1930s1945

1930s–1945 covers the era from the Great Depression’s peak to the end of World War II. The decade of the 1930s was marked by economic hardship, social unrest, and political upheaval. In the United States, the New Deal sought to mitigate unemployment and revive growth. Across much of Europe, authoritarian movements gained power: Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime controlled Germany after 1933; fascist regimes expanded in Italy and militarized states pursued expansion in Japan. These developments culminated in the outbreak of World War II in 1939 with the invasion of Poland. The war involved major Allied and Axis powers and drew in global theaters, including Europe, the Pacific, North Africa, and Asia. Key milestones included the fall of France in 1940, the Battle of Britain in 1940, Operation Barbarossa in 1941, the entry of the United States into the war after Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy, the turning points in 1942–1943, and the D-Day landings in 1944. In 1945, Allied forces defeated Germany and Japan, with Germany surrendering in May and Japan in September. The conflict produced immense civilian casualties and the Holocaust, in which six million Jews and millions of others were killed. Technological and organizational developments included the Manhattan Project and advances in aviation, communications, and medicine. The postwar period saw the creation of the United Nations and a new international order, intensifying decolonization and the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as dominant powers.