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Japan seizes Manchuria China
Seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries, Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. Japanese Army unit fired artillery shells at a Chinese Army garrison at Beidaying on the pretext of retaliation for the bomb explosion at the South Manchuria Railway the night before. -
Nazis pass the Nuremberg Laws
race-based measures depriving Jews of rights and citizenship designed by Adolf Hitler and approved by the Nazi Party in a convention in Nürnberg. This law designated Jews "subjects of the state" beginning the process of forcing Jews into concentration camps. -
Hitler demands Sudetenland
In September 1938 Hitler demands that Czechoslovakia give up the Sudetenland its fortified defense against Germany. And during the Munich Conference leaders of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany settles the issue allowing Germany the land as long as the rest of Czechoslovakia stays independent. -
Kristallnacht (night of broken glass)
German Nazis attacked Jewish persons and property. The name Kristallnacht refers to the litter of broken glass left in the streets. These acts of violence continued throughout World War II. -
Hitler takes Czechoslovakia
Germany broke the promise it made at the Munich Conference by taking the rest of Czechoslovakia supposedly for economic reasons and raw materials. -
Germany Attacked Poland
Hitler considered the Polish people inferior and only fit as a work force. In the last three months of 1939, the Nazis murdered 65,000 Jewish and non-Jewish Poles. they strategically made it appear as though Poland was the aggressor in the situation with several staged attacks on German outposts. the most famous of which was a radio station. -
Germany Attacked the Netherlands, Belgium, and France
This date began the attacks on the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. They wanted to bypass the French defensive line at the eastern border by going through the Netherlands and Belgium. Their occupation of the Netherlands would also prevent England from setting up a base of operations on the European mainland. -
Battle of Britain
The Germans began by attacking coastal targets and British shipping operating in the English Channel. Attacks moved inland, concentrating on airfields and communications centers. However Germany's lack of heavy bombers made it difficult to inflict strategically significant damage on British targets. Britain is able to effectively defend due to radar and air superiority. Forces Hitler to call off the operation -
German submarine attacks US ship
When the destroyer USS Kearny was hit by a German torpedo while escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic 11 sailors were killed and 22 wounded though the ship itself survived. this was the beginning of an undeclared naval war with Germany. -
Pearl Harbor
The day that will live in infamy. Japanese planes destroyed or damaged 19 US warships and 300 aircraft. Just over 2,400 Americans died in the attack. Japan hoped this surprise attack would cripple American naval power. They believed this decisive blow to the US Pacific fleet would allow them to avoid prolonging conflict and secure early victory. The United States declared war on December 8. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle. On the morning of June 4, 1942, aircraft from Japanese carriers attacked and damaged the US base on Midway. The US Marine Corps force stationed on Midway endured devastating losses, but the facilities only suffered minor damage. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
Capturing the city named after Joseph Stalin would be a major strategic victory. However, the Soviets drove back the German army successfully defending the city and turning the tide of the war for the allies. Stalingrad is known as the bloodiest battle in history: Between 150,000 and 250,000 German Casualties, Of the 100,000 Germans taken as prisoners of war, only 6,000 returned until 1956, an estimated 1.1 million soldiers and 40,000 civilians casualties, and 800,000 Axis casualties. -
D-Day
The operation, given the code name OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France. Soldiers from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other Allied nations faced Hitler's formidable Atlantic Wall as they landed on the beaches of Normandy. The allies fatalities ranged from 5,000 to 12,000. German Casualties meanwhile were an estimated 4,000 and 9,000 killed. There were also some 200,000 German prisoners of war. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The United States mounted an invasion of the island of Iwo Jima. one of the bloodiest battles in American marine Corp history, it was a costly victory. Almost 18,500 Japanese soldiers were killed, and an estimated 6,800 U.S. Marines died and 19,200 were wounded. -
Battle of Okinawa
Dubbed “the Typhoon of Steel” for its ferocity, the battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific War. The islands capture was regarded as a vital precursor to a ground invasion of the Japanese home islands. The Japanese used 1,900 kamikaze attacks to sink 30 American ships. 7,600 Americans were killed along with 110,000 Japanese. The Japanese generals committed suicide.