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Aircraft
German dive-bombers and other aircrafts were extremely significant during World War II. Air warfare played a significant role and could often determine the victor in a battle. Aircrafts played an especially important role in Blitzkrieg. However, the first airplane was invented by the Wrights Brothers. -
Mussolini comes to power
Mussolini used to have his own Newspaper in 1914 called Il Popolo d’Italia. After the First World War he was able to get thirty-five fascists elected into the Italian Parliament and emphasized nationalism. However in 1921 Italy was in civil war and Mussolini took this opportunity to seize power. That is when King Victor Emmanuel III asked Mussolini to be prime minister and create a new government. -
Stalin comes to power
After serving as general secretary under Lenin, Stalin rose to power. Lenin had an unexpected stroke and then died, leaving his position open. Stalin was not originally supposed to become dictator however he was able to defeat all his opponents and implement his five year plan and promote socialism. -
The Beginning of the Final Solution
The Final Solution was Hitler's plan to annhilate the Jews. -
Hitler comes into power
Hitler manipulated the Germans into voting him into office through propoganda and statutes. He told everyone he wanted equality for Germany and would bring them out of a depression with his Nazi party. -
Submarine
Submarines played a significant role in World War II. The Germans used them in sea warfare with the British and were able to destroy British fleets with military supplies, like food and weapons. -
The beginning of the Nuremerg Laws
These were Anti-Semitic laws in Nazi Germany. -
Rocket Engines
Rocket engines raised engine efficiency from 2% to 64%. The Germans used rocket engines to power their V-2 rocket which was the first rocket with long-range used during war. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnact is often called the “Night of Broken Glass” because it is when the wave of anti-Jewish pogroms took place throughout Germany and places where there were German troops. -
Radar and Sonar
Radar and Sonar were used to determine the coordinates of German submarines so that they could be avoided or destroyed. It also warned boats where the submarines were and took away the submarines’ advantage of surprise. -
The St. Louis
The St. Louis was a transatlantic German liner that sailed from Germany to Havana, Cuba. Aboard the ship were 938 Jewish refugees fleeing from the Third Reich. -
Hitler invades Poland, beginning World War II
The Germans invaded Poland and defeated them within a month.They then allowed the Soviet Union to take the Eastern parts because fo the Nazi-Soveit Pact they had. -
Tripartite Pact
The Tripartite Pact was signed by Japan, Italy, and Germany. It stated that if one of the countries was to be attacked by any nation not already involved in the war the other two countries would assist the country in need. -
Lend Lease Act
This was enacted by Congress in 1941. It allowed the president to sell, transfer, lend, or lease war supplies to American Allies during World War II. However, countries had to agree to the conditions of repayment. This helped the United States get involved in the war without actually fighting and allowing them to still help their allies. -
Hideki Tojo becomes prime minister of Japan
Hideki Tojo was the defense minister general of Japan and became prime minister because of the war. He and his cabinet planned for war against Great Britain and the United States. He wanted to destroy the U.S. naval force by attacking Pearl Harbor. -
The Attack of Pearl Harbor
Japanese pilots and more than 350 bombers, fighters, and torpedo planes attacked in two cycles. They sank eighteen ships and destroyed more than two hundred. It devastated the American navy. This is one of the main reasons why the United States entered the war. -
US Declaration of War
The U.S. declared war on Japan and joined the Allies the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This is because one of the U.S.’s own military bases was attacked at home by the Japanese and the United States saw it as an immediate threat. The United States joining the war was a turning point because they had a powerful military. -
Total War
Total war occurred when the whole world was at war. Theodore Roosevelt described it as when, “It is warfare in terms of every continent, every island, every sea, and every air lane.” This occurred after the United States and the Soviet Union entered the war in 1941 and caused almost every nation in the world to go to war by 1945. -
Japanese internment camps
More than 127,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese Americans were viewed as a security risk and forced to leave their homes and live in Internment Camps. They were basically concentration camps. -
Nuclear Weapons
President Franklin D. Roosevelt instructed scientists to develop nuclear weapons before the Germans in the Manhattan Project. Scientists were able to create the atomic bomb in New Mexico. The atomic bomb was later used during the war by the United States on Japan. -
Liberation of Death Camps
The Soviet Union and the United States were able to liberate Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration and death camps. They were able to free prisoners and help them seek refuge. This put an end to the holocaust and the systematic killing of Jews. -
Computers
Zuse and Turing invented the computer during the Second World War however they were not designed for the war, but for civilians. Britain was able to use the computer for code-breaking which gave them an advantage in the war. -
D-Day
General Dwight Eisenhower led the allies to liberate Europe. They fought along the beaches of Normandy, France and marched through Europe to defeat the Nazi army. -
Death of President Roosevelt
President Roosevelt died from a cerebral hemorrhage. This loss was felt by the whole country because he was the longest serving president in U.S. history. He was later succeeded by Truman. -
Truman becomes president
Truman succeeded Roosevelt after he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. -
Death of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler committed suicide before he was captured by shooting himself in the head with a gun. He killed himself to avoid prosecution and punishment for what he had done. -
V-E Day
This marks the day of victory for the Allies in World War II and Europe was finally liberated from the Germans. The unconditional surrender of Germany was signed at Rheims on May 7th and ratified at Berlin on May 8th. -
Aromic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the two bombs dropped on Japan by the United States, which eventually caused them to surrender. There are still long-lasting effects from the radiation today and the amount of destruction and death that were caused by them was unbelievable. -
Japan Surrenders
August 15, 1945 The U.S. dropped napalm firebombs on Tokyo to try and destroy industries and other parts of the city. However, after Japan continued to fight the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs, Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed more than two hundred thousand people. Soon after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and this threat caused Emperor Hirohito to surrender.
