-
Japan Invades China
Years before World War II began, the Japanese and Chinese had a dispute in July 1931. This dispute led to the Japanese wanting power and invading Manchuria, China. The Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately after the Mukden Incident, on September 18th, 1931. Japan used Manchuria as a puppet state until the end of WWII, this was an act of them pushing for war. -
Period: to
The Holocaust
On January 30, 1933, President Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany. Everyone thought Hitler could help make a difference, but instead he became a tyrant who made a ton of laws. The Holocaust was when the Nazi regime and its collaborators killed approximately six million Jews. The Holocaust continued until the end of the war in Europe. -
Munich Conference
At this conference, an agreement was reached to allow Germany to annex Sudetenland. The agreement was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdon and Italy. Hitler got what he wanted, to dominate Central Europe. The next day the Czech government accepted the pact and on October 1st, Germany marched into Sudetenland. -
Non-Aggression Pact
On this date in 1939, before World War II, the Germans and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing an agreement. The agreement was that the two countries would not take military action against each other for the next 10 years. Hitler used the pact to make sure Germany was able to invade Poland unopposed. The pact was called the NON-AGGRESSION PACT, cause the two countries were to be not aggressive to each other during the next 10 years. -
Germany invades Poland
On this day in 1939, Hitler sought to regain lost territory and rule Poland. German forces attacked Poland on land and from the air. As much as Poland tried to defend itself, they were out-fought by Germany. And thus World War II began. -
Blitzkrieg
German air force roared over Poland, raining bombs everywhere. Meanwhile, German tanks raced across Poland spreading terror and fear. This was the test of Germany's newest military strategy, the BLITZKRIEG, or lightning war. On September 3, two days following the test attack in Poland by Germany, Britian and France declared war on Germany. -
Period: to
Battle of Britain
In the summer of 1940, the Germans began assembling an invasion fleet along the French coast. They then launched an air assault and began dropping bombs over Britain, they planned to destroy Britain's Royal Air Force and take control of the skies. With help from a new technology called radar, British pilots accurately plotted German's flight plans. After taking down 185 German planes, and only losing 26 planes, Hitler called off the invasion of Britain for good. -
Lend - Lease Act
During WWII, when the US was neutral, countries like Free France, Great Britain, the Republic of China, and later USSR and other Allied nations needed help with supplies. President Franklin Roosevelt wanted to help them and created an act the would help. The act would supply the countries with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and August 1945, when the war was over the countries would have to pay the US back for the supplies. -
Period: to
Operation Barbarossa
Germanys large scale invasion of Russia. Germany had underestimated their Russian opponent though. The advancement was slow and by November the Russian weather had further slowed the progress. In early December they reached the gates of Moscow but were stopped due to resistance from the Russian people. Germany started a slow retreat until March 1942. -
Pearl Harbor
On the island of Honolulu, Hawaii, is an American naval base at Pearl Harbor. During WWII, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. It lasted two hours but it was destructive, nearly 20 American naval vessels, eight battleships, and almost 200 airplanes were distroyed. More than 2,000 American were killed and 1,000 were wounded. After the attack, the Americans were angry, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan, and the US became involved in WWII. -
Bataan Death March
After the US surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon, Philippines, to the Japanese during WWII, the Filipino and American toops were forced to leave. Approximately 75,000 Filipino and American Troops on Bataan were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps. The march was in harsh heat and the people were subjected to brutal treatment by the Japanese guards. Thousands of prisoners died and the march was called the Bataan Death March. -
Period: to
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US won a battle against Japan in one of the greatest naval battles in WWII.Thanks to major advances, the US was able to preempt and counter Japan's planned attack of the island. They ambushed a few of Japan's carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. The victory allowed the US and the Allied powers to move into an offensive position. -
Period: to
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad, was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad in USSR, in WWII. Russians thought it was the greatest battle of the war, and historians thought it was the greatest battle of the entire conflict. They stopped Germany from getting in to the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tides in the war, favoring the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with nearly 2 million deaths. -
D-Day
On June 6, 1944, in World War II, the Allied forces invaded northern France. Through the beach landings in Normandy, they invaded. On that day the Allied powers started to tern the tides in the war. D Day has been used in multiple wars before, but this one is remembered by everyone because it made the Allied powers one step closer in winning the war. -
Period: to
Battle of the Bulge
In October 1944, the US captured the German town, Aachen. Two months later, on December 16, eight German tanks broke through the weak US defences. The tanks drove miles, creating a bulge in the lines last-ditch offensive, naming the battle Battle of the Bulge. Months went by and Germany lost soldiers and weapons that could not be replaced, they had no choice but to retreat. -
Period: to
Battle of Iwo Jima
The American invasion of Iwo Jima during WWII was because they needed a base near the Japanese coast. Three US marine divisions landed on the island in February 1945. Iwo Jima was defended by approximately 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops. After a month of fighting, the US was victorious. -
Period: to
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, the last and biggest of the Pacific island battles in the WWII. The battle involved 287,000 troops of the US Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-Second Army. Air bases important to the projected invasion of Japan were threatened in the battle. By the end of the battle, Japan lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allied powers lost more than 65,000 peopled injured, including 14,000 dead. -
V-E Day
After years of war, it was finaly over. General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day - Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over!! -
Period: to
The Bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki
On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan. The bombing wiped out 90% of the city and killed 80,000 people, instantly. Thousands later died from radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, that killed about 40,000 people. The Japanese announced soon after their unconditional surrender in WWII, from the devastating power of "a new and most cruel bomb." -
V-J Day
V-J Day, also known as Victory over Japan Day. Less than 70 years ago, the WWII ended on August 15, 1945 when the news that Japan has surrendered all across the world. On September 2, 1945, there was a formal party in the Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. On that day, President Truman decided September 2 will be called V-J Day. -
Warsaw Pact
In 1953, the Soviets recognized Western Germany and concluded peace treaties with Austria and Japan. But when Western Germany was allowed to rearm and join NATO, and the Soviet Union was scared. They soon formed their own military alliance, the WARSAW PACT. The pact linked the Soviet Union with seven Eastern European countries.