the war. Few things had changed as a result of the war. Both countries would remain independent and the border would remain at the 38th parallel. However, between the two countries a 2 mile demilitarized zone was placed to act as a buffer in hopes to prevent future wars.

WWII in Europe- the holocaust (1939-1945)

During World War II when the Nazis would take over a city in Europe they would force all of the Jewish people into one area of town. This area was called a ghetto and was fenced in with barbed wire and guarded. There was little food, water, or medicine available. It was also very crowded with multiple families sometimes sharing a single room to live in. All Jewish people were eventually to be brought to concentration camps. They were told they were relocating to a new and better place, but this was not the case. Concentration camps were like prison camps. People were forced to do hard labor. The weak were quickly killed or died of starvation. Some camps even had gas chambers. People would be led into the chambers in large groups only to be killed with poison gas. The concentration camps were horrible places. Many Jewish people hid from the Nazis during World War II. They would hide with non-Jewish families. Sometimes they would pretend to be a part of the family and sometimes they would hide in hidden rooms or in a basement or attic. Some were able to eventually escape across the border into a free country, but many hid for years sometimes in the same room. It occurred during World War II when Hitler was leader of Germany. Six million Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis. This included as many as 1 million Jewish children. Millions of other people that Hitler didn't like were killed as well. This included Polish people, Catholics, Serbs, and handicapped people. It is thought that the Nazis murdered as many as 17 million innocent people.

End of WWII

Europe ~ Germany had occupied much of Europe during World War II. Many of the countries in the west returned to the same governments and borders they had prior to the war. However, Germany was divided up into Eastern and Western Germany. The Eastern part was controlled by the USSR (Russia) and the Western part by the Allies. ~ The USSR also took control of many of the countries in Eastern Europe where they had fought the Germans. These included Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. ~ Europe was in much need of financial aid due to all the roads, bridges, buildings and more that had been destroyed in the fighting. The United States offered Aid in the form of the Marshall Plan to help Europe recover. Japan and Eastern Asia ~ The US and the Allies occupied Japan. They maintained control as Japan recovered from the war. Japan would become an independent nation again in 1952. ~ In Korea, the Allies and the USSR (Russia) divided up the country into North and South Korea. The plan was for Russia to control the North and the Allies the South until a free election could be held for the entire country. This never happened as Russia later refused and the country is still split to this day with North Korea controlled by communists. ~ In China, a civil war continued that had started prior to World War II. It was between the communists and the nationalists. The communists won and the nationalists fled to Taiwan.

WWII US involvement~ (1941-1945)

Even though the fighting in World War II was all the way across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the war changed the lives of everyone in America. The war effort in the United States was often called the home front. Because of the war, many products were in short supply. Metal had to be used to make tanks and battle ships. Medicine was needed for the battlefields. Also, some products were hard to get as they came from countries that were at war. Rubber for tires was especially difficult to get because much of it was imported from Southeast Asia. By the end of the war, many products were rationed. Each family would get ration stamps allowing them to buy a certain amount of a type of product. Products rationed included tires, automobiles, sugar, gasoline, meat, butter, and coal. When World War II began in 1939 there were around 190,000 men in the US Army. By the time the war ended in 1945, there were over 10 million. On top of this, factories in the US were at full capacity making arms, tanks, ships, and vehicles for the war. There was a shortage of workers. To fill the gap and help build supplies for the war, many women went to work. They took on tough physical labor jobs that previously had been done mostly by men. Women who went to work in factories were nicknamed Rosie the Riveter. They played a major role in keeping the factories running smoothly and producing much needed planes, tanks, and other arms for the war. The US government knew that Americans must stay united in the war effort in order to win the war. They created all sorts of posters that showed patriotism and ways that people could help with the war effort from home. There were also lots of wartime movies showing how brave the soldiers were and how evil Hitler and the enemy was. All movie scripts had to be approved by the government. Many celebrities fought in the war. Baseball players such as Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams enlisted and fought. Also movie stars such as Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable joined the army. At one point the commissioner of Major League Baseball wrote a letter to President Roosevelt asking if professional baseball should continue during the war. Roosevelt responded that they should keep playing baseball because it was good for the country's moral.

