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Japan's Invasion of China
Japense claimed that the Chinese fired at them at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing, The Japanese said this in order to have an excuse to invade China using the conquered area of Manchuria as a launching base. -
Germany invades Poland
German forces bombarded Poland from the air in order to regain terrritory. This act is the start of the war. -
Battle of Britian
German and British air forces fought in the skies over the United Kingdon in the spring of 1940. The battle ended with the German Luftwaffe not being able to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force. -
The Tripartie Pact
The Axis Powers, Italy,Germany, and Japan, became allies by signing this treaty in Berlin. The Pact provided for mutual assistance should any of the signatories suffer attack by any nation not already involved in the war. -
Lend-Lease Act
The main means that provided U.S. military aid to foriegn nations during the war. This act enabled the president to transfer any defense material for which Congress appropiated money to the "defense of any country that the president seemed vital to the defense of the U.S." -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
Hilter filled with pride decided to take on Russia; thinking this battle would only last a short time, Nazi Germany was taken by suprise when the war lasted into the winter, killing many soldiers. Soviets fought long and hard and pushed the Germans out of Moscow. -
Germany takes Leningrad
As part of their offense campaign against Russia, Germany invaded Leningrad with bomibing. Hilter was not able to successfully siege the city though. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese launched a suprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base located in Hawaii. More than 2,400 Americans were dead and 21 ships had been sunk. This caused U.S. to enter WWII. -
Formation of the United Nations
Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers met in Washington to sign a declaration to use their resources agaisnt the Axis Powers and to strive for peace. -
Wannsee Conference
Reinhard Heydrich decided to hold a conference of high-ranking Nazi's gathered at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee in order to find the "final solution" to the end of Jews in Germany. -
Battle of Midway
The United States was able to crack the codes of Japan and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its remaining aircraft carriers. In doing this, United states took a major advancein the war and was able to take the offensive. -
D-Day
Allied troops landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region in order to fight and defeat Nazi Germany. -
Yalta Conference,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain, and Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, met at Yalta in Crimea in order to discuss how to deal with the final deafeat of Nazi Germany and the liberated countries of Eastern Europe. -
Iwo Jima and Okinawa
The first attacks the U.S. took on Japan home fronts during WWII. U.S. looked to these islands in order to gain control over Japan. -
Hitler’s suicide
In his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hilter commited suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after this, Germany surrendered to the Allies. -
VE Day
Known as Victory in Europe, Great Britian and the United States both celebrated the Germans finally puttting down their arms and the defeat of Nazi Germany. -
Postdam Conference
American President Harry S. Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin came together near Berlin to discuss the German economy, punishment for war criminals, land boundaries and reparations. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The U.S. dropped the world's first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima and it wiped out 90 percent of the city. Three days later, U.S. dropped a bomb on Nagasaki. -
VJ Day
Known as the day that Japan announced its surrender to the Allies, ending WWII. Also known as Victory Over Japan Day -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman made an address to congress that is was a foreign policy of the United States to help any country who's stability was threnthend by communisim. -
Marshall Plan
With Europe in ruins and unstable from the war, Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed to help bring political stability and economic health to European nations. -
NATO
It stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and it is an alliance of 28 member countries roughly bordering the North Atlantic Ocean with a purpose of protecting the freedom of its members. -
Mao Zedong and the People's Republic of China
After years of battle between the communist Maos and the Nationalist chinese leaders, Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China and appointed himself head of state. -
Korean War
It started with the North Korean People's Army crossing the boundary of the 38 parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This resulted in war bettween the two sides. -
Stalin’s death; Khrushchev
After ruling the Soviet Union for 30 years, Stalin died in his sleep. After his death, Khruschchev took power. He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964. -
Warsaw Pact
The treaty, created by the Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites, called on the other nations to come to the defense of any member if attacked by outside forces. -
Vietnam War
The goal of North Vietnam was to unify Vietnam into a single communist regime with their southern allies, known as the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The wirthdrawl of the U.S. led to the communist taking over Vietnam. -
Sputnik
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik to outer space in order to learn more about the earth and advance ahead the United States. -
The Bay of Pigs
CIA-financed, trained groups of anti-Castro groups landed in Cuba in an attempt to overthrow the communist Fidel Castro. -
Berlin Wall
The Communist government of the German Democratic Republic began bulding a barbed fire and concrete wall to seperate East Berlin from West Berlin. The main purpose of the wall was to keep Western "fascists" from hurting the socialist East Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Leaders of the United States and Soviet Union enganged in a 13-day politcal and military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, which was in close distance to the United States. -
Gorbachev
He was the last General Secretary of the Soviet Union, and helped bring much change politcally and economically to Soviet. He helped bring an end to the Soviet Union and the Cold War. He became the first president of the Soviet Union in 1990. -
Soviet Union falls
On Christmas Day, the Soviet Union split up into fifteen seperate countries. It was a victory for the West because democracy won and was evidence of the superiority of capitalism over socialism.
