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Japan's Invasion of China
Japan was eager for the natural resources in China and capitalized on their weakness at the time. The Japanese invaded and occupied Manchuria. The Chinese suffered nonstop territorial presence from the Japanese who used their Manchurian base. All of northern China was gradually taken over. -
Germany invades Poland
Germany invaded Poland from the air and land. Adolf Hitler wanted to regain lost territory and also have the land to rule. Germany used thier "blitzkrieg" strategy which consists of bombing early on to kill off the enemy's air force, railroads, and communication lines. This would be followed by massive land invasion with a large number of troops, tanks, and artillery. -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
In the beginning of World War II, Germany wanted to avoid a long war and thought they could do this by defeating opponents during a series of short campaigns. Germany was victorious in much of Europe using a military tactic known as Blitzkrieg or lightning war. This included the concentration of offensive weapons (tanks, planes, artillery) along a front. These forces would weaken the opponent's front defensive line allowing tanks to penetrate into the country. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a major turning point in WWII. German and British air forces clashed. The Royal Air force (ROF) eventually won, which stopped Germany from invading Britain and led to the eventual fall of Nazi Germany. -
Tripartite Pact
This the day the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan became allies by signing the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact stated if any country signing the pact was to be attacked by another country not already involved in the war, then the other signatories should provide help. The pact also recognized Italy and Germany as the leaders of Europe and Japan as the leader of east Asia. -
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was a system created by the United States to help its World War II allies with war materials. They provided thigns like ammunition, tanks, airplanes, and trucks with food and raw materials. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed this. -
Leningrad Blockade
Also known as the Siege of Leningrad this was a tragic period in the history of St. Petersburg. The Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany and Leningrad was under seige. This lasted for 900 days and the civilians refused to surrender causing them to face many hardships in the encircled city. Food and fuel were limited and there was almost no electricity and food. 200,000 people died in Leningrad of cold and starvation. The civilians never surrendered and eventually the siege was limited. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Japan joined the Axis powers. The United States restricted exports to Japan that they needed for the war. Japan tried to negotiate with the US, but it failed. This caused Japan to plan an attack on the US. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii destroying the entire US Pacific fleet and killed 2,500 people. -
Wannsee Conference
Highly ranked Nazi Germany government officials gathered in a house to discuss and coordinate the implementation of the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." This final solution was the deliberate killing of European Jews. -
Battle of Midway
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan and the US engaged in a naval battle. The US was able to win because they countered Japan's planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers. They did this through a major advance in code breaking. This inflicted permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. This was an important turning point in the Pacific campaign and allowed the US to go on the offensive. -
D-Day
D-Day was known as the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. 156,000 American, Brtish and Candian troops landed on five beaches along the coast of France's Normandy region. The invasion was very large and led to the liberation of northern france. By the next spring, the Allies had defeated Germany. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was the second meeting between Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. They agreed to demand Germany's surrender and also planned for a post-war world. -
Iwo Jima/Okinawa
The US wanted to take ahold of all of Japan. There were only two islands left. Iwo Jima and Okinawa were only 750 miles from major military and political targets. Capturing the islands would even bring Tokyo within the range of US bombers. Iwo Jima was attacked first. After defeating Iwo Jima, the US attacked Okiwana which was much more challenging. The US was able to take some Japanese as prisoners. Some Japnese did not want to become prisoners so they committed suicide. -
Hitler's Suicide
Adolf Hitler killed himself by consuming a cyanide capsule and afterwards shoots himself with a pistol. This occured in his underground bunker in Berlin. -
VE Day
People in the US and Great Britain celebrated on this day because the German troops in Europe laid down thier arms. They put out banners and flags to celebrate the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was the last WWII meeting that was held by the Big Three heads of state (Harry S. Truman of the US, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin). During this meeting, the leaders made agreements on the Germany economy, punishments for war criminals, and land boundaries. They talked a lot post war Europe and also demanded surrender from Japan. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The US dropped the world's first atomic weapon on Hiroshima, Japan. The atomic bomb killed tens of thousands of people. Japan, still trying to recover from the devestation were struck again by the US with another atomic bomb on Nagasaki. This was used because of rumors of Japan invading the US which would cause many US casualties. President Truman decidede to drop the atomic bomb not only to prevent the invasion but to end the world war entirely. -