Farmers during the great depression

Farmers had been having a tough time for much of the 1920s before the Great Depression started. With new machinery, farmers were growing more crops than ever before. However, this caused prices to drop so low that they couldn't make any profit. When the Great Depression hit, things got even worse for farmers. In the Midwest, a drought started that would last until 1939. With no rainfall, the soil turned to dust. Many farmers couldn't pay their bills and lost their farms. They migrated to California hoping to find work.

WWII in the Pacifc- Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)

Finally in 1945 the Japanese army had been pushed back to Japan. However, the Japanese would not surrender. American leaders felt that the only way to get Japan to surrender would be to invade the main island of Japan. However, they feared this would cost the lives of up to 1 million US soldiers. Instead of invading, President Harry S. Truman decided to use a new weapon called the atomic bomb. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. It completely destroyed the city and killed thousands and thousands of people. Japan did not surrender. Another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. This time the Japanese decided to surrender.

After WWI ended in 1918.....

Germany was defeated, President Wilson pushed for his Fourteen Points to be followed by the rest of Europe and the Allies. Wilson wanted all of Europe to be able to recover quickly from the war, including Germany. France and Britain disagreed and placed harsh reparations on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles. The United States did not sign the Treaty of Versailles, but established their own peace treaty with Germany.

Roaring 20's

It was a time of hope, prosperity, and cultural change. With the economy and the stock market booming, people were spending money on entertainment and consumer goods. Advances in industry allowed the average person to buy goods such as automobiles for the first time. Women were newly empowered by gaining the right to vote in 1919. Everything seemed like it was going great, and people thought that the good times would never end. The optimism of the early 1920s was largely due to the end of the World War I in 1918. The United States had been on the winning side of the war and had emerged from the war as a major world power. Confidence in the U.S. government and the ability of the armed forces to protect freedom was at an all time high. American Industry grew rapidly during the 1920s. Mass production of consumer products like automobiles, phonographs, and radios lowered prices and made these products available to the average middle-class family. For the first time, working-class families could buy a car on credit. Everyone wanted to own a car and a radio. The economy was booming and it looked like there was no end. The Roaring Twenties signaled a major shift in the culture of the United States. With the invention of the radio, movies, and mass produced consumer goods, the 1920s became a time of mass culture. People throughout the United States listened to the same radio shows, watched the same movies, and bought the same products. People from one side of the country to the other were doing many of the same things. With all the optimism and the booming economy, people were buying lots of products on credit. The overall debt of the country grew rapidly. At the same time, people were speculating on the stock market. Stock values soared and people thought they would go up forever. However, on October 29,1929, the stock market crashed. This day is known as Black Tuesday and it signaled the beginning of the Great Depression.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

Military alliance created in 1949 made up of 12 non-Communist countries including the United States that support each other if attacked.

WWII in the pacific- Japan Surrenders

On August 15, 1945 Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan would surrender. Later on September 2, 1945 the Japanese signed a surrender treaty with US General Douglas MacArthur aboard the battleship USS Missouri. This day was called V-J Day which means Victory in Japan.

Failure of banking system during the great depression

One of the major factors that led to the Great Depression was the failure of the banking system. In the first few years of the Great Depression, over 10,000 banks failed. Many people lost their life savings. Some people went from being rich to having nothing. The U.S. government did little at the time to help the banks survive.

The Wright Brothers (1903)

Orville and Wilbur Wright are credited with inventing the airplane. They were the first to make a successful human flight with a craft that was powered by an engine and was heavier than air. This was quite a milestone and impacted transportation throughout the world. It took some time to perfect, but in later years people could travel large distances at much less time. Today, trips that previously would have taken months by boat and train, can now be traveled by plane in a few hours. Orville made the famous first flight. The flight took place at Kitty Hawk North Carolina on December 17, 1903. They chose Kitty Hawk because it had a hill, good breezes, and was sandy which would help soften the landings in case of a crash. The first flight lasted 12 seconds and they flew for 120 feet. Each brother made additional flights that day that were slightly longer.

