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Invasion of Manchuria
The invasion began when the Kwantung Army of the empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately after the Mukden incident. The Mukden incident was where an explosion happened on the tracks of South Manchurian Railroad. The Japanese immediately blamed the Chinese and began an occupation of the area. -
Rape of Nanjing
A Japanese General Matsui Iwane had ordered that the city of Nanking be destroyed. The city was burned and the Japanese killed around 200,000 men that include prisoners and civilians and raped around 20,000 women and girls. Many of which were killed in the process. The Japanese would take pictures of what they were doing with joy on their faces. -
Anschluss
Anschluss means union, on March 12, 1938 Hitler announces an anschluss between Germany and Austria to make Germany into a greater nation. A union with Germany has been something Austria has always wanted and unsurprisingly Hitler ,being a native Austrian, also wanted it. -
Munich Pact
The Munich Pact was an agreement to avoid war but gave Czechoslovakia away to Germany. The pact was signed by the British and French prime ministers Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier. Which later the pact was broken after Hitler demanded the immediate cession of Sudetenland to Germany and the evacuation of Czechoslovakia. The day after Hitler order this Czechoslovakia ordered troop mobilization. -
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Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht also known as the "Night of Broken Glass" was where Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools, and businesses. Also killed close to 100 Jews. The aftermath of Kristallnacht or "Night of Broken Glass" around 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to the Nazi concentration camp. After Krisallnacht life for the Jews increasingly got worse and worse. -
Non-Aggression Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union had signed an agreement called the Non-Aggression pact. This pact was an agreement that the two countries would not fight for the next 10 years. Stalin saw this as a chance to build up the Soviet military. Hitler saw this as a chance to make sure that Germany would be able to invade Poland unopposed. -
Non-Aggression Pact
The Non-Aggression Pact was a pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union to not take any military action between each other for 10 years. The Soviet leader Joseph Stalin saw the pact as a way to stay on peaceful terms with Germany while he built up the Soviet military. Hitler used the pact to make sure Germany was able to invade Poland. -
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Invasion of Poland
Millions of German troops invaded Poland. The Germans bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic sea. Hitler had claimed that the attack was to defend Germany. Britain and France didn't believe him, due to this event Britain and France declared war on Germany which began WWII. -
Evacuation of Dunkirk
This was the evacuation of allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk. This operation started after Belgian, British, and French troops were surrounded by German troops. -
Tri-Partite Agreement
The Tri-Partite agreement was an international financial agreement which involved the United States, France, and Great Britain. They made this agreement to stabilize their nations currencies not only at home but in the international exchange markets. This agreement was due to the gold standard, which created an imbalance developed between their currencies. -
Lend Lease Act
The lend lease act was created to provide the U.S military aid to foreign nations during WWII. It allowed the president to send any arms or defense materials to the countries that will help with the defense of the US. Due to the lend lease act allowing the US to send supplies without compensation to Britain, China and other countries it helped the US support its war interest without joining the battle. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The operation was to conquer the Soviet Union so that the Germans could take over. Also to use the slavs and poles as slaves. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a naval base that is near Honolulu, Hawaii. On December 7, 1941 their was a devastating surprise attack made by Japanese forces. The Japanese destroyed 20 American naval vessels including 8 battleships and over 300 airplanes. Over 2,400 Americans died in the attack which included civilians. After the attack President Roosevelt declared war on Japan. -
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Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was apart of a series of battles between the Americans and the Japanese. The Americans used the strategy island hopping to gain territory closer to Japan. -
D-Day Invasion
Americans stormed the beaches of Normandy, Omaha, etc. The goal of this invasion was to liberate France. The Allies carried out a massive deception plan that made the Germans believe that the main target was Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy. Many tactics were used to carry out the deception such as fake equipment. -
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Liberation of Paris
Paris is liberated by the French under Germany control. The liberation began when the French forces staged an uprising against the Germans upon the approach of the US army. -
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Battle of the Bulge
Hitler attempted attack to split the allied armies. His plan was to use the Blitzkrieg method to catch American units off-guard. The Americans fought desperately to secure vital bridgeheads and stem of the German advance. The allied line of defense looked like a large bulge which gave the battle its name. -
Hitlers Suicide
Hitler was a German politician who was the leader of the Nazi party and was chancellor of Germany. He killed himself by gunshot in his bunker and his new wife Eva Braun who also killed herself. Before the suicides Hitler had decided to stay in his bunker due to his decision to remain in Berlin. He would rarely come out and entertained guest. -
Surrender of Germany
Germany officially surrendered to the allies which ended European conflict in WWII. He signed the unconditional surrender of both the east and west forces. Due to Germany surrendering May 8th was declared Victory in Europe Day. -
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Hiroshima/Nagasaki
An American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and killed 80,000 people. Due to the atomic bomb it left radiation in the city of Hiroshima which means that thousands of people would die later of radiation exposure. A couple of days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing around 40,000 people. Japans emperor later announced his country's surrender in WWII