World War 2

Manchuria

Aug 8, 1931

• Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
• A million Soviet soldiers go into Manchuria, northeastern China, to take on the 700,000-strong Japanese army.

Ethiopia

Oct 19, 1935

• League of Nations condemns invasion of Ethiopia by the Itailian forces under Mussolini's dictatorship.

Germany Invades Rhineland

Mar 7, 1936

• Demilitarized zone between Germany and France.
• It goes against the Treaty of Versailles.

Spanish War

Jul 18, 1936

• The Spanish military spreads to mainland Spain to overthrow Spain's leftist Republican government.

Quarantine Speech

Oct 5, 1937

• FDR said it was the role of democracies to stop the expansion of dicatorships.

Anschluss

Mar 12, 1938

• Hitler announces an Anschluss with Austria.
• Germany took control over Austria.

Kristallnacht

Nov 9, 1938

• "the night of broke glass"
• Thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues were damaged.
• 100 Jews killed, 26,000 sent to concentration camps
• Jewws fined 1 billion marks, blamed for the damage
• German Jews try to leave the country, it was difficult

Munich Pact Signed

Dec 30, 1938

• France and Britian surrender the Sudentenland to Germany as part of the policy of appeasement.

Czechoslovakia

Mar 15, 1939

• Nazis take the rest of Czechoslovakia.

Nazi-Soviet Nonagression Pact

Aug 23, 1939

• USSR and Germany promise not to attack each other.
• Secret agreement to divide up Poland.

Invasion of Poland

Sep 1, 1939

-Germany uses the Blitzkrieg Method against Poland.
-The official start of World War 2.

Siltzkrieg "Phony War" Winter

Sep 3, 1939

• Britain and France declare war on Germany in response to Hitler's invasion of Poland.

Battle of the Atlantic

Sep 3, 1939

• Sonar detection, convoy systems, and air attacks allowed for Allied success.

Germany invades Norway and Denmark

Apr 9, 1940

• Germany enters major Norway ports, and in Denmark, King Christian X, surrendered immediately to German soldiers.

Germany invades Holland and Belgium

May 10, 1940

• Hitler sends in his soldiers into Holland and Belgium to take over.

Germany invades the Netherlands

May 10, 1940

• The Dutch forces surrendered leading the German soldiers to take over the Netherlands.

Battle of France

May 10, 1940

• "Blitzkrieg" (American Style)
• Eisenhower chosen to command the invasion.
• Secrecy was maintained. The Allied led diversionary raids along the English Channel, causing the Germans to not to able to predict where the Allies were planning on attacking.
• Decoys: General Patton & Calais

France Surrenders

Jun 17, 1940

• France signs an armistice with the the Nazis. They are now controlled by Germany.

Operation Barbarossa

Jun 22, 1941

• Captured industrial centers, grain fields
• Laid siege to Leningrad

Atlantic Charter

Aug 9, 1941

• Rossevelt meets up with Churchill to discuss war strategies.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Dec 7, 1941

• Japanese planes attack American naval bases in Hawaii.
• U.S. Pacific fleet.
• 20 warships, 200 aircraft destroyed
• 2,400 Americans killed
• "a date which will live in infamy"
• USS Arizona

Germany & Italy Declared War

Dec 11, 1941

• Adolf Hitler and Italy declares war on the United States, bringing America, which had been neutral, into the European conflict.

Battle of Coral Sea

May 3, 1942

• A Japanese invasion force succeeds in occupying Tulagi of the Solomon Islands in an expansion of Japan's defensive perimeter.
• Nimitz very aggressive, pressure into mistakes
• Intercepted by US/British
• Stopped advance on Australia; greatly damaged Japanese
• Aircraft carrier replaces battleship as most significant weapon

The Battle of Midway

Jun 4, 1942

• Japanese wanted to crush Pacific Fleet.
• 2 Pronged attacks: 1) Aleutian Islands (near Alaska) 2) Midway (2 small islands NW of Hawaii)
• Japanese code broken
• Nimitz assembled aircraft carriers, ambuched Japanese north of Midway
• Crippled Japanese, crucial victory for Allies

Stalingrad

Jul 17, 1942

• 250,000 German surrender; last major German offensive on Eastern Front
• Soviet forces refused to surrender, later surrounded Germans
• Hitler forbid surrender- trapped, few supplies
• Surrender Jan. 1943

Guadalcanal

Aug 7, 1942

• Japan was building airbase, better access to Allied territory.
• Fight for control of airbase
• Fighting continues for 6 months
• Turned tide in the Pacific

Operation Torch

Nov 8, 1942

• The British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of World War 2.

Invasion of Sicily

Jul 10, 1943

- Allies begin their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, off mainland Italy.

Battle of Tarawa

Nov 20, 1943

• Air strip; very bloody battle

D-Day

Jun 6, 1944

• Operation Overlord
• 150,000 Allied troops carried across the English Channel. They were led by Omar Bradley.
• Hitler refused to send reinforcements for precious days because he feared the invasion was a trick.
• After a week of fighting, the Allies gained control of a 60-mile strip.

Saipan (Mariana Islands)

Jun 15, 1944

• 127,000 troops to Saipan
• Stormed beaches, surprised Japanese into sending fleet.
• Japanese navy- took major hit, already low (also lost 350 planes)
• Fierce battle on land- 16,000 casualties
• Forced Japanese to retreat on land

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Oct 23, 1944

• Most decisive naval engagement in Pacific
• Japanese navy- major hit (4 aircrafts carriers, 2 battleships, several crusiers)

Battle of the Bulge

Dec 16, 1944

• Hitler's last major offensive against the Allied powers.
• German tanks attacked and formed a bulge into Allied territory (Ardennes region of Belgium & Northern France)
• Allies overcame the Germans.

Yalta Conference

Feb 4, 1945

• Plan for postwar peace- Allied leaders (2nd war time meeting)
• Stalin's hopes and pledge
• The United States' position

Iwo Jima

Feb 19, 1945

• U.S Marines: 750 miles from Tokyo.
• Extremely bloody, thousands killed

Okinawa

Apr 1, 1945

• Kamikaze pilots
• Bloodiest battle in Pacific war
• Japanese- fight to the deat
• 49,000 troops killed

Manhattan Project

Apr 24, 1945

• Race for atomic bomb; since 1942
• Einstein, other scientists
• Tested bomb in New Mexico
• Late July, 1946- demanded Japanese surrender; refused

Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day)

May 8, 1945

• The day that the Allies celebrate their victory over the Axis powers after Germany surrendered.
• Ending the European front of World War 2.

Enola Gay

Aug 6, 1945

• Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima

Nagasaki

Aug 9, 1945

• 200,000 casualties
• 2nd atomic bomb from U.S.

Japan Surrenders (V-J Day)

Sep 2, 1945

• The Japanese surrenders to the Allied Powers a board the USS Missouri.
• Douglas MacArthur inattendence for the United States.
• World War 2 is officially over.

Japan Surrenders

Sep 2, 1945

• Japan's response to both of the atomic bombs was that they ended up surrendering to the U.S.