World War II

Japan Invades China

May 4, 1931

The Japanese invade Manchuria after the Mukden incident.

Germany invades Poland

Sep 1, 1939

This battle sparked World War 2. Hitler, determined to regain lost territory and rule Poland, invades Poland on this date.

Battle of Britain

Jul 16, 1940

Britain successfully defended itself against repeated air raids from Germany.

Tripartite Pact

Sep 27, 1940

Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies when this pact is signed in Berlin.

Lend-Lease Act

Mar 1, 1941

Authorized the govermnet to send supplies to any country that Congress felt needed them.

German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union

Jun 22, 1941

Hitler knew that Germany could not stand a long, drawn-out war, so he devised a plan to attack and conquer the Soviet Union as quickly as possible.

Leningrad Blockade

Sep 8, 1941

German siege of Leningrad lasting 872 days.

Pearl Harbor Bombing

Dec 7, 1941

The Japanese, angry at the U.S for restricting export of necessary war supplies to Japan, bombs a U.S. harbor and destroys almost the entire U.S. Pacific fleet.

Wannsee Conference

Jan 20, 1942

At this conference, Nazi officials met to discuss and confrim the deportation of the Jews to Poland to be murdered.

Battle of Midway

Jun 4, 1942

American codebreakers decoded a Japanese message and prepared a counterattack, allowing the United States to win a crucial battle in WWII.

D-Day

Jun 30, 1944

One of the largest amphibious military invasions in history, this battle resulted in the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany's control.

Yalta Conference

Feb 4, 1945

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet to discuss the final defeat of Nazi Germany.

Iwo Jima/Okinawa

Feb 14, 1945

Americans successfully capture Iwo Jima, an island near Japan, as a naval base.

Hitler Commits Suicide

Apr 30, 1945

Adolf Hitler swallows a cyanide capsule and shoots himself in the head; shortly after, Nazi Germany surrenders.

VE (Victory in Europe) Day

May 8, 1945

Official day of celebration marking Nazi Germany's complete surrender.

Potsdam Conference

Jul 17, 1945

The Potsdam Conference was held to discuss peace terms in Europe,bt no peace treaty was written or signed. Participants include harry truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin.

Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Aug 6, 1945

Japan, unwilling to meet the Allies' demands for complete surrender, was destroyed when the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two Japanese cities. These bombings resulted in over 129,000 deaths.

V.J. (Vistory over Japan) Day

Sep 2, 1945

This day marks the official end of WWII, where Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri.

United Nations

Oct 24, 1945

the United Nations is formed to bring together the Allies and later negotiating peace.

Truman Doctrine

Mar 12, 1947

Truman declares the need for immediate economic help for Greece and Turkey.

Marshall Plan

Apr 10, 1948

Also known as the European Recovery Program, this program successfully kickstarted European economic recovery.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Apr 4, 1949

Members of this treaty agree to defend one another should one of the 28 member countries be attacked.

Mao Zedong

Oct 1, 1949

Mao Zedong founds and is chariman of the COmmunist Party of China.

Korean War

Jun 25, 1950

This war started when the North Korean army crossed the 38th parallel and attacked the South Korean army. This is the first military action during the Cold War.

Stalin Dies; Krushchev

Mar 5, 1953

Stalin, ruler of the Soviet Union since the 1920s, dies, and Krushchev begins his rise to power over the apparent heir to the throne, Malenkov.

Warsaw Pact

May 14, 1955

This pact was a defense treaty among eight communist European countries during the Cold War.

Vietnam War

Nov 1, 1955

Communist-backed North Vietnam fought against anti-communist South Vietnam. The united states backed South Vietnam to prevent a communist takeover of Southern Vietnam.

Sputnik

Oct 4, 1957

The first of a series of 10 man-made satellites, the first to enter space, was launched by the Soviet Union.

Bay Of Pigs

Jan 1, 1959

Cuban nationalist Fidel Castro overthrows dictorial president Batista in a battle in Havana.

Berlin Wall

Aug 13, 1961

East German socialists built a wall to prevent West German fascists from entering East Germany.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Oct 22, 1962

The Soviet Union and the United States entered a standoff when the S.U. placed missiles in Cuba aiming at the U.S. Kennedy agreed to take American missiles out of Turkey and promised not to invade Cuba in exchange for the removal of the Cuban missiles.

Gorbachev

Mar 11, 1985

Gorbachev becomes the final ruler of the Soviet Union.

Soviet Union falls

Dec 25, 1991

On this date, the Soviet Union flag flew for the final time after 11 countries left the Soviet Union a few days earlier.