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The Great Depression Begins
The Great Depression was caused by the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and left families poor and homeless. Hoover and Roosevelt were the presidents during this time. Roosevelt made the New Deals which helped repair the damage. It lasted up until the war when the U.S. racked up production of industries with the Lend Lease Act. -
Japan conquers Manchuria in northern China
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Hitler Becomes Chancellor of Germany
Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany after the 1932 elections in Germany. He gained votes from the Nazi Party that preached German Racial Superiority. He then overthrew the constitution and took control of the government. (Not Actual Date) -
Roosevelt First Elected President
Roosevelt was first elected during in the beginning of the Great Depression. He immediately worked to help through the First New Deal and the Second New Deal, which created different projects to help get the country back on their feet. -
Nuremberg Laws
These laws were anti-Semitic and made by the Nazi Army. They were made to take away the Jews rights. Some examples are having to wear the Star of David on your jacket, you can’t go out after 8:00 pm, and you can only go to Jewish shops. -
Hitler & Mussolini form the Rome-Berlin Axis
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Japan Invades China
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Britain’s appeasement of Germany
Appeasement was used by European democracies in the 1930s who wished to avoid war with the dictatorships of Germany and Italy. Neville Chamberlain happily meted Hitler to discuss an appeasement. The meeting did not go well, so now the word is used as a synonym for “cowardice” and “weakness”. (Not Actual Date) -
Germany Ivades Austria
Austria was one of the first countries to be invaded by Germany. Many of the people welcomed the Nazis. Others fled while they could. (Not Actual Date) -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht (night of broken glass) was a series of coordinated attacks against the Jews by the Nazi army. This is important because it is one of the first of many injustices and anti-Semitic actions against the Jews by the Nazis. -
Germany & Soviet Union have a nonaggression pact
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Germany invades Poland - blitzkrieg (start of WWII)
A blitzkrieg is a new type of war far which involves surprising the enemy with planes, bombs, troops, and tanks. Great Britain and France declared war on Germany two days after the invasion. This is important because it started the war. -
The Nazis implement the “Final Solution”
The term “Final Solution” was used to refer to their plan to annihilate the Jewish people. The Nazis frequently used euphemistic language to disguise the true nature of their crimes. It is not known when the leaders of Nazi Germany definitively decided to implement the "Final Solution." (Not Actual Date) -
Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and France (Vichy France)
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o German air force (Luftwaffe) bombs London and other civilian targets in the Battle of Britain
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Japan Joins the Axis Powers
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Lend-Lease Act
The act allowed the United States to lend or lease resources and equipment to the Allies. The U.S. sent about $50 billion worth of goods to Europe. -
Germany invades the Soviet Union
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Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen was the first group of African-American that fought in World War II. The American military was racially segregated during the 1940’s because of the Jim Crow laws. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was a planned attack on the U.S. by the Japanese at Hawaii on the island Oahu. Waves of planes dropped bombs on the island in the early morning. The attack had been planned for weeks before the bombing. This event is significant because it brought the U.S. into the war. -
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Manhatttan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development project that produced the first atomic bombs during World War II. The Manhattan Project began modestly in 1939, but grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion (about $26 billion in 2013 dollars). It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. (Not Actual Date) -
Japanese-American Incarceration
Japanese-American Incarceration was a reaction by the Americans after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. Americans were afraid and decided to keep the Japanese held up until the war end. The camps, however, were a lot better than the camps in Germany. The Japanese set up school, shops, and other things to make it into a community. -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60-80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. Approximately 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100-650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach Camp O'Donnell. The March route started from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga. From San Fernando, survivors were loaded to a box train and brought to Camp O'Donell -
Battle of Midway
Only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, United States Navy decisively defeated an Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). It inflicted tons of damage on the Japanese fleet. -
British forces stop the German advance at El Alamein
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Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allied (primarily United States) and Imperial Japanese forces during the months-long Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands. The action consisted of combined air and sea engagements over four days, most near Guadalcanal. In the resulting battle, both sides lost numerous warships in two extremely costly surface engagements at night. The famous dogfight also took place there. -
German forces surrender at Stalingrad
This battle was fought over many months for the control of Stalingrad in western Soviet Union. By early February 1943, Axis resistance had ceased and the remains of the 6th army was either captured or destroyed. -
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter was a propaganda piece that started out as a song to encourage the American women to work where the men used to before they went to war. In the piece, it shows “Rosie” wearing a jump suit and having her hear up with a bandana. -
D-Day
Over 160,000 Allied troops and 30,000 vehicles are landed along a 50-mile stretch of fortified French coastline and begin fighting on the beaches of Normandy. The plan was divided into 3 phases and the fighting was divided onto 5 beaches. -
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive launched through the densely forested area on the Western Front towards the end of World War II. Since the battle took place in winter, the snow blanketed the ground, which caused many problems of hypothermia and other things. The battle resulted in an Allied victory and a German failure. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was the meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. The conference happened for discussing Europe's post-war reorganization. The meeting took place in the Livadia Palace nearby Yalta. -
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. The U.S. had the goal of capturing the entire island and the three airfields. This month-long battle included some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II. -
Okinawa
Okinawa was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The battle lasted 82 days. 6 divisions of the U.S. military fought on the island. The battle resulted in an Allied victory. -
Roosevelt dies, Truman becomes president
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Allied forces advance on Berlin, Germany surrenders
The forceful advance ended in an Allied victory. During the battle, Hitler committed suicide. A few days after the battle ended, Germany surrendered, therefore ending the war in Europe. -
Formationof the United Nations
On April 25, 1945, 50 nations met in San Francisco to discuss a new peacekeeping organization to replace the weak “League of Nations”. On June 26, 1926, all 50 nations ratified the charter, creating the United Nations (peacekeeping body/international). President Roosevelt, not wanting to repeat history, urged Americans to not turn their back on the world. The U.S. is a member of the U.N. -
Potsdam Conference
The Allies held the conference to plan the war’s end. The decision was made to put Nazi criminals on trial. -
Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The atomic bombs were conducted by the United States during the final stages of World War II in 1945. The U.S. had warned the Japan telling them to surrender or pay the consequences. When Japan did not surrender, the U.S. dropped the first atom bomb. When Japan still did not surrender the dropped the second one. -
Japanese officials sign an official letter of surrender on the U.S.S. Missouri, ending World War II
On September 2, officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, thereby ending the hostilities in World War II. Allied civilians and military personnel alike celebrated V-J Day, the end of the war. However, some Pacific islands refused to surrender as far as the 1970’s. -
Nuremberg Trials
There were 24 defendants on trial, which included Hitler’s top officials. They were all charged with crimes against humanity. 19 of the defendants were found guilty and 12 of those people were sentenced to death. One of the men tried was Hermann Goring. He was the creator and head of the Gestapo (secret police). This is significant because people are responsible for their actions, even in wartime. -
Marshall's Plan
Congress approved the Secretary of State, George Marshall’s plan to help boost the economy in Europe. The U.S. gave more than $13 billion to help the countries in Europe. (Not Actual Date)