Temperance Movement/Prohibition

Sought to prohibit alcohol consumption in the U.S. Began in 1830's.By 1855 13 states had prohibited alcohol. 1919- U.S. constitution was amended to prohibit alcohol at the national level (18th amendment) It was never fully enforced, and battles between law enforcement agents (Eliot Ness), and organized crime characterized this era. Leaders of organized crime made millions selling alcohol (Al Capone). After 14 years of unsuccessful attempts to enforce the law, it was finally repealed in 1933 with the 21st amendment.

United Nations (1951)

The Allies formed the United Nations in order to try and prevent World War III from happening. The United Nations was formed on October 24, 1945. There were 51 original member nations including 5 permanent Security Council members: China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Cold War(1945 - 1991)

The Cold War was a long period of tension between the democracies of the Western World and the communist countries of Eastern Europe. The west was led by the United States and Eastern Europe was led by the Soviet Union. These two countries became known as superpowers. Although the two superpowers never officially declared war on each other, they fought indirectly in proxy wars, the arms race, and the space race.

End of the Great Depression (1939)

The Great Depression didn't just end one day and everything was all better. The exact date when the Great Depression ended is much debated by historians and economists. Most people put the "start of the end" at the beginning of World War II in 1939. When the war began, factories went back to full production building war supplies such as tanks, airplanes, ships, guns, and ammunition. Unemployment dropped as young men joined the army and people went to work in the factories. Other people give credit to the New Deal programs of the 1930s for ending the depression.

WWII in the Pacific - the war (1942)

The Japanese quickly took over much of Southeast Asia and were well on their way to dominance by 1942. However, the US won a critical battle called the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942. Badly outnumbered, the US Navy sunk four Japanese aircraft carriers and forced the Japanese to retreat. Winning this battle gave the Americans cause for hope and was a turning point in the war in the Pacific. After the Battle of Midway the United States began to fight back against the Japanese. They fought to take over strategic islands in the Pacific. One of the first major battles was over the island of Guadalcanal. After fierce fighting the US was able to take the island, but they learned that fighting the Japanese was not going to be easy. There were many battles over islands in the South Pacific, these included Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima took 36 days of fighting to take the island. Today a statue of marines raising a flag on the island of Iwo Jima serves as the Marine Corps Memorial in Washington DC.

WWII in the Pacific (1939-1945)

The Pacific theater of war included Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, and many more islands and countries in Southeast Asia. apan wanted to become a strong country and a world leader. However, because Japan was a small island country, they had to import many natural resources. Some Japanese leaders felt they needed to gain more land by conquering other countries. In 1937 Japan invaded China. They wanted to dominate all of Southeast Asia. They joined the Axis alliance with Germany and Italy in 1940 by signing the Tripartite Pact. In 1941 a former General of the Army, Hideki Tojo, became Prime Minister of Japan. He had been a strong supporter of Japan joining the Axis Powers. Now that he was Prime Minister, Tojo wanted Japan to attack the United States.

Panama Canal (1904-1914)

The Panama Canal is a 48 mile long man-made waterway that crosses the Isthmus of Panama. It uses a number of locks on each side to lower and raise ships to allow them to pass between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The Panama Canal was built to lower the distance, cost, and time it took for ships to carry cargo between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Before the canal, ships would have to go around the entire continent of South America. A ship traveling from New York to San Francisco saved around 8,000 miles and 5 months of travel by crossing at the canal. The Panama Canal was a huge boost to world trade and the economy. The French began work on the canal in 1881, but failed due to disease and construction difficulties. In 1904, the United States began to work on the canal. It took 10 years of hard work, but the canal was officially opened on August 15, 1914. In 1999, the United States transferred control of the canal to the country of Panama. Today, the canal remains an important part of international trade. Around 12,000 ships travel through the canal each year carrying over 200 million tons of cargo. Around 9,000 people currently work for the Panama Canal.

Arms Race (Cold War) (1945 - 1991)

The United States and the Soviet Union also tried to fight the Cold War by demonstrating their power and technology. One example of this was the Arms Race where each side tried to have the best weapons and the most nuclear bombs. The idea was that a large stockpile of weapons would deter the other side from ever attacking.

