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Nazi Germany Invades Poland
Full scale invasion on Poland, began WWII in Europe; Germany, Italy, Japan vs Britain and France. -
Sitzkrieg
Period during WWII in winter where Germany took a break from invading countries because of the bad weather. -
Manhattan Project Began
Project where the US developed and tested the nuclear bomb from splitting the atom. -
France Fell to Germany
France fell to Germany within a week of Germany's Blitzkrieg attacks. -
Destroyers for Bases Deal
Roosevelt couldn’t openly defy the Neutrality Acts so he gave Britain dozens of US ships in ‘exchange’ for some Englished owned land. -
Battle of Britain
German aircrafts flew over London and dropped 100’s of bombs for weeks straight. -
America First Committee Launched
Group formed to speak out against America’s involvement in WWII, preached how bad it would be to get involved in European militaristic issues. -
Four Freedoms
Roosevelt delivered a speech saying that the US should help Britain with war materials, Roosevelt said that they should help Britain and other countries that were devoted to freedom. -
Lend Lease
Roosevelt proposed that they should let Britain borrow all US arms on credit to fight against the Axis powers. -
Congress Instituted The Draft
The American government instituted the Selective Service Act once again, this means that young men between certain ages had to go to war if they were called upon. -
USS Kearny Attacked
US ship was torpedoed but didn’t sink, the ship eventually made it to the Icelandic shore with a few casualties. -
Reuben James Sank
First US ship that was sunk by Axis powers during WWII. Killed 155 people aboard. -
Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor
Japanese aircrafts flew over ships docked in Pearl Harbor early in the morning and bombed almost every ship, roughly 2,500 people died. -
Battle of Bataan
Japanese forces completely overwhelmed the Allies and Japan gained control over Philippines -
Bataan Death March
The Japanese forced roughly 80,000 Philippine and American prisoners of war to march dozens of miles to prison camps after the US surrender on Bataan peninsula. -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
US military, mainly MacArthur, decided that to gain control of all of Japanese controlled islands they would conquer the smaller ones and slowly make their way to the bigger and main ones. -
Battle of Coral Sea
US aircrafts stopped the Japanese from invading Australia, 1 of 2 turning points in the sub-war between US and Japanese. -
Battle of Midway
US intercepted encoded messages from Japan and decoded them; US ended up destroying hundreds of Japanese ships and a few aircrafts. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Considered greatest battle of the war, stopped German movement towards Soviet Union and helped the Allies gain more leverage. -
Battle of El Alamein
British forces fought against German-Italy forces to gain back some of the land the Axis powers had taken over in North Africa. -
Casablanca Conference
First ‘Big Three’ conference, but with only US and Britain; Roosevelt and Churchill made an agreement to invade Sicily and demand surrender from Axis powers. -
Tehran Conference
‘Big Three’ officially met in this Iranian city; decided that US and Britain would unite to get France free while the Soviet Union would take care of Japan. -
D-Day
US invaded France to try and liberate them from Germany’s hold, by going through the beach of Normandy. -
MacArthur Returns to the Philippines
Went there with hundreds of ships and thousands of men on his way to Japan; Japan waged many battles against MacArthur to try and keep control of Philippines. US won all of them. -
FDR Elected to 4th Term
Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only President to serve 3+ terms, unfortunately he died before he could finish his 4th term. -
Battle of the Bulge
One of Hitler’s last attacks on Allied forces, caught the Allies by surprise and were able to push back their troops significantly, but it didn’t work completely. -
Yalta Conference
3rd meeting between the ‘Big Three’ along coast of Soviet Union; all agreed on multiple reforms that helped demonstrate peace. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Allied powers first strike on Japanese Islands -
Battle of Okinawa
Last major battle of WWII and debatably one of the bloodiest; attack was part of Operation Ice-burg. -
FDR Died/ Harry Truman Became President
Happened after Yalta conference, where FDR died suddenly. Truman had to immediately replace him in the war effort -
VE Day
“Victory in Europe” weeks after Hitler's suicide the German government officially surrendered to the Allied powers wholeheartedly and completely. -
Potsdam Conference
The new leaders of US and Britain met with Stalin, and agreed to hold war trials for Nazi leaders and allow Japan to surrender without negotiation. -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
First atomic bombing in Japan, first time in history atomic bombs were used in warfare. -
Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
Second atomic bombing in Japan -
VJ Day
“Victory in Japan” Japan formally surrendered to Allied powers on this date, but it had been unofficially confirmed a week or so before. -
Nuremberg Trials
Used to put extreme Nazi war criminals on trial for crimes against humanity; German equivalent of Japanese War Crime Trials. -
Japanese War Crime Trials
Trials were conducted for 28 Japanese military and government personnel that were accused of doing horrendous acts during WWII; 25/28 were found guilty.
