-
Japanese Invasion of China
Japan started expansion in September 1931. China didn't inflict full scale resistance until 1937. Japan occupied China until the end of the Second World War. -
Germany Invades Poland
Hitler wanted more living space for Germans, and to rule over Poland. Germany signed a nonaggression pact, splitting Poland with the Soviet Union. This cause Great Britain and France to decalare war on Germany. -
German Blitzkrieg
Military tatic designed to create confusion and disorganization in enemy forces. German forces were able to take over Poland and other countries essentially by a massive and quick purge without losing human life. -
Fall of Paris
Germans imposed a curfew of 8 p.m. that German forces were going to start occupying the capital city. 2 million Parisians had already fled before German forces enterd Paris. Canadian troops offered aid to France. Roosevelt froze all American assets with the Axis powers of Italy and Germany. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler's plan to take over the Soviet Union and Moscow. The Soviets occupied the Baltic States, Bessarabia, and northern Bukovina in June 1940. This put the Soviets close to the Romanian oil fields that Germany depended on. This was the largest and most powerful invasion force in human history and it set back the German forces. -
Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu. December 8th. President Franklin D. Roosevelt decalred war on Japan. Three days later Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. -
Bataan Death March
U.S. surrenders the Bataan Peninsula to Japanese forces. 75,000 Filipino and American troops were forced to march 65 miles to prison camps. They were forced to walk with intense heat and brutal treatment by the Japanese. -
Wannsee Conference
Nazi officials gathered to discuss details of the "Final Solution" for the Jews. Ultimately, Gas Vans were chosen as the "Final Solution" as they were considereed more efficient for killing large groups of people at a time. -
Period: to
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Residents of the Warsaw jewish ghetto staged an armed revolt against German forces. Germans in return razed buildings capturing or killing thousands of jews. By May 16th the ghetto was back under full control of the Nazis and the blew the Warsaw Synagogue as a lesson. -
Operation of Gomorrah
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany by this night. By next day Americans were bombing Hamburg in "Blitz Week". German officials were starting accept defeat. -
Period: to
D-Day
Operation to liberate Western Europe from Nazi Germany. By the end of August. Allied powers liberated Paris and Germans were removed from all of Northwestern France. -
Battle of the Bulge
Hittler attempted to split the Alllied Powers and take advantage of the Bridgehead in the Ardennes by using a surprise Blitzkrieg. The Allies fronted themselves in the appearance of a large bulge. This battle caused shortage in German fuel. -
Operation Thunderclap
The Allies were to bomb the Eastern most cities of Germany to disrupt the transport infrastructure behind what was the Eastern front. This operation also proved to the German population that the Nazi's had failed them. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Americans succesfully planted a base near the Japanese coast because the Japanese were starting to defend not on the coastline but inland. -
Battle of Okinawa
Largest and last battle of the Pacific islands, land and sea. This resulted in a huge loss in civilian and military deaths. The U.S. lost 11,000 troops, while Japan lost 77,000. -
VE Day
Great Britian and the U.S. celebrate victory in Europe. Cities in both nations, as well as occupied nations, rejoiced the defeat of the Nazis. 13,000 British POWs were sent back to Britain. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Soviets came accrose the first concentration camp new Lublin, Poland. By January 1945, the Soviet liberated the most notorious camp, Auschwitz. The liberation of camps exposed the horrors Germans inflicted on the Jews. -
Period: to
Boming of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Two American B-29 bombers dropped the world's first deployed atomic on Hiroshima August 6th killing 80,000. The second bomber dropped another atomic bomb over Nagasaki three days later killing 40,000. Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender ending WWII. -
Postdam Declaration
Japan formally surrenderes to the Postdam Conference unconditionally, ending WWII -
VJ Day
The celebration of Japan's surrender to the war. This day is known as Victory of Japan day.