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German Appeasement
Spanning through the 1930's, European leaders attempted to appease Germans by allowing capture of various territories and violate the Treaty of Versailles. Notably, British Prime minister Chamberlain signing the Munich pact to hand Czechoslovakia over to the Germans. -
Japan invades Manchuria
The Japanese Empire sends it's Kwantung army to invade Manchuria, China. Though the invasion began September 19, it was until February 27th that the Tanggu truce was established resulting in Manchuria becoming the Japanese puppet state of Manchukou. -
Nacht der langen Messer
Translated to "Night of the long knives" and otherwise known as "Operation Hummingbird", German political candidate Adolf Hitler sends a fleet of loyal SS assassins to eliminate an estimated minimum of 85 paramilitary political opponents. This secured Hitler's election. -
Italy invades Ethiopia
Otherwise known as the "Second Italo-Ethiopian war", Italian forces storm Ethiopia from October 3rd to May 5th in an effort to secure colonial territory. This eventually resulted in Italian victory and establishment of Italian East Africa -
Anschluss
Translating to "joining", Anschluss refers to the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany -
Kristallnacht
Translated to "Night of broken glass" and otherwise referred to as "The November Program", a militarized German force stormed Jewish homes, torched synagogues, destroyed businesses, and killed close to 100 Jewish civilians from November 9th to the 10th. It earned it's namesake from the streets filled with business fronts all with their windows busted, glass littering the streets. -
Non Aggression Pact
German leader Adolf Hitler signs a "Non Aggression Pact" with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to assure both countries would not take military action against each other for the next 10 years. -
Germany invades Poland
Beginning September 1st and lasting through October 6th, German and Soviet forces invade Poland with little to no resistance. This marks the start of WWII. -
Battle of Britain
Launching mid July and lasting until October 31st, The Royal air force defended itself against Nazi attacks until German planes were forced to retreat. This is considered the first major Allied victory. -
France surrenders to Germany
Only 6 weeks into Germany's invasion of western Europe, France signs an armistice to submit to Nazi Germany. -
Final Solution
"Final solution of the Jewish question" or the "Final Solution" was a WWII Nazi policy that placed the entire weight of German woes on Jews while proposing a mass extermination of Jews and other "undesirables" as a fix to all German problems. At the end of the war, over 6 million Jews had been exterminated in death camps constructed for this sole purpose. Most recognizably, these events are known as "The Holocaust" -
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
A preemptive by the Imperial Japanese air force in which Pearl Harbor (a key US naval base) was firebombed out of the blue. This prompted the US to finally enter WWII. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Occurring between German forces and the Soviet army, The Battle of Stalingrad was the largest confrontation in WWII. Germany aimed to gain control of Stalingrad, Russia. However, Soviet forces overcame the German 6th division, destroying it completely. -
The Battle of Midway
Spanning from the 4th to the 7th of June, US and Japanese naval forces collided at Midway Atoll near months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There was an overwhelming American victory. -
D-Day
"D-Day" or "Operation Neptune", was an Allied invasion of Normandy beach, France. It was the first major Allied victory and the largest seaborne invasion in history. -
Battle of the Bulge
The last major German defense campaign, lasting from December 15th to January 25th. The result was an Allied victory after German forced exhausted their resources and fell to Allied fire in January, 1945. -
Liberation of Auschwitz
In mid January of 1945, Soviet forces move into the German concentration camp Auschwitz to liberate nearly 60,000 Jews and then 7,000 more on a later date. -
V-E Day
or "Victory in Europe Day" celebrated the formal surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied forces. -
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
August 6th through the 9th, the US detonates two nuclear bombs on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, devastating the country and causing Japan to surrender. Japan leaves the war. -
V-J Day
or "Victory over Japan day" celebrated Japanese surrender from WWII
