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Japan's Invasion of China
Japan decided to invade China because they thought that the Chinese attacked them with the troops of Marco Polo. In response, Japan invaded China and started the Sino-Japanese War. -
Germany invades Poland
The official event that started World War II was the day that Germany invaded Poland. The invasion was led by Hitler and his "blitzkrieg" strategy. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was the attempt in which Germany tried to invade Britain through the air. Britain successfully defended itself from Germany, which eventually helped itself defeat Nazi Germany later in the war. -
Tripartite Pact
The Tripartite Pact was an agreement signed by the leaders of Germany, Italy, and Japan that said if one of the three countries were attacked, then the other two would help that country with its defense. -
German Blitzkrieg on the Soviet Union
The German Blitzkrieg was a tactic that the German army used to invade other nations. It worked on many, but not on the Soviet Union. Once the Germans entered the Soviet Union, the Soviets started to boost their industry and they took out many Germans. -
Leningrad Blockade/Siege of Leningrad
Leningrad, or St. Petersburg, was one of the first targets for Germany in the Soviet Union. This was when they used their blitzkrieg strategy. The raid was successful, and became a wake-up call for the Soviets. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The United States decided to enter the war and join the Allies after Japan attacked the US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting in which German officals and Nazi leaders met in order to dicuss what they would do European Jews. They decided to completely annihilate any Jews that they found. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US fought the Japanese in the Battle of Midway, The US won the battle by a major margin. -
D-Day
D-Day was the day in which the Allies invaded Europe in one of the largest groups in history. The invasion lasted for two months. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was a week-long meeting in which leaders from Britain, the Soviet Union, and the US decided on how they would make Germany surrender, and how they would end the war completely. -
Iwo Jima/Okinawa
The US decided to invade the island of Iwo Jima and Okinawa so that they could get a lead on the Japanese, and so that they could establish a base near their coast. -
Hitler's suicide
On April, 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler shot himself with a pistol because he was afraid that Germany would once again lose a global war. He did not want to experience Germany falling under his leadership, so he shot himself. -
VE Day
VE Day was the day that the US and Britain celebrated their victory over Nazi Germany, who surrendered even before Japan. VE stands for Victoryover Europe. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting in which Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Harry Truman all met to decide on how they would end the war. This was the event in which they agreed to drop the atomic bombs on Japan. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
In order to end the war, the United States dropped a nuclear atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. Later, they dropped another bomb on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. As a result, Japan surrendered and the war ended. -
VJ Day
VJ Day was the day that Japan formally surrendered to the Allies and ended WWII. VJ stands for Victoryover Japan Day. -
Formation of the United Nations
The United Nations was formed after the end of World War II. The initial purpose of the United Nations was to avoid future conflicts like the global wars. To this day, it has done a good job of it for the most part. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine stated that the US would provide assistance to just about any democratic nation that needed it, whether its for a military, political reasoning, or economic reasoning. It was the offical declaration of the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the plan that said teh US would donate billions to Europe in order to help them rebuild their continent after the war. The plan was announced to on June 5, 1947 by the US Secretary of State at Harvard. -
NATO
NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Warsaw Pact was also made around the same time as the NATO was. The Purpose of the NATO was to unify the Allied forces in the event that the Soviets invaded one of them. -
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong was the Marxist leader of the Chinese Communist Party. Later, he became the chairman of the People's Republic of China from 1949 unitl his death in 1959. -
Korean War
The Korean War was the first action in the Cold War that involved military conflict. The war took place because the part of Korea above the 38th parallel wanted to make the southern portion of Korea communist. The southern portion did not want to become communist. -
Joseph Stalin dies
After ruling the Soviets for almost 30 years, Stalin died in Moscow because of a disease he had in his brain. -
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a treaty that the Soviets, and other European forces. signed which gave mutual defense to just about all members of the Soviet Union. It was called the Warsaw Pact because it was signed in Warsaw. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was the battle between the communist northern Vietnam and the southern allies. The US was principally on the southern side, but the northern side ultimately won. -
Sputnik
During the Cold War, the US and Soviets were involved in the Space Race. The Soviets launched the first satellite ever created. It was called Sputnik and it was only 22 inches long but weighed 184 pounds. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs invasion occurred in 1961, which was 14 years after WWII ended. It was the attempt in which the US tried to remove the communist government of Cuba, and Fidel Castro's leadership. The invasion failed. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall separated east and west Berlin for the majority of the Cold War. Before, the US and the Soviet Union captured parts of Germany. The US formed a free portion in the west, and the Soviets formed a communist part in the west. The wall was built in order to prevent people from the eastern side entering the west. The fall of the wall in 1991 marked the end of the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a two week standoff of the US and the Soviet Union. This occured because Cuba was armed with nuclear missles made by the Soviet Union. The US took action by enabling a naval blockade around Cuba. No missiles were actually launched. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Gorbachev was the man who blamed the US for bringing Russia into the Cold War. He was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until its collapse in 1991. -
Fall of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union fell when its members decided that they wanted to form their own independent states. The Soviet flag flew over Moscow for the last time on the Christmas of 1991.
