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Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of stalingrad aginst Germany. Russians built up defense. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War. Most people consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest batt with casualties of nearly 2 millon. -
Japan Invades China
The Japanese invaded China proper, becoming the Second Sino-Japanese War. Chinese forces were unable to resist the Japanese. The Japanese military was not only better armed and organized, they were also incredibly brutal. The rape of Nanking was some of the most terrible atrocities of World War II. Japan wanted to control the resources of China so they took it over. -
The Holocaust
The mass murder of some 6 million European Jews (as well as members of some other persecuted groups, such as Gypsies and homosexuals) by the German Nazi regime during world war two. To the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, Jews were an inferior race, an alien threat to German racial purity and community. After years of Nazi rule in Germany, during which Jews were consistently persecuted, Hitler’s “final solution”–now known as the Holocaust–came to fruition under the cover of world war. -
Munich Conference
In late 1938 a crisis developed in Europe. On September 29 the Munich Conference. Hitler met with representatives of the heads of state from France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. They came to an agreement that Hitler could annex the Sudetenland provided he promised not to invade anywhere else. All four countries signed the agreement. -
Non-Aggression Pact
The Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, It stated the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years.Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, breaking the agreement it had signed with Great Britain and France the year before in Munich, Germany. The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact fell apart in June 1941, when Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union. -
Blitzkrieg
A German term for fighting war. It mean "lighting war". They fight in a disorganized way, doing whatever they wanted. German forces tried out the this methood in Poland in 1939 before successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. -
Germany invades Poland
Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, Though, Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. Hitler thought that getting Poland would give them "living space" for the German people. -
Battle of Britain
In the summer and fall of 1940, German and British air forces clashed in the skies over Britain, and locked in the largest sustained bombing campaign to that date. This was a major turing point in the war. The Englishmen stayed in their basements and stayed calm with the help of Churchill. Britain’s victory saved the country from a ground invasion and possible occupation by German forces while proving that air power alone could be used to win a major battle. -
Lend-Lease Act
Lend-Lease Act was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. It authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.” The act permitted the United States to support its war interests without being overextended in battle. -
Operation Barbarossa
Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. This wasnt a good idea. Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources.They severely underestimated their opponent. Now Germany was goign to loose. -
Pearl Harbor
It wasnt even 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, it was devastating. Japan managed to destroy nearly 20 naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. 2000+ soilder died and 1000 were wounded. FDR declared war on Japan and three days later Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States. We were in war. -
Wannsee Conference
On this day, Nazi officials meet to discuss the details of the "Final Solution" of the "Jewish question." Many gruesome proposals were discussed, including mass sterilization and deportation to the island of Madagascar. Heydrich proposed simply transporting Jews from every corner Europe to concentration camps in Poland and working them to death.Months later, the "gas vans" in Poland, which were killing 1,000 people a day, proved to be the "solution" killing thousands of jews a day. -
Bataan Death March
The day after japan dropped a bomb on pearl harbor the invaion to the Philippines began.The surrendered Filipinos and Americans soon were rounded up by the Japanese and forced to march some 65 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando. The marchers made in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of naval battles of World War II. We won because of the major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to learn and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. This was an important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
D-Day
The Battle of Normandy resualted in Aliied liberation of western europe from Germanys control. Germans were on the beaches already while American, the British, and Canadians came from the Channel of ships.The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe. Hilter had taken over France and knew that the battle was going to happen. This was a big turning point for Allies. -
Battle of the Bulge
Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The American invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. After, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island in February 1945. Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought from an elaborate network of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground installations. Despite the difficulty of the conditions, the marines wiped out the defending forces after only a month of fighting. -
Battle Of Okianwa
This was one of the last and biggest Pascific Island battles of the war. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82-day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties—including 14,000 dead. -
V-E Day
The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms and Hitler had commited suicide. Great Britain and The British celebrated the victory while German troops were worried with what the soviet forces may do to them.All across the nation people turned on the wireless to find out more. POWs were sent back home and camps were liberated. Also countries Germans took over could fianlly live in peace and return to how things were before. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki
America used a massive, atomic weapon against Japan. This atomic bomb, the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT, flattened the city of Hiroshima, killing tens of thousands of civilians. Japan was still dealing with this devastation, and yet three days later, the we struck again, this time, on Nagasaki. Thousands of civilians died and and then Japan surrendered. -
V-J Day
It was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. We bombed them with two Atomic Bombs and left them with damages they would have to live for for years and years. The Potsdam Declaration between Allied leaders called Japan to surrender; if it did, it was promised a peaceful government according to “the freely expressed will of the Japanese people.” If it didnt, it would face “prompt and utter destruction.” Either way they were to give up. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. It was a collective defense treaty among eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War.