VJ Day
Marked the end of World War II. VJ Day stands for the Victoryover Japan Day when Japan officially surrendered to the Allies. -
Formation of the United Nations
The United Nations first consisted of 25 nations at war with the Axis powers. They met in Washington to sign the treaty and pledged their full resources against the Axis. The goal of the UN was to a be a general organization based on the idea of sovereign equality of all nations. -
Truman Doctrine
With the Truman Doctrine, President Harry S. Truman said that the United States would give political, military and economic help to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal forces. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan helped Europe recover after World War II. The US gave $17 billion to Europe to help economic support the rebuilding of their economies. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed to deter Soviet expansion, forbid the revival of nationalist militaism in Europe through a presence of North America on the continent, and to encourage European policial integration. After World War II, Europe was devestated and 36.5 million Europeans had died. NATO helped bring aid, political stability and security to Europe. -
Mao Zedong & People’s Republic of China
Mao Zedong officially named himself the head of state in China. He also established the People's Republic of China. Mao succeeded in persuading Stalin to sign a treaty of mutual assistance along with economic aid. One of Mao's goals was to get rid of the land ownership system and to promote land reforms. He replaced the old landlord ownership of farmland with a distribution system in favor of poor landless peasants. He believed in socialism. -
Korean War
This was the first military action of the Cold War. North Korea crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea. America joned the war in support of South Korea. The fighting eventually stopped and ended in the death of 5 million soldiers and civilians. Korea is still divided today. -
Stalin's Death; Khrushchev
Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union for almost 30 years. He was responsible for the death of millions of his own people through famine and war. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He had a policy of peaceful coexistence with the West but insitgated the Cuban Missile Crisis. He did this by placing nuclear weapons 90 miles from Florida. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a mutual defensive agreement. It put the Soviet Union in charge of the armed forces of the member states. It was signed in Warsaw and included the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czecholslovakia, and Bulgaria. It was an agreement that required any member to come to the defense of another under attack. -
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War conflict between the United States and the French colonial government in South Vietnam verses the indigenous and communist Vietnamese independence movement of the north, the Viet Minh. -
Sputnik
The Soviet Union launched the first Sputnik satellite into orbit around earth. It was the first artificial satellite and caused an uproar in the US. The US panicked and thought that they were being invaded and bombed from outer space by the Russians. The Soviet Union later launced a series of satellites of different sizes for scientific research purposes. -
Berlin Wall
Communist east Germany began to build a barbed wire and concrete wall that separated east and west Germany. The main purpose was to prevent the facists from West Germany from coming to East and corrupting the socialist government of the east. It still remains a symbol of the Cold War today. -
Bay of Pigs
The US government financed and directed an invasion on Cuba. This was opposed to the rule of Fidel Castro. President John F. Kennedy approved and carried out the invasion plan. The main landing of the US airplanes was on the south-central coastal of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. US troops were no match for the large number of Castro's troops. They were captured and imprisoned. Castro finally released the prisoners in return for food and medicine. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The US and the Soviet Union were involved in a 13 day political and military standoff. The Soviet Union installed nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba 90 miles away from the US shores. President Kennedy made an announcment to the Americans about the presence of the missiles and his plan to create a naval blockade around Cuba. People feared that the world was going into a nuclear world war. The disaster was avoided because the US agreed not to invade Cuba in return for the removal of the missiles. -
Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev was the last General Secretary of the Soviet Union. He brought economic, social, and political changes. He helped bring an end to the Soviet Union and the Cold War. He strongly believed that the Soviet Union needed massive liberalization in order to improve thier economy and society. He also met with the US's president Ronald Reagan to end the arms race between the US and Soviet Union. -
Soviet Union Falls
The Soviet went ino decline after the rule of Gorbechev. People were frustraed with the bad economu and Gorbachev's hands off approach to the Soviet Union. One by one countries declared their indpendence from the Soviet Union.
