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Nazi Germany Invaded Poland
Germany Invaded Poland was significant because it showed Hitler's battle startegy "bitzkrieg" and was the last straw for countries like France and Britain to get involved in the War with Germany. -
Sitzkrieg
through 10 May, 1940. Also known as the Phoney War, which was marked by a period of no military aggression on the Western Front. -
France Fell to Germany
Hitler ordered troops to invade France and during the Nazi invasion French and British relations were weakened because of the Dunkirk evacuation. -
Battle of Britain
Through 31 October 1940. Significant turining point in the war when the German air forces failed to overtake the Royal Air Force in a battle to defend Britain. -
America First Committee Launched
the non-interventionist pressure group against US entry into World War 2 with 800,000 members and 450 chapters. -
Congress Instituted the Draft
Burke-Wadsworth Act passed by Congress birthing selective service and becoming the first peacetime draft imposed in the history of the United States. -
Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
The US transferred destroyers to the British Navy in exchange for leases/access to British naval and air bases. -
Four Freedoms
President Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated Four Freedoms that everyone ought to enjoy, during the 1941 State of the Union Address. Freedom of Want, Speech, Worship, and Fear. -
Lend-Lease
Act to provide US Military aid to foreign nations during World War 2. -
USS Kearny Attacked
USS Kearny was torpedoed by a German U-Boat before the US was offcially in war against Germany and ignitied the American patriotism. -
Reuben James Sank
Torpedoed and sunk. First US Navy ship sunk by hostile European action. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japanese attack US naval base in Hawaii and as a result Congress declares war on Japan. -
Battle of Bataan
through 9 April 1942. Japanese attacked Batann in the most intense period of the Japanese invasion of the Phillipines. -
Bataan Death March
The forcible transfer of 60,000-80,000 American and Filipino prisoners through the hot desert to prison camps wjile being starved and beaten by the Japanese captors. -
Battle of Coral Sea
through 8 May 1942. Naval battle between Japanese Navy and US and Australian naval and air forces. -
Battle of Midway
through 7 June 1942. US defeated Japan in the most curcial naval battles in history because it effectively destroyed Japanese naval strength. -
Battle of Stalingrad
through 2 February, 1943. A major battle on the Eastern Front of World War 2 in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for the control of the Soviet city of Stalingrad. -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
A strategy to gain military bases and secure small islands along the Pacific by the US. -
Battle of El Alamein
5 November 1942. Marked the escalation of the North African campaign of World War 2 by the British Empire and the German-Italian army. -
Casablanca Conference
through 24 January 1943. A meeting between British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that took place in Casablanca, Morocco. -
Tehran Conference
through December 1. This was a stategy meeting between Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. -
D-Day
The allies invaded Western Europe in the largest sea to land attack in history where they stormed the beaches of Normandy (Battle of Normandy), was meant to get the Allied Army into Europe. -
MacArthur Returned to the Philippines
U.S. General Douglas MacArthur returns to the Phillipines after being ordered to leave by President Franklin D. Roosevelt following the Japanese Invasion. -
FDR Elected to a 4th Term
President Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only President to have served more than two terms. -
Battle of the Bulge
thorugh 25 January 1945. German offense attack (Blitzkrieg) meant to split the Allied powers in Northwest Europe in the Ardennes region. -
Yalta Conference
Meeting between Josepj Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt as World War 2 was coming to a close, was significant because it determined the split of of Germany. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
through 26 March 1945. US Marines captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japan because of a need for a base near the Japanese coast. -
Battle of Okinawa
through 22 June 1945. Known as, Operation Iceberg was the largest sea to land battle in the Pacific region during World War 2 that had the largest number of casualities with over 100,000 for the Japanese and 50,000 for the Allies. -
FDR Died / Harry Truman Became President
President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies and Harry Truman becomes President taking a harsher stance against the Russians. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe. The day the Allied powers formally accepted Nazi Germany unconditional surrender of armed forces. -
Manhattan Project Began
The project that began in a New Mexico desert that would grow to create the first atomic bomb. -
Potsdam conference
through 2 August 1945. President Harry Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin negotiated terms for the end of World War 2. -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
First Nuclear weapon used in war, Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima killing over 140,000 during and the months following. -
Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in Japan, helped end the war especially between the US and Japan. -
VJ Day
Victory over Japan. News of Japanese surrender heard over the radio.
2 September 1945 President Harry Truman declares this day to be official VJ Day during formal ceremony in Tokyo Bay on the USS Missouri. -
Nuremberg Trials
Through 1 October 1946. Meant to bring Nazi war criminals to justice, a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany. -
Japanese War Crime Trials
The cases of Japanese military and government officials acccuse dof committing war crimes during World War 2.
