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Nazi Germany Invaded Poland
1.5 German tanks and planes begin a full-scale invasion of Poland, so Britain and France declare war against Germany. -
Sitzkrieg
An eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germany's Saar district. -
France Fell to Germany
The French government signed an armistice with Nazi Germany just six weeks after the Nazis launched their invasion of Western Europe. -
Battle of Britain
German and British air forces clashed in the skies over the United Kingdom, locked in the largest sustained bombing campaign to that date. -
Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
This gave 50 US naval destroyers to Britain in exchange for the use of naval and air bases in eight British possessions. -
American First Committee Launched
Engage speakers like Charles Lindbergh to travel the country warning against the folly of getting involved a second time in Europe’s struggles. -
Congress Instituted the Draft
The United States instituted the Selective Training and Service Act, which required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft. -
Four Freedoms
President Roosevelt delivered speech that proposed lending money to Britain to purchase US war material and justified it because it was in defense of the four freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. -
Lend-Lease
Proposed ending the "Cash and Carry Act and permitting Britain to obtain all US arms needed on credit. -
USS Kearny Attacked
USS Kearny (DD 432) was torpedoed on her starboard side by a German U-boat while on patrol off Greenland but did not sink. -
Reuben James Sank
The American destroyer U.S.S. Reuben James was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of 115 of 160 crewmen, including all officers. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
US fleet in Pacific was at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii when Japanese planes from aircraft carriers bombed every ship in sight with 2,400 Americans killed. -
Battle of Bataan
The Japanese attacked and ultimately overwhelmed Allied forces on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. -
Bataan Death March
Approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
Naval commanders adopted a strategy where they bypassed strongly-held Japanese Islands and isolated then with Naval and air power. -
Battle of Coral Sea
World War II naval and air engagement in which a U.S. fleet turned back a Japanese invasion force that had been heading for strategic Port Moresby in New Guinea. -
Battle of Midway
World War II naval battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft, in which the United States destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad, Russia, U.S.S.R., during World War II. -
Battle of El Alamein
Marked the culmination of the North African campaign between the forces of the British Empire and the German-Italian army commanded in the field by Erwin Rommel in World War II. -
Manhattan Project Began
By J. Robert Oppenheimer employing over 100,000 people and spent 2 billion to develop a weapon from splitting of the atom (atomic bomb). -
Casablanca Conference
Meeting during World War II between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and their respective military chiefs and aides, who planned future global military strategy for the western Allies. -
Tehran Conference
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met in Tehran and agreed the British and Americans would begin their drive to liberate France in Spring of 1944 and that Soviets would invade Germany and join in war against Japan. -
D-Day
British, Canadian, and US forces under General Eisenhower to secured several beachheads on the Normandy Coast. -
MacArthur Returned to the Philippines
MacArthur waded ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte and made a radio broadcast in which he declared, “People of the Philippines, I have returned! -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germans launch the last major offensive of the war as an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. -
FDR Elected to a 4th Term
The election took place during World War II where Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican Thomas E. Dewey to win an unprecedented fourth term. -
Yalta Conference
The three Allied leaders met at Yalta in Crimea to plan the final defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
American soldiers make their first strike on the Japanese Home Islands, Iwo Jima, because of the need for a base near the Japanese coast. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Navy's Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. -
FDR Died/Harry Truman Became President
President Franklin Roosevelt passes away after four momentous terms in office, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge of a country still fighting the Second World War and in possession of a weapon of unprecedented and terrifying power. -
VE Day
The public holiday celebrated to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. -
Potsdam conference
Stalin, Truman, and Clement met in Postdam, Germany from July 17th to August 2nd 1945 and agreed to issue a warning to Japan to surrender unconditionally and to hold War crime trials to Nazi leaders. -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
"Little Boy" was the code name for the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War 2 by the United States Army Air Forces. -
Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
Three days after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki known as "Fat Man.” -
VJ Day
It was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. -
Nuremburg Trials
Judges from the Allied powers—Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States—presided over the hearings of twenty-two major Nazi criminals. -
Japanese War Crime Trials
A military trial to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for "Class A" crimes, which were reserved for those who participated in a joint conspiracy to start and wage war.
