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Night of Long Knives
On June 30, 1934, Hitler feared that the SS were becoming too powerful, so he ordered his higher SS guards to kill the organizations leaders. This turned into the "Night of Long Knives". -
Germany Invades Poland
On September 1, 1939, Hitler decided to invade Poland. This was part of his strategic attack to eventually cover Europe under Nazi rule. Hitler utilized the "blitzkreig" strategy to invade Poland, which meant that he bombed all of Poland's communication, transportation, and ports in hopes that they wouldn't be able to receive resources. -
Stalin Attacks Finland
On November 30, 1939, Joseph Stalin sent Russian troops to Finland to try and capture it and have it under Russian control. -
Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister
On May 10, 1940, following Neville Chamberlain's resignation, Winston Churchill was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. -
Germany attacks France
On May 10, 1940 Germany led an attack on France. The battle, which lasted six weeks, was led my German forces to defeat the Allied forces in France. -
Battle Of Britain
The Battle Of Britain was a "military campaign' between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany on July 10, 1940. Over two and a half months, the United Kingdom defended itself against the Nazi's. -
Hitler takes over the Balkans
On October 28, 1940, Hitler began his attacks to take over the Balkans. This plan was set forth so that the Nazi's could capture vital points in Europe to hopefully help them win the war. -
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was a program that was initially named "An Act to Promote the Defence of The United States". This act was made in hopes to supply Free France, the United Kingdom, The Republic of China, and soon after, the Soviet Union with food, oil, and material between the years of 1941 and 1945. -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
On June 22, 1941, the Nazi's attacked the Soviet Union. In "Operation Barbarossa", the Nazi's used the Blitzkrieg strategy to try and invade Soviet Russia. -
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. In a series of kamikaze attacks, the Japanese war-fighters crashed their planes into Allied ships in hoping that they would destroy part of the Allied naval fleet. -
Japanese Internment Camps
Starting on February 19, 1942, Japan created many "internment camps" to incarcerate Japanese Americans. They were taken in based on local population concentration and regional politics. -
Battle of Midway
Beginning on June 4, 1942, the Battle of Midway was a very important naval battle between the Allied powers and Japan. This battle began only 6 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of the Coral Sea. -
Guadalcanal
The Guadalcanal Campaign, otherwise known as Operation Watchtower, began on August 7, 1942. This plan was the first offensive attack led by the Allied powers against the Japanese in the Pacific Theatre of WW2. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Beginning on August 23, 1942, the largest battle of WW2 in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of Stalingrad happened. This year long battle happened because of the Nazi's invading Russia and attempting to capture Stalingrad. -
Battle of El Alamein
On October 23, 1942, the Battle of El Alamein took place near the Egyptian railway of El Alamein. The Allies hoped to win this fight, and they did. It was a turning point in the war for them. -
Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference (which was code named "Eureka") was a meeting between Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. This meeting was to discuss what to do with Germany. The outcome was a consensus that they (Allied Nations) should open up a second front against Germany in hopes to secure a win in the war. -
D-Day
On June 6, 1944, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France that were under Nazi control. This was done in hopes to take France from German control. -
McArthur's Plan for Japan
Beginning after WW2, General Douglas MacArthur created a plan to help deal with Japan. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, which was held in the Soviet Union, was a meeting which "The Big Three" attended. These three people were Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. They discussed the post-war organization of Germany and Europe. -
FDR's Death
Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945 from a intracerebral hemmorage. He was the 32nd president of the United States. -
Mussolini's Assassination
On April 28, 1945, Benito Mussolini was assassinated in a small Italian village. This happened because of many disagreements with Italian citizens and Mussolini. In the final days of WW2, Mussolini was put to death by firing squad. -
Hitler's Suicide
On April 30, 1945, Hitler took his own life by shooting himself in the head. He was the leader of the Nazi party, Chancellor of Germany, and "Fuhrer" of Nazi Germany up until this time. He and his wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide together on this day. -
Holocaust
On May 8, 1945, millions of Jewish prisoners and people alike, were freed from Nazi concentration camps under Hitler's rule. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof. The countries that attended this meeting were the United States, Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. The point of this conference was to decide how to deal with Germany. -
Bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This was the United States telling Japan to surrender, or else. -
Formation of the U.N.
On October 24, 1945, the United Nations was founded. This was originally a replacement for the League of Nations, which was very ineffective. The U.N. was made to help solve international affairs and help create order in the world. -
Nuremburg Trials
Beginning on November 20, 1945, the Nuremburg Trials began. This was a year long process to put 22 war criminals on trial for the things that they did in WW2. -
Cold War
Beginning in 1947, a large amount of tension was created between the United States and Soviet Russia. This was mainly due to the race to acquire nuclear weapons, but also because both countries were racing to put the first man in space. -
Marshall Plan
On June 3, 1948, the Marshall Plan went into effect. The plan was an initiative to help Western Europe repair after the effects of WW2. -
Berlin Airlift
Beginning on June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union blocked Western Germany's supply of resources. This was a problem because Western Berlin was Democratic and the Soviets opposed their view, so they blocked all of the resources coming into their side of Berlin -
Berlin Wall
Beginning on August 13, 1961, East Berlin began construction on the Berlin Wall. This was made because communist Russia wanted to keep people from going to Democratic West Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Beginning on October 16, 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis was created. This 13-day scare between the United States and the Soviet Union was because the Soviets put missiles in Cuba, and directed them at the United States.
