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Pearl Harbor
-Japanese planes attacked the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
-killed more than 2300 Americans. It destroyed the US battleship.
-a threat to Japan, who wanted to expand in the Pacific.
- saw a war between the U.S. and Japan as inevitable, with the solution being to attack first
-caused about 2400 dead almost 200 planes destroyed and 8 battleships destroyed
-long-term effect was that it brought the US to the war and pushed people to the war that they were avoiding for so long -
Battle of Stalingrad
- a 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 -primary task was to secure the oil fields in the Caucasus and to do this, Paulus was ordered by Hitler to take Stalingrad. The Germans final target was to have been Baku. -marked the end of Germany's advances into eastern Europe and Russia
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D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
-was a landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II.
-between the Allied nations and German forces occupying Western Europe
-The United States and allied troops invaded at Normandy. This was the largest air, land, and sea invasion in history. The goal was to surprise Germany, but Germany was ready to fight. It was the beginning of the end of World War II. -
The Battle of the Bulge
-Germans launch the last major offensive of the war, Operation Mist,
-an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium
-The Battle of the Bulge is a momentous battle of World War II, not just because it brought about the end of the German army and the Nazi reign, but also because of the profound effect it had on soldiers who fought in the icy Ardennes. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
- Soviet army entered Auschwitz and liberated more than 7,000 remaining prisoners, who were mostly ill and dying -The freeing of concentration camps that was a mass murder of all jews and "unnacceptable" people
- An end was to the horrific camp was put. -60,000 prisoners, most in critical condition were found alive.10,000 of them died from the effects of malnutrition or disease within a few weeks of liberation.
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Battle of Iwo Jima
-Iwo Jima was considered to have great tactical importance. There were two airfields on the island – under Japan's control; they could be used by Japanese fighter planes to attack American bombers on their flights to Japan.
-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 WWII
-before the battle, Japan had two air fields (important), but the U.S. won the air fields were shut down -
VE Day
-public holiday celebrated to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces.
-celebrated because it was the day Hitler killed himself and Nazi Germany declared an end to the war
Effects: It meant an end to nearly six years of a war that had cost the lives of millions; had destroyed homes, families, and cities; and had brought huge suffering and privations to the populations of entire countries. -
Potsdam Declaration
-a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II
-This ultimatum stated that, if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction".
- issued by the United States, Great Britain, and China
- in order to stop the war and end it -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
-80k people were killed as result of the blast, and another 35k were injured. 3 days later, another nuclear bomb was dropped by the US on the Japanese city of Nagasaki
-President Truman, warned some of his advisers any attempt to invade Japan would result in American casualties, ordered that the bombs be used to bring the war to a speedy end.
-The US wanted to force Japan's surrender as quickly as possible to lower deaths. The US needed to use the atomic bomb before the Soviet Union. -
VJ Day
Victory over Japan day.
-The day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect ending the war.
-news of the surrender was announced to the world. This sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of World War II. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was held in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. At the time, President Truman declared September 2 to be VJ Day
