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Nazi Germany Invaded Poland
Started the German Invasion on Western Europe -
Sitzkrieg
Known as the Phony War refers specifically to the time between the Invasion of Poland and the Battle of Britain in the West. -
France Fell to Germany
German forces defeated Allied forces by mobile operations and conquered France bringing land operations on the Western Front to an end until 1944 -
Battle of Britain
was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. The Battle of Britain marked the first defeat of Hitler's military forces. -
Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, fifty Caldwell, Wickes, and Clemson class US Navy destroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy from the United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions. -
America First Committee Launched
refers to a foreign policy in the United States that emphasizes American nationalism and unilateralism. It first gained prominence in the interwar period and was advocated by the America First Committee, a non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II. -
Congress Instituted the Draft
Selective Training and Service Act, which required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft. This was the first peacetime draft in United States' history. -
Lend-Lease
was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. -
Four Freedoms
the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship God in his own way, freedom from want and freedom from fear. -
USS Kearny Attacked
The USS Kearny was torpedoed by a German U-boat while on patrol off Greenland, but did not sink. -
Reuben James Sank
the USS Reuben James became the first United States warship to be sunk as a result of hostile action in World War II. torpedoed by U-552 commanded by Erich Topp, who was to become the third most successful U Boat captain of the war. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. It completely destroyed the American battleship U.S.S. Marked the formal entry of the U.S. into World War II -
Battle of Bataan
Represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan's invasion of the Philippines during World War II -
Bataan Death March
The day after the surrender of the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese, the 75,000 Filipino and American troops captured on the Bataan Peninsula begin a forced march to a prison camp near Cabanatuan. The next day, the Bataan Death March began. -
Battle of Coral Sea
was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia, taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. -
Battle of Midway
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. -
Manhattan Project Began
was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. -
Battle of El Alamein
took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt. -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
After the Battle of Midway, the United States launched a counter-offensive strike known as "island-hopping," establishing a line of overlapping island bases, as well as air control. The idea was to capture certain key islands, one after another, until Japan came within range of American bombers. -
Casablanca Conference
lan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill. -
Battle of Stalingrad
marked the end of Germany's advances into eastern Europe and Russia. The second reason is that this battle was the first major German loss during World War II. After the Germans lost in Stalingrad, they did not advance any farther into eastern Europe or Russia. -
Tehran Conference
was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill after the Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Iran. It was held in the Soviet Union's embassy in Tehran, Iran. -
D-Day
It was code-named Operation Neptune, presumably because it involved a water landing by the Allies on the beaches of Normandy, France. It is the largest military operation by sea in history, and of course it had great significance to the war. -
MacArthur Returned to the Philippines
waded ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte. That day, he made a radio broadcast in which he declared, “People of the Philippines, I have returned!” In January 1945, his forces invaded the main Philippine island of Luzon -
Battle of the Bulge
that Germany's defeat and the end of the war in Europe came sooner, and at a lower cost in Allied lives than it would have otherwise. The Battle of the Bulge, or Ardennes Offensive was the last major Nazi offensive in World War II. -
FDR Elected to a 4th Term
By the time Roosevelt was elected to his fourth term, the war had taken a turn in favor of the Allies, but FDR's health was already on the decline. -
Yalta Conference
brought together the Big Three Allied leaders. During this conference, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt discussed Europe's postwar reorganization. The main purpose of Yalta was the re-establishment of the nations conquered and destroyed by Germany. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. -
Battle of Okinawa
a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. -
FDR / Harry Truman Became President
He implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established the Truman Doctrine and NATO. -
VE Day
mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. -
Potsdam Conference
best known for President Truman's conversation with Stalin, during which time the President informed the Soviet leader that the United States had successfully detonated the first atomic bomb -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
first atomic bomb to be dropped in war. -
Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the first being Little Boy, and its detonation marked the third nuclear explosion in history. -
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end -
Nuremberg Trials
series of trials held in Nürnberg, Germany, in which former Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal. -
Japanese War Crime Trials
. All Japanese Class A war criminals were tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo.
