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The Holocaust
It was a major genocide of the Jews and other ethnic groups who were killed and tortured by the Nazi Regime. They had Numberg Laws which excluded Jews from civil society, concentration camps, and ghettos. It took place in Germany's empire and was a major cause of World War II. When the Holocasut was over there was a total of eleven million people murdered because of it. -
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Japan invades China
The invasion eventually led to a full World War which was also known as the Second-Sino Japanese War. It was primarly between the Empire of Japan and Repulic of China.The war was the largest Asian war in the 20th century. It also made up 90 percent of the casualites in the Pacific War. In the end China won for the Allies. -
Munich Conferecne
It was a land aggrement that allowed Germany to annex portions of Czechoslovakia along it's borders. The new land was coined the name Sudetenland. This agreement was an act of appeasment towards Germany by the Allied powers. The people of Czechoslovakia were not happy because they felt they had no say in the matter because they were not invited to the conference. Also they felt betrayed by France Great Britian and saw their military alliance as useless. -
Non-Aggression Pact
The pact was between Germany and the Soviet Union stating that they will not uengage in military action upon the other. It divided eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. However, in the end Germany ignored thepact and invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. The pact was to last for 10 years with an automatic extension for another 5 years unless either Germany or the Soviet Union declared they would get rid of it 1 year before it expired. -
Germany invades Poland
Once Germany invaded Poland from the North, South, and West it marked the begining of World War II in Europe. France and Great Britian had a military alliance with Poland so they also declared war on Germany. Also the Soviet Union had a military alliance with Germany as welll so it declared war on the Allies. Poland in the end was defeated at the Battle of Kock which led to Germany having complete control over it. The territory of Poland was then divided up between Germany and the Soviet Union. -
Blitzkrieg
It was first used by Germeny when they invaded Poland which means lighting war. It is a method of warfare that creates disorganization and mayhem among enemy forcesby using mobile forces and locally conccentrated firepower. It is extremyl succesful because it has short military campaigns which preserves human lives and limits the use of the artillery.It caused the enemy at surprise and unpreparedness. -
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Battle of Britain
The second World War II air campaign against the Germans and Britain. The Germans onjective was to gain air superioritty over the Royal Air Force and more importantly the Fighter Command. Germany prevented this from happening by forcing Hitler to postpone and cancel Operation Sea Lion which is a planned airborne attack on Britian. This battle was the first major turning point and defeat in World War II beause of the failure of Germany to defeat the British or an outright surrender. -
Lend-Lease Act
It was a program that was to help aid France, China, Russia, and Great Britian during their time at war by the United States. The United States supplied them with oil, food, and military goods. This put an end to our neturality and was a step towards our involment in World War II. In total we spent $50.1 billion worth of supplies to our Allies which is 17% of the total war expenditures of the U.S. -
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Operation Barbarossa
It was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. About 4 million Axis soilders invaded the Soviet Union which made it he largest invasion and in the history of warfare. Also, it was the largest military operation in both manpower and casualties. In the end Germany failed and it was a turning point in the Thrid Reich's fortunes.The operation opended up the Eastern front where more forces were commited than in any other theater of the war in world history. -
Pearl Harbor
It is located on the islands of Hawaii which was owned by the United States at that time. Japan's navy made a surprise military attack on the United States naval base that was located at Pearl Harbor. This caused for the United States to offically enter World War II and put an end to neutrallity and isolationism. Once the United States declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy also declared war on the U.S. because of their alliance with Japan. -
Bataan Death March
It was a march by 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war by the Japanese government. They went from Bataan to Tarlac where there was a camp for the prisoners there. About 2,500-10,000 Filipno and 100-650 Americans priosners of war died before even getting to the camp. In total the march was roughly 60 miles long in harsh conditons. The Japanese army would inflict severe physical injuries which would even cause death. The march was later judged to be a Japense war crime. -
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Battle of Midway
It was a naval battle in the Pacific theatre between Japan and United States. Japan's goal was to eliminate the United States as a strageic power in the Pacific so Japan could have more oppurtunitys in that area. In the end the United states beat Japan which was their first naval defeat since 1863 in the Battle of Shimonoskei Straits. This was a major turning point for the Allied powers in World War II and won many frequent battles afterwards. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
It was located in the city of Stalingrad between the Soviet Union and Germany. The battle is often regarded as the single largest and bloodies battle of the war because of close combat and direct assults on civilians by air raids. The battle resulted in destruction of the Germany 6th Army and axis powers begining to decline on the Eastern front. In the end the Sovie Union beat Germany. It was also a turning point of the war in the European theatre. -
D-Day
It marked the day when the Allied powers invaded Normandy in Operation Overload. It was the largest seaborne invasion at that time. It also began the invasion of western Europe that was occupied by Germany. Normandy was divided into five sections that were called Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword Beach which helped the Allies be more strategic and succesful. In the end the Allies won and as a result France was liberated from German control. -
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Battle of the Bulge
It was also known as the Ardennes Offense. It was the largest battle fought on the Western front in Europe during World War II annd the largest battle fought for the U.S. army. The goal for the Germans was to drive a wedge between the American and Bristish armies in France. Then, once that was successful, they would recapturte the port of Antwerp in The Netherlands so the Allies couldn't use it. However, the Germans lost badly to the Allies in the end losing about 100,000 men in the process. -
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Battle of Iwo JIma
It was a battle between the United States and the Japanese Empire in the Valcano Islands of Iwo Jima. The United States had a plan called Operation Detachment which was to take over the whole island which was controlled by Japan and the three airfields. They wanted to do this so they had a staging area for attacks on the Japanse main islands. In the end America defeated Japan because of their excessive arms and air force. -
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Battle of Okinawa
Was also known as Operation Iceberg. Was fought in Okinawa, Japan between the United States, Britian and Japan. The Allies used island hopping to get to Japan. The Allies planned to use Okinawa as a base for air operations on the planned invasion on Japan's mainland. The battle has been refered to as the "typhoon of steel" because of the violent fighting and the sheer numbers of the Allies. In the end Japan surrendered because of other battles and conflicts that were in their nation as well. -
V-E Day
It was the day that was marked as victory in Europe day. It was caused by Adolf Hitler's suicide a couple weeks before hand in the Battle of Berlin. This was the day when Germany surrendered it's armed forces to the Allies. The act of military surrender was signed in Berlin, Germany. This marked the end of World War Il. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki
It was during the final stage of the World War II when the United States dropped two bombs in Japan. The two bombs killed a total of 129,000 people. It remains the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare ever in history. Even though the war in Europe was over because of the German surrender, Japan would not back down and still put up a fight with the Allied powers. One uranium gun like type bombwas dropped in Hiroshima and a second plutonium type bomb named Fat Man was in Nagasaki. -
V-J Day
This day was marked as victory over Japan day when the Japanese empire surrendered to the Allies. The allies knew that the war was completley over and the Allies had won. All across the globe the Allies celebrated and eventually turned into dangerous and out of control riots. This is the day when the famous photograph of the sailor kissing a young women in Times Square was. -
Warsaw Pact
It was a military alliance between eight communist nations including Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Soviet Unionduring the Cold War. Their motto was "union of peace and socialism". It was held in Warsaw, Poland. It was formed because of West Germany's intergration into the NATO. The Warsaw Pact's goal was to maintain peace in Europe.