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Japan invades Manchuria
On Septmeber 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army planned to invaded Manchuria it unleashed. Japan was becoming crowded because of its size as a nation and its their increasing population. It was also believed in Japan that Manchuria was rich in minerals. Manchuria seemed an obvious solution for the Japanese. -
Hitler Takes Power
On January 30, 1933, Hitler was a powerful speaker who was voted as chancellor. He promised He promised a better life and a new Germany. The Nazis appealed to the unemployed, young people, and the lower middle class. Most of Germany felt that the new head of their government would save their nation. -
Holocaust
On January 30, 1933, approximately nine million Jews lived in the 21 countries of Europe that would be occupied by Nazi Germany. Others were also killed. For example, nearly half a million Gypsies were murdered during the Holocaust. Other victims included homosexuals, disabled people, the mentally ill, communists and catholics. This became known as the Holocaust, an extreme form of genocide. Genocide is the planned attempt to physically kill every single member of the racial group. -
US Neutrality Acts
On August 31, 1935, Congress passed and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed off the first Neutrality Act. It was for keeping the United States out of a possible European war by not allowing shipment of war material to the discretion of the President and by forbidding U.S. citizens from traveling to foriegn areas. -
Mussolini invades Ethiopia
On October 3, 1935, Benito Mussolini, was inspired by Hitler's plans of expanding German territories. This influenced him to invaded Ethiopia to gain territory and Italian national prestige. Mussolini wanted to rebuild an Empire of the Roman Empire. In order to do this Italy would have to take over the Mediterranean and the North African regions. This was one of the main goals from invading Ethiopia. -
Germany invades Rhineland
On March 7, 1936, Germany claimed the treaty was used against them and Hitler used this as a way to send German troops into the Rhineland. German re-armament had not got to the point where they felt ready to take on a well-armed nation like France -
Hitler Annexes Austria
On March 12, 1938, Hitler and his German troops walked into Austria, where crowds met them happily. Austria was annexed to Germany because they wanted a greater Germany solution that would make them be united under the management of the German Austrians. -
The Munich Conference
On April 30, 1938, Hitler, Mussolini, French Premier Daladier, and British Prime Minister Chamberlain sign the Munich Pact, which seals the fate of Czechoslovakia. This made Germany name the peace. Chamberlain would declare that the meeting had achieved "peace in our time." -
Germany Invades Sudetenland
On September 15, 1938, Chamberlain met Hitler on the Austrian border, Berchtesgaden. The German invasion of Czechoslovakia looking threatening and a future war was close. Chamberlain agreed in principle that Hitler could claim the Sudetenland without revenge from Britain. On his return to Britain, Chamberlain managed to persuade his Cabinet and the French to accept. -
Kristallnacht
On November 9, 1938, an incident named "Kristallnacht," or also called the “Night of Broken Glass." What had happened was Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed about 100 Jews. Also, 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps. -
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
On August 23, 1939, right before World War II started in Europe, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing 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 helped Germany so that they would not have to, if needed, fight a two front war. -
World War II Begins
The Second World War started for the United Kingdom after Germany was warned that if they attacked Poland this would not go without any say. Germany did attack on Poland after being warned so then The United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. -
Germany invades Poland
On September 1, 1939, German forces bombed Poland on land and from the air. Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and rule Poland. World War II had begun. Great Britain would respond with bombing raids over Germany three days later. -
The Phony War (sitzkrieg)
On May 10, 1940, Britain and France made no effort to attack Hitler. A British Expeditionary Force, but it was too small and poorly equipped to challenge the Nazi army. And France’s strategy was dominated by the Maginot line, a defensive super-trench on the border. French generals believed would keep France safe from Nazi attack. This became known as the ‘the phoney war’ due to a period during a war in which both sides didn't change postions, also known as sitzkrieg. -
Rescue at Dunkirk
On May 26, 1940, the British and French armies cornered by the German army near Dunkirk. More than 330,000 troops were rescued from the beaches in one of the most astonishing operations of the war. On 29 May, the evacuation was announced to the British public, and many privately owned boats started arriving at Dunkirk to ferry the troops to safety. This flotilla of small vessels famously became known as the 'Little Ships'. -
Fall of France
On June 22, 1940, millions of French troops were defending the Maginot Line in early 1940, Hitler's brilliant blitzkrieg strategy caught the Allies by surprise, and Germany occupied France within six weeks. France then signed an armistice with Germany. -
Battle of Britain
On Septmeber 15, 1940, a Luftwaffe launched two huge bombings on London. Although fighting continued in the air for several more weeks, and British cities were bombed seprate for the rest of the war, German tactics to achieve air superiority ahead of an invasion failed. This marked a clear and critical defeat for the Luftwaffe. -
US Lend-Lease Program
on March 19, 1941, the Lend-Lease Act was the means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. The act allowed the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.” Britain, the Soviet Union, China, Brazil, and many other countries received weapons under this law. -
