But as the Great Depression hit Europe, several new leaders rose to power under the new political ideologies of Fascism and Nazism. Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany were both proponents of Fascism, using dictatorial rule to achieve national unity.

America sought, at the end of the First World War, to create new international relationships that would make such wars impossible in the future. Still, the United States remained focused on the economic challenges of its own Great Depression.

Fascism — a political ideology that places a heightened focus on national unity, through dictatorial rule, and militarism. appeasement — the policy of giving in to threats and aggression in the hopes that the aggressor will be satisfied and make no more demands. Big Three — the nickname given to the leaders of the three major Allied nations: Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. D-day — June 6, 1944, the date of the invasion of Normandy, France, by British, Canadian, and American forces, which opened a second front in Europe.