Space Race (Cold war) (1945 - 1991)

The United States and the Soviet Union tried to show that it had the better scientists and technology by accomplishing certain space missions first.

Vietnam War (1955-1975)

The Vietnam War was fought between communist North Vietnam and the government of Southern Vietnam. The North was supported by communist countries such as the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. The South was supported by anti-communist countries, primarily the United States. The United States lost the Vietnam War. It lasted for twenty years, something the US never expected when it joined in the fight. Not only did the US lose the war and the country of Vietnam to the communists, the US lost prestige in the eyes of the world. Prior to World War II Vietnam had been a colony of the French. During World War II the Japanese took control of the area. When the war ended there was a power vacuum. Vietnamese revolutionary and communist Ho Chi Minh wanted freedom for the country of Vietnam. However, the Allies all agreed that Vietnam belonged to the French. Eventually Ho Chi Minh and his rebels began to fight the French. Ho's soldiers in the north were called the Viet Minh. Ho tried to get US help, but they didn't want Ho to succeed as they were worried about communism spreading throughout Southeast Asia. When Ho began to have success against the French, the US became more concerned. In 1950 they began sending aid to the French in Vietnam. The US Enters the War ~ In 1954 the French lost a major battle to the Vietnamese. They decided to pull out of Vietnam. The country was divided up into a communist Northern Vietnam and a Southern Vietnam. It was supposed to be reunited under a single election in 1956. However, the United States did not want the country to become communist. They helped Ngo Dinh Diem get elected in the South. President Lyndon Johnson had the plan to help the Southern Vietnamese get strong enough to fight the North rather than having the US win the war for them. By putting limits on the troops and not allowing them to attack Northern Vietnam from 1965 to 1969, the US had no chance to win. Not only were the US troops limited in what they could do strategically by President Johnson, the jungles of Vietnam proved a difficult place to fight a war. It was very difficult to find the enemy in the jungles and also difficult to determine who was the enemy. The troops had to deal with booby traps and constant ambushes from people they thought they were fighting for When Richard Nixon became president he decided to end US involvement in the war. He first began removing troops from Vietnam in July of 1969. On January 27, 1973 a peace fire was negotiated. A few months later in March the final US troops were removed from Vietnam. In April of 1975 South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam. Soon the country became officially unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Vietnam was now a communist country. The US had lost the Vietnam War and also taken a major blow in the Cold War.

Dust bowl government aid programs

The federal government implemented programs to help the farmers that stayed in the Dust Bowl. They taught farmers proper farming practices to help preserve the soil. They also purchased some land to let it regenerate in order to prevent future dust storms. It took some time, but much of the land had recovered by the early 1940s.

Seneca Falls Convention (1843)

The first women's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. Around 300 people attended the meeting which was led by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The main outcome of the meeting was the "Declaration of Sentiments", a document similar to the Declaration of Independence. It stated that women should have equal rights to men including the right to vote.

The United States in WWI (1917)

When war broke out in 1914, the United States had a policy of neutrality. Many people in the U.S. saw the war as a dispute between "old world" powers that had nothing to do with them. Also, public opinion on the war was often split as there were many immigrants who had ties to both sides. When the Germans sank the Lusitania in 1915, a passenger ocean liner with 159 Americans on board, the public opinion in the United States toward the war began to change. This act killed 1,198 innocent passengers. When the United States finally entered the war two years later, the cry "Remember the Lusitania" was used on recruitment posters and to unite the people against the Germans. The U.S. army in Europe was under the command of General John J. Pershing. At first, the U.S. had few trained troops to send over to Europe. However, the army was quickly built up through the draft and volunteers. By the end of the war around 2 million U.S. troops were in France. The U.S. troops arrived just in time to turn the tide of the war in favor of the Allies. Both sides were exhausted and running out of soldiers. The influx of fresh troops helped to boost the morale of the Allies and played a major role in the defeat of the Germans.