Yugoslavia and Greece fall
On April 6, 1941, German air force launches Operation Castigo, all of Yugoslavia's airfields were also bombed, destroying most of its 600 aircrafts while still on the ground. German forces also bombed the Greek port city, Piraeus, as army divisions went south and west, to Salonica and the eventual occupation of Greece. -
Germany invades the Soviet Union
On June 22, 1941, an invasion breaks the non-aggression pact signed by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939. The Nazi's weren't prepared for harsh winter or Stalin's "scorched earth'. This burned all farms fields and villages in the path of the advancing Germany army to prevent German soldiers from living off the land. Stalin hoped that the German army’s supply line would run so thin that the invasion would be forced to stop. This resulted in over 1 million Nazi deaths. -
Atlantic Charter
On August 14, 1941, a document that resulted from the Roosevelt-Churchill meetings was issued and became known as the Atlantic Charter. The document, which was not a treaty, stated that the two leaders “deem it right to make known certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they base their hopes for a better future for the world.” -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declared war. America had finally joined World War II. -
Last stage of the "Final Solution"
On 20 January 1942, 15 leading officials of the Nazi state met at a villa in Wannsee to discuss the ’Final solution of the Jewish Question’. The ’Final solution’ was a code name for the murder of all the Jews of Europe. The people present at the conference were to discuss how to make mass murder happen in an organised way. -
Bataan Death March
On April 10, 1942, the U.S. surrendered at the Bataan Peninsula to the Japanese. About 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make a long 65 mile march to prison camps. The prisoners marched in the heat and were under to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands died in what became known as the Bataan Death March. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
On May 3, 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea started by the U.S. breaking Japan's secret war code and warning of an invasion of Tulagi and Port Moresby. Four days of battles between Japanese and American aircraft carriers resulted in 70 Japanese and 66 Americans warplanes destroyed. -
Battle of Midway
On June 4, 1942, the Battle of Midway was know as the most decisive battles of World War II. The U.S. destroyed Japan’s naval strength when the Americans destroyed four of its aircraft carriers. Japan’s navy never recovered from its mauling at Midway and it was on the defensive after this battle. -
Battle of Stalingrad
On July 17, 1942, until Febuary 2, 1943, a major battle of World War II, which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in the south-western Soviet Union. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian of nearly 2 million deaths. -
Battle of Guadalcanal
On August 7, 1942, the Battle of Guadalcanal started when the Allies wanted to use Guadalcanal as a base to support the capture the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. This was the first American offensive operation of World War II. They captured the Henderson Field and, after six months of the Pacific War, pushed the Japanese off the island. -
Operation Torch
On November 8, 1942, the Allies planned to invade Morocco and Algeria. Operation Torch was the name given to the Allied invasion of French North Africa. Operation Torch was the first time the British and Americans had jointly worked on an invasion plan together. -
Invasion of Italy
On September 3, 1943, the invasion of the Italian mainland and the Italian government agreed to surrender to the Allies. By the terms of the agreement, the Italians would be treated with mercy if they aided the Allies in fight against the Germans from Italy. -
Battle of the Bulge
On December 16, 1944, until January 25, 1945, the Allies attempted to cross the western border of Germany. German tanks and hundred thousands German troops broke through the American lines. US forces managed to delay Germans by keeping reinforcements to come. Without stopping, U.S forces challenged the German defenses of the Siegfried Line, after the heavy German losses. -
German's Unconditional Surrender
On May 7, 1944, Germany has signed an unconditional surrender bringing to an end six years of war in Europe. This meant the German military and political leadership were simply to be required to sign an unconditional and political drafted by the Allies and intended to the surrender of Germany's armed forces and of its political authority in international law. -
D-Day Invasion
On June 6, 1944, the Allies landed in northern France, opening the long-awaited "Second Front" against Hitler. Though they had been fighting in mainland Italy, the Normandy invasion was in a strategically more important region, setting the stage to drive the Germans from France and ultimately destroy the National Socialist. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
On Febuary 19, to March 26, 1945, the invasion of Iwo Jima was started by B-29 bombers damaging Japan. America tried to capture the island from Japan because of its two airfields. The Japanese were heavily guarded, but the Americans had ground support and won the battle. The most significant thing was the flag raising on Mount Surabachi. -
Battle of Okinawa
On April 1, to June 22, 1945, the last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, was the battle of Okinawa. Kamikaze tactics the Japanese used on these missions. Allied forces perhaps faced their most difficult Pacific campaign. The attack on Okinawa had taken a big amount of deaths on both sides. Even though many died Okinawa was declared secure by the Americans. -
Hiroshima - Atomic Bomb
On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90% of the city and killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation. -
Nagasaki - Atomic Bomb
On August 9, 1945, only three days later after Hiroshima, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.”
