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Geneva Convention
A series of international treaties in Geneva. The first of four treaties was in August of 1864. This convention was for treating prisoners of war fairly and humanely. The total time span was 1847 - 1949. 1864, 1906, 1929 and lastly 1949. -
Nuremberg Laws
Laws that deprived Jewish people of their rights. Jewish people couldn't fly under the German flag and became outcasts to the other German population. -
Japan invades China
Also known as the Second Sino - Japanese War from 1937-1945. The war wasn't declared until 12/9/1941. The Japanese had more well run military during the Pacific War. -
Blitzkrieg
This war strategy was used in more that just WW2 but in WW2 the Germans used it as a strategy that was also knows as the "Lightning War". They would blitz their opponents with such military might and do it extremely quick so they wouldn't know what hit them.
They used this to take over Poland for the first time which is why the date is here. -
Cash and Carry
President Roosevelt persuaded Congress to allow the sale of Military supplies to allies like France and Britain. They had to pay cash for our American supplies. -
Neutrality Act
This allowed for arms trade with belligerent countries on a cash-and-carry basis. We were able to help allies without truly entering the war. (We were later drawn into the war) Sent to Allied powers. -
Nonagression Act
Before war broke out, Stalin and Hitler signed a pact saying they wouldn't act hostile towards each other. Germany later launched the largest surprise attack on the Soviets. -
War declared on Germany by Poland, Great Britian and France
After part of Poland was invaded, many countries were joined together to stop Hitler's spread of terror. Another spark was the German's sinking another British ship in Britain's own waters. -
Poland Ceases to Exist
Germany bombards Poland on land and in air as Hitler seeks to regain lost land and take over / rule Poland. Hitler used his blitzkrieg strategy. -
Soviet Union annex Baltic States
The Soviet Union and the Nazis invaded Poland and "split" the land. The USSR used its agreement with Germany to get Eastern Poland. -
Kristallnacht
'Crystal night', 'night of broken glass' and 'Night of Crystals', were all the names for this event. Jewish companies, stores and people were attached and beaten. Glass windows were broken with the result of glass being everywhere, giving the night its name. It went on for days. Police were notified and warned, yet did nothing. -
Tripartite
This was from July 1940 - September of 1940. This was an agreement with Germany, Japan and Italy. Britain never gave up they wanted to show them what France had! This was the creation of the axis powers. -
Hitler invades Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg
Germany would invade all these countries with their military might and murder a lot of people and anyone who stood against him. The Holocaust began while all of these events were happening. -
Luftwaffe and RAF Bombings
This lasted from July 10, 1940 to October 31, 1940. This was during the Battle of Brittan. Luftwaffe was the German air attack and they won the battle. This was for the Germans to destroy the British Air Force by going after important historical and cultural parts of British Cities. -
Selective Training Service Act
Also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act is passed by Congress and was the first peace draft time in history of the USA. They drew random numbers out of a glass bowl during the draft. -
Executive Order #8802
President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 banning discriminatory employment practices by all unions and companies engaged in war related work. The more jobs were being created to eliminate discrimination while working and going for these jobs. -
Hitler Breaks Stalin Agreement
They had a nonaggression pack signed in 1939. Hitler launched the largest surprise attack in history of warfare. -
Lend Lease Plan
This started that the US could lend o lease war supplies to any nation deemed. We provided around $50 million in aid around the world. -
US cuts off trade with Japan
President Roosevelt signed an executive order to halt all Japanese assets held in the US and cuts of trade with the country. US worked to cut off the last of Germany's major trading partners. -
Atlantic Charter
Roosevelt and Churchill were the main people involved. USA and Britain vowed not to seek territorial gains from war. They'd support each other and the Allied nations. Also created easier trade restrictions. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
