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Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact., known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It permitted Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union to carve up spheres of influence in eastern Europe, while pledging not to attack each other for 10 years. It paved the way for the joint invasion and occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in that September. The pact was terminated when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
This is the event that initiated world war II. German forces broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on the Polish capital. Hundreds of thousands of refugees fled the German advance, but after heavy shelling and bombing, Warsaw surrendered to the Germans within a month of the attack. Soviet forces quickly annexed most of eastern Poland, while western Poland remained under German occupation until 1945. -
Fall of Paris
Paris fell to Nazi Germany after France was stormed, and France signed an armistice with the German's, leading to a puppet French state being set up at Vichy. It took only six weeks for the fall of Paris, the surprise German attack through the Ardennes being a part of the reason why. The terms of the armistice allowed the southern half of France to remain under French civil administration, but in every other aspect France became a puppet state of Germany. -
Pearl Harbor
A surprise attack by Japan against the United States, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, and over 300 airplanes. A bomb was dropped through the deck of the battleship USS Arizona and landed in its forward ammunition magazine. The battleship exploded and sank with more than 1,000 men trapped inside. The day after the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan. -
Wannsee Conference
It was a meeting of Nazi officials, in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to plan the “final solution". The conference marked a turning point in Nazi policy toward the Jews. The newly planned final solution was to round up all Jews throughout Europe, transporting them eastward, and organize them into labor gangs. The “final solution” was known to be the Holocaust. -
Bataan Death March
It was a march in the Philippines of around 66 miles that 76,000 prisoners of war were forced by the Japanese military to endure. During the main march the captives were beaten, shot, bayoneted, and even beheaded. A large number of those who made it to the camp later died of starvation and disease. -
Battle of Midway
In the battle, which was fought almost entirely with aircraft, the United States won and destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. It was a major turning point in the Pacific theater, shifting the initiative from the Japanese to the Americans, allowing the U.S. to launch the attack on Guadalcanal. -
Battle of Stalingard
It was a major battle on the Eastern Front where Germany and unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and was the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
About 700 young Jewish fighters participated in the uprising. It began after German troops and police entered the ghetto to deport them, and Jewish insurgents inside the ghetto resisted these efforts. At least 7,000 Jews died fighting or in hiding in the ghetto. About 7,000 Jews were captured by the SS and police at the end of the fighting, and they were deported to the Treblinka killing center where they were murdered. -
Operation Gomorrah
The Allied forces attacked Germany's second-largest city, it was designed to destroy German morale and end the war. Operation Gomorrah was the first time Allied forces targeted civilians. There were around 37,000 deaths. -
Allied Invasion of Italy
In Morocco, Allied leaders decided to use their massive military resources in the Mediterranean to launch an invasion of Italy. Beyond their goal of crushing Italian Axis forces, the Allies wanted to draw German troops away from the main Allied advance through northern Europe to Germany. The invasion was a success and achieved what it set out to. The Allied armies were able to force Axis naval, air and land divisions out of the area and allowed Allied merchant ships into the Mediterranean. -
D-Day
This operation delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France, and it's known to be the largest invasion force in history. More than 9,000 soldiers were wounded just in the first 24 hours, but many have called it the beginning of the end of war in Europe. The invasion resulted in all of Northern France being liberated. It prevented Hitler from sending troops from France to build up his Eastern Front against advancing Soviets. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was marked as the last German offense on the Western Front. There were 75,000 American casualties, and 80-100,000 German losses. The catastrophic losses on Germany's side also prevented them from resisting the Allied forces following the Normandy invasion. The Allies won, and German forces were dealt an irreparable blow. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a military campaign between the United States and Japan. The United States secured victory after both sides had a devastating toll in lives. Iwo Jima was considered strategically important since it provided an air base for Japanese fighter planes to intercept bombers. After the battle, Iwo Jima served as an emergency landing site for more than 2,200 B-29 bombers, saving the lives of 24,000 U.S. airmen. -
VE day
Victory in Europe day was the celebration of the end of World War II in Europe. It was the end of conflict with Hitler's Germany when they surrendered the day before. Tens of thousands of people filled the streets of New York, New Orleans, London, Canada, Paris, and other allied nations. It was announced by president Harry S. Truman, and thousands marched and threw confetti. -
Potsdam Declaration
It was ultimatum issued by the United States, Great Britain, and China on July 26, 1945, calling for the unconditional surrender of Japan. It gave the Japanese a way out of the war that avoided complete ruin. However, Prime Minister Suzuki Kantaro and Japan's military leaders ignored the ultimatum. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
They were American bombing raids on the Japanese, and tens of thousands were killed in the initial explosion, and more would be killed from the radiation poisoning later. The United States bombed Japan to not only force them to surrender, but also to keep the Soviets out of Japan by showing military power. Japan surrendered after the attack and the United States accepted, which lead to the end of World War II. -
V-J Day
Victory over Japan day marks the end of World War II. When the United States dropped a second bomb over Nagasaki and killing over 70,000 people, Japan recognized that victory was impossible and accepted allied surrender terms without qualifications.