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Japan's Invasion of China
Japan first conquered Manchuria in the 1930s, then quickly expanded to Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing. After overtaking Nanjing, the capital of China, the Japanese still continued to kill the civilians for another 6 weeks. About 300,000 Chinese died which is later known as the Rape of Nanjing. -
Germany invades Poland
Germany formed a nonagression pact with the Soviet Union to invade Poland and split the territory into east and west. Germany attacked from the west while the Soviet Union attacked from the east. This marked Hitler's quest to conquer Europe. -
Battle of Britain
Fought between Germany and Great Britain, the Battle of Britain was crucial for both rivals. When it finally ended, the victorious Britons were not only able to prevent the potential invasion of Germany, but to ensure their survival in the war. Unfortunate for the Germans, they were not able to invade Great Britain and ultimately led to their defeat. -
Tripartite Pact
It is a pact that the Axis Power, Germany, Italy, and Japan, pledged which is to help assist each other when one is attacked by either the United States or the Soviet Union. -
Lend-Lease Act
A system the United States went by to supply its World War II allied with tanks, airplanes, ammunitions, trucks, food, and raw materials. -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 which was successful at first since the Soviet Union was unprepared. Unprepared for the harsh winter conditions, the German force was badly weakened and was unable to defeat the Soviet Union. -
Leningrad Blockade
German forces surrounded Leningrad, the Soviet Union's second largest city for 872 days. About one million Russian cilivians died from starvation but still refused to surrender. In 1944, German forces were forced to retreat, ending the seige. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
When Japan joined the war on the side of the Axis powers, Roosevelt limited exports that supported the war effort of Japan, eventually ending almost all relations. Japan responded by attacking the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Habor, Hawaii. -
Wannsee Conference
Nazi officials created a meeting to plan the "final solution" which was to deport all the European Jews eastward into concentration camps for extermination. -
Battle of Midway
A battle fought using almost only with aircraft which the United States was able to prevent further Japanese expansion in the Pacific. The United States was able to destroy most of Japan's best pilots. -
D-Day
The Battle of Normandy which liberated Western Europe from the control of Germany. It is one of the largest battle on both land and water in history which initiated the ending of the war in Europe. -
Yalta Conference
A World War conference to plan the defeat and occupation of Germany by the Allied leaders: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. -
Iwo Jima/ Okinawa
The last and one of the fiercest battles fought in the Pacific was on Iwo Jima/ Okinawa which was heavily defended by the Japanese against the Americans. -
Hitler's suicide
Hitler committed suicide with his wife in his underground bunker. After taking a cyanide capsule, he shot himself with a pistol after Germany was about to be defeated. -
VE Day
VE Day, known as Victory in Europe Day, was celebrated by Great Britain and the United States after Germany declared defeat of World War II. -
Potsdam Conference
Attended mainly by Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, the Allied conference occurred for the participants to discuss about Eurpoean peace settlements. The main goals of the conference was to finalize Germany's defeat, establish the reparations, continue the war against Japan, and more. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
After Japan's dissatisfying reply to the Potdam Declaration , the United States decided to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in hopes that the Japanese would surrender to prevent the lose of more American lives. Still refusing to surrender, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki which finally made Japan declare defeat. -
VJ Day
It was the day Japan announced defeat against the U.S. which officially ended World War II. It is known as "Victoryover Japan Day." -
Formation of the U.N.
The United Nations Charter was implemented on Oct. 24, 1945, after being first started by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill against Germany, Italy, and Japan. After modifications, it was signed and established after many countries joined the organization. -
Truman Doctrine
U.S. President, Harry S. Truman, established the Truman Doctrine which provided economic and military assistance for Greece. It was to prevent the overtaking Communism by the expansion of the Soviet Union -
Marshall Plan
It is a plan established by the United States to help recontruct European economies in fear of Communists using the poverty of the postwar to its advantage. -
NATO
The United States and 11 other western European countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is an alliance that continued throughout the Cold War against the Warsaw Pact. -
Korean War
A war fought between Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) after the establishment of the 38 parallel. The Soviet Union and China supported North Korea while the United States supported South Korea. At the end, about 2.5 million people died. Neither side won. -
Stalin’s death; Khrushchev
On March 5th, 1953, Stalin died after a heart attack. Khrushchev was appointed secretary of the Communist Party after forcing Malenkov to give up his position as secretary. Although Khrushchev wanted to coexist peacefully with the west, he led the Soviet Union during the Cold War. -
Warsaw Pact
It is a treaty signed by the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria to defend any member attacked by an enemy under the command of Marshal Ivan S. Konev of the Soviet Union. -
Vietnam War
A war between the Communist government of Norh Vietnam and South Vietnam which was supported by the United States. This was part of the Cold War which the United States lost the battle in and had to withdraw from. The south was taken over by the Communist north. -
Sputnik
The Soviet launched a series of Earth satellites called Sputnik into space which orbited Earth in only 96 minutes. It returned in 1958, after the launch of Sputnik 2 which carried a dog, the first living creature in space. -
Bay of Pigs
A failed invasion of the CIA financed and trained Cubans to overthrow the government of Communist Cuban Fidel Castro. Castro surprisely was able to defeat the United States and Cuba and the Soviet Union formed a closer relationship during the Cold War. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall seperated West Berlin (democratic) from East Berlin (communist) after the Cold War which was fought between the United States and Soviet Union after World War II. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A conflict that almost started a war between the United States and the Soviet Union after the Soviet Union provided Cuba with nuclear weapons. -
Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union until it dissolved. He tried to democratize the Soviet Union's government and decentralize its economy which also ended the postwar control of eastern Europe. He was secretary from 1985 to 1991 and president from 1900 to 1991. -
Soviet Union falls
After the death of Stalin, Gorbachev implemented radical reforms that could not improve the Soviet Union's economy and political problems. Eventually, different states broke away from the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union fell into 15 countries. -
Mao Zedong & People's Republic of China
He was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party from 1935 and eventually became chairman of People's Republic of China from 1945 to 1959. He initiated China's economic development and social change to strengthen China.
