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Invasion of Manchuria
Japan decided to invade Manchuria, a region in China. Japan needed resources like oil to trade with the U.S, so they hoped to set up spheres of influence where they got the resources. -
Munich Agreement
Hitler wanted Czechoslovakia, so Chamberlain told him that he can have the part with a ton of ethnic Germans, just the borders. Hitler then later invaded the rest anyway. -
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Invasion of Poland
Hitler, trying to revert the Treaty of Versailles, invaded Poland. He took away the Polish Corridor, and took half of Poland, the rest going to the Soviet Union. -
Fall of Paris
Hitler had started to invade France, and because they were still using outdated tactics and forms of communication, they were swept through. Their overconfidence, as well as their use of outdated equipment and tactics is what allowed Blitzkrieg to work. -
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Battle of Britain
This was the first actual battle that Britain actually did anything. This was practically directly after the Phony War, and was a struggle for the airspace over the British Channel. -
Operation Barbarossa Begins
Hitler wanted oil, and thought that Stalin wouldn't expect an attack from someone he had previously made a no-violence treaty with. Hitler wanted to get the oil fields in Georgia, so he launched Operation Barbarossa. -
Pearl Harbor
An attack on the U.S by the Japanese. The Japanese tried to destroy the American warships, so that their retaliation would be weaker, or maybe even not at all. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was an important battle, because depending on who won, they would be able to do what they wanted with the Pacific war. The U.S, having their base on Midway Atoll attacked, retaliated, and they both fought fiercely. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler needed oil, so he wanted the oil fields in Georgia, so he needed to cut it off from the rest of the Soviet Union. He needed to take Stalingrad, but because it was Stalin's city, he didn't allow it to be taken, which was a big turning point in the war. -
Invasion of Italy
This was the start of the allied invasion of Italy. Italy needed to be invaded, because after they had defected to the Allies, Hitler occupied Italy to keep it under Nazi control. -
D-Day
D-Day, also known as the Normandy Landings, was the start of the Liberation of France. This day saw some of the harshest fighting of the entirety of WWII. -
Liberation of Paris
When the Allied invasion of France started with the Normandy Landings, it took a bit to get to the capital. They received very little pushback from the Axis army, because they weren't expecting a force so strong. -
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Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle of Iwo Jima was one of the harshest battles of the Pacific War. There were some 27,000 casualties on the U.S side. -
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Battle of Okinawa
The battle of Okinawa was the most brutal battle of the war in the Pacific. This being as it was the closed to mainland Japan. -
VE-Day
Victory in Europe day, they celebrated the end of the Nazi regime. They still had a war in the Pacific to tend to, but that could wait. -
Hiroshima Bombing
President Truman decided to drop the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, bomber aircraft Enola Gay carried the A-bomb to Hiroshima. -
Nagasaki Bombing
On August 9, 1945, a second A-bomb was dropped, this time on Nagasaki. This was because Japan refused to surrender. -
VJ-Day
Standing for Victory over Japan Day, the US celebrated. The Us had threatened to drop another bomb on them, but they finally surrendered. -
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Nuremberg Trials
These were a set of trials in Nuremberg, trying the Nazis. Most of these Nazis were convicted of war crimes