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Invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese just wanted a reason to invade China, so they claimed the Chinese had sabotaged the railway. They attacked the Chinese army, which had executed a Japanese spy. China appealed to the League of Nations. The League responded by decreeing that Japan should leave Manchuria, and Japan responded by simply leaving the League of Nations. -
Rape of Nanking
Mass murder and rape committed by the Japanese in Nanjing and then the capital of the Republic of China. Happened over six weeks and left roughly 300,000 dead. Women were sexually tortured in broad daylight and hundreds would be killed at a time. These events led to the further alienation and eventual isolation of Tokyo. -
Anschluss
Hitler had the idea of uniting all German-speaking people. He devised a plan to bring together these people by conquering other nations. It started with annexing Austria. This is what kickstarted his conquest of much of Europe. -
Munich Pact
The Munich conference, attended by Britain, France, and Germany, was concluded with an agreement to allow Hitler to annex parts of Czechoslovakia. This led to him not honoring this, and continuing on unstopped to conquer more. -
Kristallnacht
This was a night in which huge mobs attacked and destroyed many Jewish homes and buildings, shattering the windows and burning houses. This was one of the biggest earlier movements against the Jewish population in Germany, and built to the widespread hate crimes and eventual Final Solution. -
Nonaggression Pact
This was an agreement between Soviet Russia (the USSR) and Hitler Germany to not perpetrate violence against the other for the next ten years. This eventually didn't work out, and Hitler surprise-attacked Russia in Operation Barbarossa. -
Invasion of Poland
Hitler invaded Poland in search of what he called "living space" for German people. Britain and France were allied with Poland, so they declared war on Germany. This attack helped Hitler develop his Blitzkrieg battle strategy. -
Evacuation of Dunkirk
Code-named Operation Dynamo, this was hailed as a miracle. 100,000+ allied troops were circled by German soldiers. By an unlucky assumption that doing so would be giving the captured soldiers a less humiliating defeat, the advancing attackers stopped and the soldiers were able to escape to Britain on civilian boats. It's so significant because if the Germans hadn't stopped a bit, the British and Allied army would have been stripped by a huge amount and they wouldn't have won, probably. -
Tri-partite Agreement
Germany, Japan, and Italy signed a pact that would create the Axis Powers. The pact allied them and made sure each would come to the aid of the other, and grew the power against the Allies. This is also known as the Berlin Pact. -
Lend Lease Act
The Lend Lease Act was important because it provided military aid to any country that might be a liability to the USA. Whether it be food, money, or weapons, any country whose defense benefited us could benefit, as long as it was paid back. Roosevelt created this to move the USA even close to the edge of war. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler, in complete disregard for the Nonaggression Pact, attacked the Soviet Union. After tactically retreated and using strategies such as Scorched Earth, the Germans wee so weak that they were defeated. This was a crucial point for Hitler to be taken down altogether, and Germany was puppeteered by the USSR until it's defeat in the nineties. -
Pearl Harbor
Up until this event, the USA was a very solitaire nation. it was also going through the great depression at the time that this event took place. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in Florida, in an unexpected drag into the war, it lifted the depression and the US started producing weapons and restaffing factories. The US became a top producer of war gear because of this, and entered the war roaring. -
Battle of Midway
A naval battle almost entirely fought with Aircraft between America and Japan. America won, destroying a lot of Japanese top naval pilots. This ended the threat of Pacific invasion. -
D-Day Invasion
Resulted in the Allied liberation of western Europe. Forces landed on a wide stretch of beach and attacked. This happened after having a deception campaign to lead Germany away. -
Liberation of Paris
An armored French force entered the capital and freed the civilian prisoners. The Germans counterattacked, but more forces came in and eventually defeated them. This liberated even more of Europe and paved the way for more to come. -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler Blitzkriegd the Allied forces hoping to split them. The Allies consolidated their lines into what looked like a bulge and gave the battle its name. The Germans, eventually, ran out of fuel and the battle ended in a draw. This weakened the American army considerably and gave the Germans an advantage. -
Hitler's Suicide
Hitler committed suicide with cyanide and a gunshot, along with his wife of one day. Unsurprisingly, he tested the poison on his dog beforehand. This left Germany with no leader, and the USSR took over from afar and puppeteered the German government until the 1990's. -
The Surrender of Germany
Germany surrendered to the allies with a treaty of unconditional surrender signed by Alfred Jodl. The terms were absolute. It went into effect the very next day, and Europe was officially free of Hitler's grasp. -
Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were two separate and highly industrial cities in Japan that America dropped Atomic bombs over. This effectively ended the war, because Japanese honor kept them fighting although continuing to do so would ensure their destruction. The casualties would have been far more severe if this hadn't happened. This demonstrated the power and potential of the Atomic bomb to the world.