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Japan invades North China from Manchuria
A Japanese army stationed in Manchuria claimed that Chinese soldiers tried to blow up a railroad line they captured several cities in southern Manchuria. Chinese troops withdrew and Japan had seized all of Manchuria. -
Period: to
The Great Attack of Pearl Harbor
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Japan announces Manchuria was now the independent state of Manchukuo, under Japanese protection
Japan sent more than a million people for securing Manchuria as a Japanese Colony. The United States and Britain protested that Japan had broken the Kellogg- Briand Pact and the League of Nations wanted them to end the occupation with Manchuria. Japan refused and withdrew from the League. -
Japan's invasion of China on the Marco Polo Bridge
This minor clash between Japan and China made out a full out war. Japan occupied the major cities and threatened the rest of Northern China. China resisted the invasion but Japan’s superior weapons overcame China's huge manpower advantage bombing Chinese cities ritually and killing over 100,000 civilians. -
Roosevelt limits what Japan could buy from the United States
The United States limited what Japan could buy from them. He ended sales of scrap iron and steel hoping it would stop Japan’s expansion. He froze financial assets and cut off oil shipments because they took over French Indochina. -
Tojo Hideki became prime minister
While the United States and Japan diplomats negotiated to sought ways to seek peace, Hideki supported war against the United States. Yet, Roosevelt still hoped for peace, and he continued to negotiate. -
United States found out about decoded messages
American military leaders knew that Japanese aircraft carriers were on the move in the Pacific they expected an attack but didn’t know where it would be. A year earlier American technicians cracked the top-secret Japanese code it allowed them to intercept diplomatic messages. -
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
180 Japanese warplanes streaked over the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. They bombed and strafed the fleet and the airfields by the time it was over this happened: 2,400 Americans killed, 1,200 wounded, 200 American war planes had been destroyed or damaged, 18 warships had been sunk or heavily damaged including 8 of the fleet’s 9 battleships, and Japan lost 29 planes. -
United States declared war
The next day Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, Congress agreed to declare war and they called for people to back the war effort. Three days later Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. -
Hawaii commanders are relieved of their duties
The generals in charge of the Pearl Harbor troops were blamed for letting the attacks happen, and they were released from their positions. However, they were cleared from the blame years later when people realized no one had given them the warnings in time. -
Atomic Bombs on Japan
The United States slowly developed atomic bombs during the war. The American troops dropped two atomic bombs in Japan so it could end WWII and their drops successfully ended WWII.
