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Invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese Kwangtung Army attacked Chinese troops in Manchuria in an event commonly known as the Manchurian Incident. Essentially, this was an attempt by the Japanese Empire to gain control over the whole province, in order to eventually encompass all of East Asia -
Hitler Takes Power
The July 31, 1932, election produced a major victory for Hitler’s National Socialist Party. On the basis of that victory, Hitler demanded that President Hindenburg appoint him chancellor and place him in complete control of the state. -
Neutrality Acts
The President, by proclamation, shall definitely enumerate the arms, ammunition, or implements of war, the export of which is prohibited by this Act. The President may, from time to time, by proclamation, extend such embargo upon the export of arms, ammunition, or implements of war to other states as and when they may become involved in such war. -
Spanish Civil War
major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. The war began after a pronunciamiento (declaration of opposition) by a group of right-wing generals under the leadership of José Sanjurjo against the Government of the Second Spanish Republic, at the time under the leadership of President Manuel Azaña. -
Japanese Invasion of China
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States. -
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without the presence of Czechoslovakia. -
German Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by ethnic German populations living in those regions. -
Fall of France
On 5 June, the Germans swung southwards and French resistance finally collapsed, although not without heavy fighting. The Government capitulated on 25 June -
Non-Aggression Pact
Hitler was planning against the possibility of a two front war. He made a pact with the Soviets - the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. -
Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe. The invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and ended on 6 October 1939 with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland. -
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign. The Battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats and other warships of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) and aircraft of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) against Allied merchant shipping. -
Invasion of Denmark/Norway
On the 31st May, 1939, a Treaty of Non-Aggression was made between Germany and Denmark, and signed by the Defendant Ribbentrop. Hitler still invaded on April 9 1940. -
Battle of Britain
The objective of the campaign was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces. -
Lend-Lease
program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. A total of $50.1 billion (equivalent to $611 billion today) worth of supplies were shipped: $31.4 billion to Britain, $11.3 billion to the Soviet Union, $3.2 billion to France, and $1.6 billion to China. -
Atlantic Charter
Defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by Britain and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies. -
Pearl Harbor
Surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor. The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. -
Doolittle's Raid
First air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands (specifically Honshu) during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation -
Battle of Midway
Most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser were sunk for a cost of one American aircraft carrier and a destroyer. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad. Largest battle on the Eastern Front and was marked by its brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties. -
Italian Campaign
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. It is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945 some 60,000 Allied and 50,000 German soldiers died in Italy. -
Operation Torch
British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942. The Soviet Union had pressed the U.S. and Britain to start operations in Europe and open a second front to reduce the pressure of German forces on the Soviet troops. -
D-Day
The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings were conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France starting at 6:30 AM. -
Liberation of France
The capital region of France had been governed by Nazi Germany. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea." Considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history. -
Battle of the Bulge
The "bulge" being the initial incursion the Germans put into the Allies' line of advance. Germany's goal for these operations was to split the British and American Allied line in half. -
Yalta Conferance
sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D. The meeting was intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. -
Iwo Jima
Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S. invasion, charged with the mission of capturing the three airfields on Iwo Jima, resulted in some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific Campaign of World War II. -
Okinawa
codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945 -
FDR's Death
January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1945) and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. The only American president elected to more than two terms. -
V-E Day
the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not until 9 May 1945. -
Hiroshima
Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima. Of the people who died on the day of the explosion, 60% died from flash or flame burns, 30% from falling debris and 10% from other causes -
Nagaski
Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 60,000–80,000 people in Nagasaki. Six days after the detonation over Nagasaki, on August 15, Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Powers, signing the Instrument of Surrender on September 2. -
V-J Day
Chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo Bay, Japan aboard the battleship USS Missouri. -
Nuremburg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, in 1945, at the Palace of Justice.
