-
Holocaust Begins
A genocide in which six million Jews were killed by Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany, also being the deadliest genocide in history. -
Germany invades Poland
German forces bombard Poland on land and air, as Adolf Hitler sought to return lost territory to Germany and for the complete control of Poland. -
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of Britain
Winston Churchill is called to replace Neville Chamberlain as British prime minister after losing a vote in the House of Commons. -
Germany Attacks France
The German forces invade France and also defeat the Allies by mobile operations while conquering France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. -
Battle of Britain
Described as the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces, The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, when the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against the German Air Force. -
Hitler Takes Over the Balkans
Hitler leads an attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers, which began with an intense attack on the Royal Yugoslav Air Force. -
Stalin attacks Finland
The Soviet sought to capture parts of Finnish territory, demanding that Finland cede border territories. -
Lend-Lease Act
The act allowed the president to transfer aid for which Congress appropriated money to the governments of foreign countries that were vital to the US. -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the biggest German military operation of World War II. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The surprise military attack by the Japanese Navy Air Service, against the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. -
Japanese Internment Camps Begins
The forced relocation and incarceration in camps of Japanese Americans within the U.S. More than 110,000 Japanese Americans in the mainland of the U.S. were forced into interior camps. -
Battle of Midway
The Japanese sought to eliminate the U.S. as a power in the Pacific by luring the American carriers into a trap while occupying Midway, though the U.S.countered with their very own ambush by determining the date and location of the attack. -
Guadalcanal
A military campaign fought around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of WWII. It was also the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad within the U.S.S.R. during WWII. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War, while most historians said it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. -
Battle of El Alamein
A battle that deployed a contingent of soldiers and tanks that launched an attack at El Alamein, with British commander Bernard Montgomery leading the assault. -
Tehran Conference
A meeting between F.D.R, Winston Churchhill, and Joseph Stalin in Tehran,in which they combined their military strategies against the Germans and Japanese. -
D-Day
When American, British and Canadian forces arrived on beaches along a the stretch of the heavily defensed coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest water based military attacks in history. -
Yalta Conference
A conference in which the U.S, U.K, and U.S.S.R planned for the post war reorganization of Europe. -
F.D.R’s death
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes away after four terms in office. -
Hitler’s suicide
Warned by officers that the Russians were closing in and overtaking the chancellery, Hitler was urged to escape, instead he chose suicide and shot himself. -
Potsdam Conference
A conference held at Cecilienhof, in which the U.S., U.K, and U.S.S.R decided how to punish the surrendered Nazi Germany. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The U.S. drops nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII. The bombs killer at least 129,000 people, and remains to be the only nuclear attack throughout warfare history. -
Formation of the U.N.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Tehran and proposed an international organization, made up of an origination formed of member states, with also a committee that spoke of social and economic issues. -
Nuremburg Trials
Due to the crimes of Nazi Germany, a trail of Nuremburg was held, in which twelve prominent Nazis were sentenced to death. -
Marshall Plan
Americas plan to aid Western Europe, in which they gave over $13 billion in support to help rebuild European economies after World War II -
Berlin Airlift
The allies organized the Berlin airlift to carry out supplies to the people of west Berlin in response to the Soviet's Berlin Blockade. -
MacArthur’s plan for Japan
It transformed the country into a parliamentary democracy, while MacArthur oversaw the demobilization of Japan’s military forces as well as the restoration of the economy. -
Berlin Wall Is Built
A barrier of concrete that divided Berlin. It was built by East Germany to protect its population from fascist influence that prevented the will of people in building a socialist state. -
Cuban Missile Crisis Begins
A 13 day conflict between the U.S. and Soviets, in which Americans deployed missiles within Italy and Turkey, while the Soviet deployed missiles within. -
Mussolini’s assassination
He was executed by italian partisans in the village of Giulino di Mezzegra in northern Italy. -
Cold War Ends
Tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union, as both entered a "nuclear arms race" against one another.
