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Two world wars, the Great Depression, and the New Deal.

Use the timeline below to navigate through major events and milestones.

World Wars & Depression · 1917-1945
Arsenal of Democracy · 1917-1945

The World Wars & the Great Depression

From entry into World War I and the exuberant Jazz Age, through the Wall Street Crash and the New Deal's reshaping of government, to Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and the atomic bombs that ended World War II and left the United States the foremost power on earth. Slide across the years to relive an era of crisis and triumph.

1917 AD
The Great War
1 / 7

America enters World War I

After German submarine attacks, the United States enters World War I. Fresh American troops help break the stalemate and tip the balance toward Allied victory in 1918.

1917 AD

The Great War
  • Military

    America enters World War I

    After German submarine attacks, the United States enters World War I. Fresh American troops help break the stalemate and tip the balance toward Allied victory in 1918.

7 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 1917 AD

Full Chronicle

The World Wars & the Great Depression

From entry into World War I and the exuberant Jazz Age, through the Wall Street Crash and the New Deal's reshaping of government, to Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and the atomic bombs that ended World War II and left the United States the foremost power on earth. Slide across the years to relive an era of crisis and triumph.

  1. The Great War

    • America enters World War I

      After German submarine attacks, the United States enters World War I. Fresh American troops help break the stalemate and tip the balance toward Allied victory in 1918.

  2. The Roaring Twenties

    • Women's suffrage and the Jazz Age

      The Nineteenth Amendment gives women the vote as the nation plunges into the Jazz Age — a decade of prosperity, automobiles, radio, and Prohibition-era excess.

  3. Collapse

    • The Wall Street Crash

      The stock market collapses in October, wiping out fortunes and triggering the Great Depression — a decade of mass unemployment, bank failures, and hardship.

  4. The New Deal

    • Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal

      President Franklin D. Roosevelt launches the New Deal, a sweeping program of relief and reform — from Social Security to public works — that reshapes the role of government.

  5. A Day of Infamy

    • Pearl Harbor and entry into World War II

      Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor draws the United States into World War II, mobilizing the nation's vast industrial power as the 'arsenal of democracy.'

  6. The Tide Turns

    • D-Day and the liberation of Europe

      American, British, and Canadian forces storm the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, opening the Western Front that will help crush Nazi Germany.

  7. Victory and the Atom

    • Victory and the atomic bomb

      Germany surrenders in May; in August atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki end the war with Japan, leaving the United States the world's foremost military and economic power.