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Congress Instituted the Draft
During the Civil War, the U.S. Congress passes a conscription act that produces the first wartime draft of U.S. citizens in American history. The U.S. enacted a military draft again during World War I, in 1940 to make the U.S. ready for its involvement in World War II, and during the Korean War. -
Nazi Germany Invaded Poland
was a joint invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, the Free City of Danzig, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the beginning of World War II. -
Sitzkrieg
The Phoney War was 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. -
Manhattan Project Began
A secret military project created in 1942 to produce the first US nuclear weapon. Fears that Nazi Germany would build and use a nuclear weapon during World War II triggered the start of the Manhattan Project, which was originally based in Manhattan, New York. -
America First Committee Launched
The America First Committee was the foremost United States non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II. It was also characterized by anti-semitic and pro-fascist rhetoric. -
France Fell to Germany
After Dunkirk, Germans advance into France. France unable to defend itself and army poorly trained, civilians flee to S. France. Luftwaffe- bombing civilians.Then Germans had taken Paris. Italy declared war on the side of Germany and invaded France from the south. 1940, France surrendered. While Germans occupied the northern part of France, a puppet government for France's southern region was set up in Vichy under Marshal Henri Petain. The Free French were headed by Charles de Gaulle. -
Battle of Britain
World War II, the successful defense of Great Britain against unremitting and destructive air raids conducted by the German air force (Luftwaffe) from July through September 1940, after the fall of France. -
Four Freedoms
The four principles President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered to be essential for world peace: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. The president spoke of the four freedoms in a 1941 address in which he called on Americans to support those who were fighting in World War II. "Freedom from fear and want" was also mentioned in the Atlantic Charter. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, -
Reuben James Sank
Was the first United States Navy ship sunk by hostile action in the European theater of World War II and the first named for Boatswain's Mate Reuben James (c.1776–1838), who distinguished himself fighting in the Barbary Wars. -
lend-lease program
The lend-lease program provided for military aid to any country whose defense was vital to the security of the United States. The plan thus gave Roosevelt the power to lend arms to Britain with the understanding that, after the war, America would be paid back in kind. -
USS Kearny Attacked
Was a United States Navy warship during World War II. She was noted for being torpedoed by a German U-boat in October 1941, before the U.S. had entered the war. She survived that attack, and later served in North Africa and the Mediterranean. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the most major confrontation of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia -
Bataan Death March
Was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war from Saysain Point, Bagac, Bataan and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, via San Fernando, Pampanga, where the prisoners were loaded onto trains. -
Battle of Coral Sea
Was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia, taking place in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War. -
Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. With the Allies victorious, it was the watershed of the Western Desert Campaign -
Battle of Bataan
The Battle of Bataan represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan's invasion of the Philippines during World War II. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the Pacific War. Before the Battle of the Coral Sea on 7-8 May 1942, the Imperial Navy of Japan had swept aside all of its enemies from the Pacific and Indian oceans.The Imperial Japanese Navy lost four aircraft carriers and the initiative in the Pacific during the Battle of Midway. -
Casablanca Conference
was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan 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. -
Tehran Conference
Was a meeting between U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Tehran, Iran -
D-Day
The beginning of the end for not only the Germans but Hitler most of all. D-Day forced the Germans to fight a two front war again just as they had in WWI. Yet again the Germans could not handle war on both sides of them. -
Battle of the bulge
Was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg, towards the end of World War II. -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
Also called Leapfrogging was a military strategy used by the United States. It is where forces only concentrate their resources, setting up military forces/ supplies, on strategically important islands. -
Yalta Conference
Was the second wartime meeting of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the conference, the three leaders agreed to demand Germany's unconditional surrender and began plans for a post-war world. -
Battle of Okinawa
It was the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific theater of World War II. It also resulted in the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000
casualties for the Allies -
FDR Died / Harry Truman Became President
Was an American statesman who served as the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953), taking the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
VE Day
Was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces -
Potsdam conference
Was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. It concerned the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany, its borders, and the entire European Theatre of War territory. -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
Was the codename for the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II -
Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
Was the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki by the United States in 1945. 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-ever man-made nuclear explosion in history. -
VJ Day
Is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect ending the war -
Nuremberg Trials
Germany, was chosen as a site for trials that took place in 1945 and 1946. 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. Twelve prominent Nazis were sentenced to death. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was 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. -
Japanese War Crime Trials
Was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946, 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. -
FDR Elected to a 4th Term
This was the first and only time a president has been inaugurated for a fourth term. (The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1951, limits the number of times a person can be elected President to two.) Roosevelt died 82 days into this term, and Truman succeeded to the presidency. -
Destroyers-for- Bases Deal
This was the first and only time a president has been inaugurated for a fourth term. (The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1951, limits the number of times a person can be elected President to two.
