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Japan invades China
Japan's tyranny of East Asia began with the invasion of Manchuria in 1931. In 1937, they launched a brutal attack on China, which essentially started WWII in the Pacific. -
Germany invades Poland
The invasion started with air attacks, but later moved to German invasion of foot, and the Poles could not defend their nation with thei cavalry and were utterly destroyed. Thus, WWII began. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was the air attacks by the Germans in Britain during the summer and spring of 1940. -
Tripartite Pact
The agreement was signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan forming the Axis Powers. Signed in Berlin, this treaty offered assistance to one of these three countries from the other two if they were attacked by a country not already involved in the war. -
Lend-Lease Act
This act gave military aid from the US to Allied nations. This allowed the US to be supportive but not involved in th war. -
Leningrad Blockade
Leningrad was the larest industrial city of Russia, so the Germans saw fit to lay siege to it. Although the Russians were victorious, it still led to over a million deaths of civilians and Red Army personel. -
Germany's blitzkrieg on the Soviet Union
In early December, the Germans betrayed the Soviets and tried to take Moscow. It failed and later in 1943, the Germans again attacked Russia and tried to surround Stalingrad, but the harsh winter proved pivital and the Germans were once again at a loss. -
Pearl Harbor
Just before 8 in the morning on December 7, Japan surprise attacked the US naval base in Honolulu, Hawaii and destroyed nearly everything. Afterwards, the US entered the war. -
UN created
FDR and Churchill issued a declaration, signed by 26 other countries to try and come up with a postwar peacekeeping delegation. -
Wannsee Conference
On this day, Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann met to discuss what to do about "the Jewish problem". The answer, introduced by Heydrich, was concentration camps. -
Battle of Midway
The Japanese hoped to spread their reign through the Pacific and at the same time completely destroy the US naval fleet. They were to do this by taking over a groupd of islands, Midway, as well as the Aleucian islands. However, due to US intelligence, they were able to trick the Japanese and win the battle. -
D-Day
The Allies stormed the beach of northern France at Normandy. The city and later the country were liberated and this lead the way to the Allied liberation of Western Europe. -
Yalta Conference
Meeting between Churchill, FDR, and Stalin to discuss Germany's unconditional surrender and what would happen after the war for everyone. -
Iwo Jima and Okinawa
The US invaded the smaller islands of Japan on February 19, later to capture Iwo Jima on March 26. On April 1, the US invaded Okinawa. It would become the bloodiest battle in the Pacific. However, after 82 days, Okinawa finally fell. -
VE Day
News of the surrender of Germany and Italy spread and thus the war in Europe is over leaving only Japan still in the Axis Powers. -
Potsdam Conference
The Big Three: Stalin, Churchill, and Truman, met in Germany to discuss the end of WWII. The major issue was dealing with Germany, however there was still a war going on over in the Pacific. -
Atomic Bombing on Hiroshima
On the morning of August 6, 1945, a Uranium-235 bomb was dropped over the city of Hiroshima. A bomb of this sort had never been tested before. It was nicknamed "Little Boy" -
Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
Only 3 days after the first bomb, the second bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man", was initially targeted for Kokura. However, the target area could not be seen, so the B-29 continued on to its secondary target. -
VJ Day
News of the surrender of Japan is received and thus is the end of WWII. -
Truman Doctrine
The speech given to Congress by Harry Truman to ask for aid in helping Turkey and Greece avoid communism. This essentially started the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
Named after George C. Marshall and also called the European Recovery Program, this plan was for the economic bounceback of Europe and cost $13 billion. -
NATO Creation
Created by 12 nations, NATO was created as a military alliance against the Soviets. -
Mao Zedong and People's Republic of China
Mao named himself head of the Communist Party in CHina after defeating the Nationalist Party. The loss of Asia's largest country to communism was a big blow to the US. -
Korean War
75,000 North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea. The Soviets backed the North Koreans and the US backed the South Koreans. This was considred the first military action of the Cold War. It ended in July 1953 with no real victor. -
Khrushcehev rises to power after Stalin's death
After Stalin's death on March 5, there was a power struggle between Khrushchev and the heir Malenkov. Eventually, Malenkov stepped down and Khrushchev was named the first secretary. -
Warsaw Pact
Treaty signed in Warsaw by the Soviet Union and 7 other countries saying that if any one was attacked, the other 7 would come to their defense. -
Vietnam War
When the communist North Vietnamese entered the sourthern part of Vietnam, the US came in to try and stop the spread of communism. Howvever, it was a highly unpopular war. ! out of 10 American men were killed. The war lasted nearly 20 years. -
Sputnik
The first artificial satellite in space. It belonged to the Soviets and this started the "Space Race" between the US and USSR. -
They Bay of Pigs
US-trained Cuban civilians stormed the Bay of Pigs, but Fidel Castro's intelligence had the revolutionists beat before the attack even started. -
Berlin Wall
Built in 1961 as a divide between East and West Germany, it served as a divide between communism and democracy. It was known as the Iron Curtain. After 28 years, it was finally taken down. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A US spy plane discovers missile launch sites in Cuba. This prompts JFK to send a naval fleet to Cuba to be used to prevent Soviet ships to come in. -
Gorbachev
Elected in 1990, Gorbachev worked to move away from the Communist Party and more toward the Congress of People's Deputy. -
Soviet Union Falls
Representatives from 11 Soviet republics decided that they were no longer part of the mega country Soviet Union. They decided to become independent states.
