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Nazis Invade Poland
At dawn, the German tanks and troops made a surprise attack across the Polish border. At the same time, the German aircrafts began bombing Poland’s capital, Warsaw. German’s used the military strategy blitzkrieg which involved taking the enemy by surprise and overwhelm them by using fast-moving airplanes and tanks, followed by massive forces. After the victory, Hitler annexed the western half of Poland. -
Allies Join War
Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany. -
France signs an armistice with Germany
After the escape of Dunkirk, the germans took control of the northern part of France and left the south to a puppet government headed by Marshal Philippe Petain. -
Battle of Britain
The bombs on british cities had been going on since september 7, and caused a great destruction in the cities such as London. The Allies resisted Hitler's attacks in Battle of Britain and in the end the Germans decided to call of their attacks and focuss on Eastern Europe. -
President Roosevelt signs Lend-Lease Act.
The US decided not to get involved in WWII. Between 1935 and 1937, the congress passed a series of Neutrality acts which claimed it was illegal to sell arms or lend money to nations at war. The lend-lease act consisted of the US being able to lend or lease arms and other supplies to any country vital to the US. President Roosevelt's Speech
Citation:
(1941, March 1). [Radio broadcast].Roosevelt. -
Operation Barbarossa Begins
Operation Barbarossa consisted of invading the USSR, their former ally, in order to gain more territory. The Soviet Union was not prepared for the attack, but they used the scorched-earth policy just as they had done with Napoleon in order to weaken the German troops. Operation Barbarossa. Citation: 20-part Retrospective of World War II. Digital image. Deutsches Bundesarchiv, n.d. Web. <http:// -
US Cuts-Off Oil Trading With Japan
When the US deciphered a message about Japanese plans for future conquering, Roosevelt cut off trading oil with Japan. -
Day of Infamy
The Japanese decide to attack the US, and bomb Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. They sunk 19 ships, killed 2,300 Americans, and left 1,100 wounded. This ultimately led to the US declaring war on Japan and getting involved in WWII. Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor Citation: Pearl Harbor Articles & Newspapers. (n.d.). US Declares War. Retrieved from http://www.archives.com/genealogy/newspapers-pearl-harbor.html -
Final Solution Begins
Now that all Jews were forced into ghettos, Hitler wanted to get rid of them completely. Because he couldn’t ship them away to Madagascar, he decided to put the Final Solution plan into action. It consisted of an actual genocide program in which around 6,000 Jews would be killed in gas chambers per day. -
Bataan Death March
After the Japanese were triumphant in conquering the Philippines, the 70,000 prisoners of war were forced to march more than 50 miles up the peninsula and treated with extreme cruelty. Only 54,000 survived in the end.
Bataan Death March
Citation: Bataan Death March. Digital image. US Archives, n.d. Web. http://wwiiletters.blogspot.mx/2009/01/bataan-death-march-1942-photos.html. -
Battle of Midway
Midway Island was a small island where US planes stopped for fuel in the middle of the Pacific. Thanks to the Allied code breakers, they knew that a Japanese force was heading toward Midway. The American successfully defeated the enemy, and destroyed 332 japanese planes, all aircraft carriers and one support ship.
Battle of Midway
Citation: Diorama of VMF-221 intercepting Japanese air attack. Digital image. N.p., n.d. -
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Battle of Guadalcanal
This battle was the first battle of the “island-hop” plan. The USA marines had little trouble seizing Guadalcanal airfield, yet it took six months of fighting and thousands of loses in order for the Allies to finally seize control of the island.
Battle of Guadalcanal
Citation: SBD destroyed in an air attack on Henderson Field, Gudalcanal. Digital image. N.p., 1942. Web. <http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/g10000/g -
D-Day
The allies wanted to gain German territory by crossing the English Channel into France. They planned to attack the coast of Normandy in Northwestern France. In Operation Overlord many Allied soldiers died, but within two months, the Allies were able to take Paris, and later Belgium and Luxembourg.
Operation Overlord
Citation: (1944, January 1). D-Day Allies Advance [Radio broadcast]. -
Battle of the Bulge
This battle started when the german tanks broke through weak American defenses along a 75-mile front in the Ardennes. The Allies were caught off guard, but eventually pushed the Germans back. After the Allied victory, the war in Europe was close to an end. Becton, Frederick J. "Oral History: Battle for Okinawa." EHistory at OSU | Primary Sources. Naval Historical Center, 30 Jun. 1945 04 Oct. 2014. http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/oral/oralview.cfm?oralid=3 -
Yalta Conference
Meeting of the government officials of the US, UK, and USSR in order to discuss Europe’s postwar future and the re-establishment of the nations. -
Batlle of Okinawa
It was an 82 day long battle in the island of Okinawa. The Allies wanted to use that island as a base for air operations when attacking Japan. This battle resulted in the highest number of deaths in the Pacific Theater in WWII. -
German Unconditional Surrender
Surrounded in both fronts, knowing the Nazis were incapable of escaping, General Eisenhower accepted surrender of the German military. On may 9, Nazi surrender was officially signed in Berlin by Harry Truman and Eisenhower. -
First Atomic Bomb Dropped
The president warned the Japanese that they should expect a huge destruction, and because they did not receive any answers, the first bomb was thrown in Hiroshima. Between 70,000 and 80,000 people were killed. Truman, Harry S. "Announcing the Hiroshima Bomb." PBS, 06 Aug. 1945. 03 Oct. 2014. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/truman-hiroshima/. -
Second Atomic Bomb Dropped
Three days later, another bomb was dropped in Nagasaki, Japan. It killed more than 70,000 people and thousands later died due to burning or extreme exposure to radiation. This caused Japan to surrender to the Allies. -
Japanese Sign Surrender Agreement
The Japanese finally surrender to General Douglas MacArthur aboard a US battleship in the Tokyo Bay. The second world war has finally ended. Mamouru, Minister. "Official Japanese Surrender." The Avalon Project: Formal Surrender. N.p., 02 Sept. 1945. Web. 05 Oct. 2014. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/j1.asp.
