-
The Invasion of poland
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union, which marked the beginning of World War II. -
Great Britain and France Declare War on Nazi Germany
Germany represented a direct threat to British security and the security of its empire. Accepting German domination of Europe had grave implications for British status and survival. Britain went to war in 1939 to defend the balance of power in Europe and safeguard Britain's position in the world. -
The Invasion of Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands & France
German military strategy involved invading the neutral Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) to invade France. The conquest of Western Europe brought hundreds of thousands of Jews under German control. -
Period: to
The Battle & Great Escape at Dunkirk
The evacuation boosted morale If the BEF had been captured, it would have meant the loss of Britain's only trained troops and the collapse of the Allied cause. The successful evacuation greatly boosted civilian morale and created the 'Dunkirk spirit' which helped Britain to fight in the summer of 1940. -
Period: to
The Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was important because it kept Nazi materials of war focused on Britain, steeled the will of the British people to find the war to the end, and demonstrated that the Nazis were not invincible. By denying the Germans the ability to invade, the British were able to keep the war in mainland Europe. -
Selective Service & Training Act
The Selective Service System and the registration requirement for America's young men provide our Nation with a structure and a system of guidelines which will provide the most prompt, efficient, and equitable draft possible, if the country should need it. -
Lend-Lease Assistance Act
This system served a dual purpose: it enabled Roosevelt to send material support to the anti-Nazi allies while allowing the U.S. to avoid direct involvement in the widening war. -
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a pivotal moment in world history that dramatically altered the 20th century. It catalyzed the United States' entry into World War II and reshaped global power dynamics, forging new alliances and leading to significant technological and military advancements. -
America Enters World War II
the continued submarine attacks on U.S. merchant and passenger ships, and the “Zimmermann Telegram's” implied threat of a German attack on the United States, swayed U.S. public opinion in support of a declaration of war. -
Germany and Italy Declare War an the United States
On December 11, 1941, Italy declared war on the United States. The declaration followed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor four days earlier and was made the same day as Germany's declaration of war against the United States. Benito Mussolini publicly gave the announcement in Rome on December 11. -
The Battle of Coral Sea
It was the world's first carrier-vs. -carrier battle, and the first naval battle in which neither side's ships sighted the others. This in itself marked the coming of a new mode of naval warfare that had been predicted by airpower advocates as much as a decade prior. -
The Battle of Midway Island
This critical US victory stopped Japan's growth in the Pacific and put the United States in a position to begin shrinking the Japanese empire through a years-long series of island-hopping invasions and several even larger naval battles. -
The Invasion of North Africa
The battle for North Africa was primarily a struggle for control of the Suez Canal and access to oil from the Middle East and raw materials from Asia. It was also an effort to drive Italy out of the war as a prelude to the invasion of southern Europe and a planned bombing campaign against Germany. -
Period: to
The Invasion of Sicily & Italy
The conquest of Sicily took a little more than a month and it led directly to the fall of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and the surrender of the Italian government to the Allies. -
The D-Day Invasion of France
But D-Day had opened another major front, where the bulk of America's rapidly expanding army could at last be brought to bear. It led to the liberation of France, denying Germany any further exploitation of that country's economic and manpower resources. -
Nazi Concentration Camps Discovered
The discovery of the Ohrdruf camp opened the eyes of many US soldiers to the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Liberation did not end at Ohrdruf, and American troops would move on to discover and liberate multiple camps, including Dora-Mittelbau, Dachau, Mauthausen, and Buchenwald. -
Period: to
The Battle of Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge marked the last German offensive on the Western Front. The German side's catastrophic losses prevented it from resisting the advance of Allied forces following the Normandy Invasion. Less than four months after the end of the Battle of the Bulge, Germany surrendered to Allied forces. -
The Yalta Conference
At Yalta, Roosevelt and Churchill discussed with Stalin the conditions under which the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan and all three agreed that, in exchange for potentially crucial Soviet participation in the Pacific theater, the Soviets would be granted a sphere of influence in Manchuria following -
V-E ( Victory in Europe) Day
On Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day, Germany unconditionally surrendered its military forces to the Allies, including the United States. On May 8, 1945 - known as Victory in Europe Day or V-E Day - celebrations erupted around the world to mark the end of World War II in Europe. -
The Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima
The United States bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, were the first instances of atomic bombs used against humans, killing tens of thousands of people, obliterating the cities, and contributing to the end of World War II. -
The Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki
The bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki with the Fat Man plutonium bomb device on August 9, 1945, caused terrible human devastation and helped end World War II. -
V-J (Victory over Japan) Day
V-J Day, or Victory over Japan Day, marks the end of World War II, one of the deadliest and most destructive wars in history. When President Harry S. Truman announced on Aug. 14, 1945, that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, war-weary citizens around the world erupted in celebration.