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Rape of Nanking
The Japanese butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages, many of whom were mutilated or killed in the process. The behaviour of Japanese troops to Chinese civilians in 1937 and afterwards did much to increase the isolation of Japan and increased Chinese resolve to resist the invasion. -
Start of the war in Atlantic/European Theatre
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Evacuation of Dunkirk
The evacuation of Allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. If the BEF had been captured, it would have meant the loss of Britain's only trained troops and the collapse of the Allied cause. The successful evacuation was a great boost to civilian morale, and created the 'Dunkirk spirit' which helped Britain to fight on in the summer of 1940. -
Lend/Lease Act
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Start of the war in Pacific Theatre
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Pearl Harbor
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U.S. joins the war
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Dolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first air operation to strike the Japanese archipelago. Although the Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942, caused only minor damage, it forced the Japanese to recall combat forces for home defense, raised fears among the Japanese civilians, and boosted morale among Americans and our Allies abroad. -
Battle of Midway
The U.S. Navy's decisive victory in the air-sea battle (June 3-6, 1942) and its successful defense of the major base located at Midway Island dashed Japan's hopes of neutralizing the United States as a naval power and effectively turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Nazis invade the southern city of Stalingrad, Russia. Hitler wanted to seize soviet oil fields & crush the industrial city. Germany seemed unstoppable and the city is surrendered. When freezing winter set in the Soviet Red Army sent reinforcements in for a counter attack. A turning point on the Eastern front as the victory ended Hitlers hopes for conquering the USSR. -
D-Day (Operation Overlord)
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Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge marked the last German offense on the Western Front. The catastrophic losses on the German side prevented Germany from resisting the advance of Allied forces following the Normandy Invasion. Ended 25 January 1945. -
Russian troops discover Auschwitz
In mid-January 1945, as Soviet forces approached the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, the SS began evacuating Auschwitz and its subcamps. SS units forced nearly 60,000 prisoners to march west from the Auschwitz camp system. Saved the people that were left in the horrible camps. -
Yalta Conference
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Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Iwo Jima was strategically necessary for the United States' war effort. Taking the island meant more than a symbolic capture of the Japanese homeland. It also meant American bombers could fly over Japan with fighter escorts. -
Death of Roosevelt
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V-E-day (Victory in Europe)
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Hiroshima
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Nagasaki
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V-J-Day (Victory in Japan)
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Creation of the United Nations
