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Nuremburg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws were the first anti-Jewish racial laws enacted, Jews no longer considered German citizens and Jews could not marry Aryans. They were first declared at the annual Nazi rally held in Nuremberg in 1935. Nuremburg laws were important because these laws were the first steps of the Holocaust. -
Munich Pact
An agreement between France, Italy, Nazi Germany and Britain. After Germany invaded the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, the British and French prime ministers tried to get Hitler to agree not to use his military in the future in return for the land he had taken. Hitler agreed. The Munich agreement is significant because it is seen as a failure of negotiation. By allowing Hitler to expand German territory and control, it encouraged him to lust for yet more territory, thus bringing on the war. -
Kristallnacht ( Night of Broken Glass)
Huge attack on the Jews in Nazi Germany and Austria. Many believe that this was the start of the Holocaust because this was the first time the Nazis deliberately targeted Jews for death. -
Hitler seizes all of Czechoslovakia
Hitler’s forces invade and occupy Czechoslovakia. This was significant because it was the end of appeasement and Chamberlain guaranteed to defend Poland if Germany invaded. -
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
Enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. This was significant because Britain and France had been trying to arrange a pact with the Soviet Union but were unsuccessful. With the Soviet Union now neutral, Britain and France were out of possible powerful European allies. -
Canada declares war on Germany
Britain's declaration of war did not automatically commit Canada, as had been the case in 1914. But the government and people were united in support of Britain and France and Canadians felt they still had some ties to the British, and wanted to help out their allies. This was significant because Canada had gained the right and authority to declare war independently and it allowed them to have their own regulations for conscription and other war related issues. -
Fall of France
The German invasion of France. On May 10, more than 2 million German troops on land and in the air invaded France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands using blitzkrieg tactics. The smaller countries fell within weeks, but France held on until June 22, when it signed an armistice with Germany. This was significant because it knocked France (one of Germany's 2 main opponents at the time) out of the war. -
Battle of Britain
German pilots made many coordinated attack runs and bombing runs in Great Britain. It was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces. The Battle of Britain marked the first defeat of Hitler's military forces. -
Operation Barbarossa begins
Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. Codenamed Operation Barbarossa, it was the largest military operation in history, involving over 3.9 million troops to invade the European part of the USSR. Hitler wanted lebensraum in the east. It was significant because Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, as its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war that they could never win. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese army bombed the U.S. warships to eliminate a possible threat from the war. It was important because it sparked the United States' entrance into World War II. The day after the Japanese attacked Honolulu's Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in which the United States destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army went over the Philippines, East Indies, and Southeast Asia. The Battle of Midway was significant because it stopped Japanese advancement. They had no great victories after that. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. This was significant because the Soviet victory at Stalingrad was a great humiliation for Hitler, who had elevated the battle's importance in German opinion. From that point onward the Germans lost the strategic offensive. -
D-Day
General Dwight Eisenhower led US and Allied troops in the invasion of Normandy, France. They landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history and required extensive planning. D-Day was significant because it was a major threat to Germany's control of Western Europe and it opened a second major front against Germany. It also convinced the Russians to fight with the Allies. -
V-E Day
A day where they celebrated the Nazis official surrender from WWII. This was significant because it was the end of the war in Europe which meant people could get on with rebuilding their lives and their homes. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
US drops atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. In combination, the bombs killed almost 200,000 people immediately, and tens of thousands died later of radiation poisoning and other wounds. These bombings were important because Japan surrendered which ended the second world war.