A surprise attack that dragged us into the war. Around 2400 men were killed and another 1200 injured. Japs lost around 100 men. -
US Declares war on Japan
The US declared war on Japan after its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and destroyed our Pacific Fleet. FDR signed the declaration in to law with a black armband for those lives lost at Pearl Harbor. The US was drawn in to the war due to that attack. -
Island hopping strategy
This was used in the Pacific War. This war covered a large part of the Pacific Ocean. (East Asia, SE Asia, Northern Australia and the Aleutian Islands) Ships and planes would "hop" islands to get fuel, food and anything they needed. -
Bataan
"Bataan Death March" was 66 miles of marching San Fernando and taken by rail in dirty box cars. Filipino and American prisoners were beaten, beheaded and killed in concentration camps during this time. Took place in April of 1942. -
U-Boat Attacks
On this dates the German U-Boats started to attack along the Eastern Seaboard in North America. This lasted roughly six months. These attacks killed roughly 5,000 seamen and sunk more than 200 ships. This was more than twice the number that perished in Pearl Harbor. They attacked because these boats were trying to bring supplies to Allies. -
Executive Order #9066
Ten weeks after Pearl Harbor this was executed. Basically it was to evacuate Japanese in Western United States. -
Midway
US Navy defeated a Japanese attack. Helped mark the turning part of the war against Hitler. Yamamoto also tried a sneak attack against the US like Pearl Harbor. This attack lasted for 3 days. -
El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein lasted from 10/23-11/11/1942. The Allied victory here eventually led to the German surrender in North Africa. This was the go between for the British Empire and the German Italian Army. Allied forces won this important battle. -
Hitler Invades and Splits France
They were split in to 2 regions. One ruled by German troops and the other left to the French. (It was known as a spa region about 200 miles SE of Paris) Petain wanted to play a mediator roll between the two sides. His goal was to keep Germany out while adding the anti-fascist movement. -
Stalingrad
Considered to be one of the greatest Soviet wars of their Great Patriotic War. Soviets wanted to capture the city. Stalin used propaganda against Hitler. Hitler wanted to take over Moscow. -
D-Day
It was a day where the Allies came together to Stop Hitler together as a collective group. Hitler was gaining power and becoming much more powerful than everyone else. Action had to be taken against Hitler. -
Bulge
Otherwise known as the, "Battle of the Bulge", this was an unsuccessful attempt to push Allies back from Germany. IT was the last major German as an offensive power on the Western Front. -
Korematsu v. US
This was a legal case between a US citizen (born of Japanese immigrants) who didn't abide by the exclusion order and relocation during WWII. In the end it was forbidden that the government was to detain a US Citizen whose loyalty was to our country. -
Liberation of concentration camps
During April of 1945 Auschwitz was liberated in January of 1945. More than 10,000 people died and there was around 60,000 prisoners. -
Yalta Conference
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin arrived with their own agenda. Stalin was looking for post war help in Russia. Discussed Allied efforts against Germany and Japan. These events started hints that there could be a Cold War starting soon. Lasted from February 4 to February 11th. -
Iwo Jima
Lasted from 02/19/1945 through March 26, 1945. This was a major battle where the US Marines landed and eventually captured the Island of Iwo Jima. The island was unique because it had three airfields that could be used as a staging facility to attack the midland of Japan. -
VE Day
Great Britain and the US celebrated victory in Europe and defeated the Nazi's. Since there were lots of little things still to wrap up around the world it wasn't celebrated till the 11th. -
Potsdam Conference
This was a meeting to end the negotiations of WWII. They came in with a plan to disarm Germany. They purged all of Nazism and anything related to it. This went from July 17 to August 2, 1945. -
Atomic Bomb Dropped- Hiroshima
This killed 80,000 people on impact and 10,000 more due to radiation. The Manhattan project developed the nukes in their nuclear program. -
Attomic Bomb dropped- Nagasaki
Killed about 40,000 people. After these attacks and time, the Japs surrendered -
VJ Day
The day the Japanese surrendered to the Allied forces aboard the USS Missouri in the Tokyo Bay. Allies wanted to break the Japanese by bombing them with 100,000 tons of nuclear explosives.