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World War II
Events that led up to the United States entering World War II -
Japan invades Manchuria
In the 1930s, the Japanese controlled the Manchurian railway. In September 1931, they claimed that Chinese soldiers had sabotaged the railway, and attacked the Chinese army. By February 1932, the Japanese had conquered the whole of Manchuria. Thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed. -
Italy invades Ethiopia
Italo-Ethiopian War, (1935–36), an armed conflict that resulted in Ethiopia’s subjection to Italian rule. Often seen as one of the episodes that prepared the way for World War II, the war demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations when League decisions were not supported by the great powers. -
Japan invades China - initiating World War II in the Pacific
An indication of the ferocity of Tokyo's determination to annihilate the Kuomintang government is reflected in the major atrocity committed by the Japanese army in and around Nanjing during a six-week period in December 1937 and January 1938. Known in history as the Nanjing Massacre, wanton rape, looting, arson, and mass executions took place, so that in one horrific day, some 57,418 Chinese prisoners of war and civilians reportedly were killed. -
Germany invades Poland - initiating World War II in Europe
On this day in 1939, German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun. The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war–what would become the “blitzkrieg” strategy. This was characterized by extensive bombing early on to destroy the enemy’s air capacity, railroads, communication lines, and munitions dumps, followed by a massive land invasion with overwhelmingnumber -
Soviet Union invades Poland from the East
The Soviet invasion of Poland was a direct result of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union on 23 August. A secret protocol that cut the continent into two spheres of influence, split between two totalitarian systems – that of Nazi Germany and that of Soviet Union. The Soviet government used the German invasion of Poland as a pretext to violate the non-aggression treaty, announced the Polish state as non-existent and claimed that it entered WWII. -
Italy invades Southern France and enters World War II
“I need only some thousands of casualties to have a place at the peace treaty table”. According to many historians, this was Mussolini’s phrase that generated the Italian invasion of France (June 13 – 24, 1940) which was the first Italian military operation in World War Two, and without any doubt, was one of the most criticized of the whole Italian war. Indeed, the larger opinion is that Mussolini ordered the attack after he saw the brilliant results that Germany had in the French campaign. -
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, and was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. Japan managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack. This attack drew the United States into World War II.