Women's Suffrage Movement

Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote and to hold an elected office. You may think that women have always had the right to vote, but this is far from the truth. Up until the 1900s, most democracies throughout history only allowed men to vote. This includes the democracies of Ancient Greece, the Roman Republic, and early democracies in Britain and the United States. In the United States women were not allowed to vote until the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920. That's less than 100 years ago. In some countries the date was much later, such as in Kuwait where women weren't given the right to vote until 2005. In other countries the date was earlier, as in New Zealand which pioneered women's suffrage in 1893. In 1917, the National Women's Party was formed to help fight for women's rights. Leaders such as Alice Paul and Lucy Burns organized protests in Washington. At the time, President Woodrow Wilson was against the 19th amendment. Alice Paul was arrested and sent to jail where she held a hunger strike. In 1918, President Wilson changed his mind and decided to support the amendment and on August 26, 1920 the 19th Amendment was signed into law.

Wilson's 14 Points

Woodrow Wilson's plan for post-war peace: no secret treaties; freedom of the seas; removal of economic barriers; reduction of arms; adjust colonial claims After entering the war, President Wilson issued his famous Fourteen Points. These points were his plans for peace and the goals of the United States in entering the war. Wilson was the only leader to publicly state his war aims. Included in Wilson's Fourteen Points was the establishment of a League of Nations that he hoped would help to end war in the future.

World War I (1914-1918)

World War I was fought between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers. The main members of the Allied Powers were France, Russia, and Britain. The United States also fought on the side of the Allies after 1917. The main members of the Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. The majority of the fighting took place in Europe along two fronts: the western front and the eastern front. The western front was a long line of trenches that ran from the coast of Belgium to Switzerland. A lot of the fighting along this front took place in France and Belgium. The eastern front was between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria on one side and Russia and Romania on the other. Although there were a number of causes for the war, the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the main catalyst for starting the war. After the assassination, Austria declared war on Serbia. Then Russia prepared to defend its ally Serbia. Next, Germany declared war on Russia to protect Austria. This caused France to declare war on Germany to protect its ally Russia. Germany invaded Belgium to get to France which caused Britain to declare war on Germany. This all happened in just a few days. A lot of the war was fought using trench warfare along the western front. The armies hardly moved at all. They just bombed and shot at each other from across the trenches. Some of the major battles during the war included the First Battle of the Marne, Battle of the Somme, Battle of Tannenberg, Battle of Gallipoli, and the Battle of Verdun. The fighting ended on November 11, 1918 when a general armistice was agreed to by both sides. The war officially ended between Germany and the Allies with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

WWII in Europe (1939-1945)

World War II in Europe began when Hitler's Nazi Germany attacked Poland. Germany had allies such as Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. These European countries were part of the Axis Powers. The countries that fought against Germany and the Axis Powers in Europe were called the Allied Powers. The main Allied Powers in Europe were Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and France. Later the United States would help in defeating Hitler. When Germany lost World War I they were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty not only took land from Germany, but required that they pay huge amounts of money in reparations to countries they had fought. As a result, the German economy did very poorly. The citizens of Germany were not only humiliated that they had lost World War I, but they were also poor and struggling. It was during this time that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came into power. Hitler promised he would bring Germany back to power.

WW11 (1939-1945)

World War II was fought between the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) and the Allied Powers (Britain, United States, Soviet Union, France). Most of the countries in the world were involved in some way. It was the deadliest war in all of human history with around 70 million people killed. World War II started in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany. The war in Europe ended with Germany's surrender on May 7, 1945. The war in the Pacific ended when Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945.

Proxy War (1945 - 1991)

a conflict in which two opposing states "fight" by supporting opposite sides in war, such as the government and rebels in a third state

Dust Bowl (1930s)

heavy winds carried top soil away, buried homes, and destroyed harvests. Over a million farmers were driven off their land. The Dust Bowl was an area in the Midwest that suffered from drought during the 1930s and the Great Depression. The soil became so dry that it turned to dust. Farmers could no longer grow crops as the land turned into a desert. Areas of Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico were all part of the Dust Bowl. Living in the Dust Bowl became nearly impossible. Dust got everywhere. The people spent much of their time trying to clean up the dust and keep it out of their houses. Many of the farmers had to move as they could not survive. Crops would not grow and livestock were often choked to death by the dust.