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Japan's invasion of China
This event is also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War. This is the Japanese invasion of China that allowed the First Sino-Japanese war in which Japanese forces sought to continue expansion and control over Chinese mainland. -
Germany Invades Poland
On September 1, 1939 Germany used Blitzkreig, along with the Soviet Union and other Slavic countries to invade Poland. This invasion resulted in Great Britan to attack Germany in the form of a bomb raid three days later. -
Battle of Britain
In the midst of WWII and after the fall of France, the Battle of Britan was the succcessful defense of Britan against the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) by the Royal Air Force. This helped lead to victory against Germany. -
Tripartite Pact
An agrreement signed between Germany, Japan, and Italy to protect each other militarily, economically, and politically which resulted in the creation of the Axis Powers. -
Lend Lease Act
This is a program by the US which lent wartime supplies and aid to Great Britain, Soviet Union, France, China, and other Allied nations during World War II (nine months before the US joing the war). -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
In the summer of 1941, German forces invaded the Soviet Union and wanted to use Blitzkrieg (lightning war) to take over Moscow by October. This attack destroyed many Soviet cities and almost took over Moscow. -
Leningrad Blockade
German forces broke through the Soviet antiaircraft defenses and invaded the city of Leningrad. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Japanese air attack on the U.S. naval base on Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii. This resulted in the U.S. to join the Allied forces in World War II. -
Formation of the UN
The fomation of the United Nations occurred when 26 nations signed the Declaration of the United Nations and agreed to use their resources against the Axis powers and not make a separate peace. -
Wansee Conference
A conference held in Wannsee in which Nazi officials and administrative officials discussed the final solution to deport Jewish people to Poland and exterminate them. -
Battle of Midway
A US navy win over Japan and turning point in the war in the Pacific. -
D-Day
The carefully planned suprise Allied invasion by air and water on the beaches of Normandy (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword) during WWII that resulted in the liberation of western Europe from Nazi control. -
Potsdam Conference
Conference in Postsdam, near Berlin, between the Allied forces: U.S. President Harry S. Truman, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchhill. They discussed peace settlements in Europe including administration of Germany, war reparations, Japan, borders of Poland, occupation of Austria, and the role of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe. -
Yalta Conference
Major WWII meeting in Yalta, Crimea between the Allied forces: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, and Great Britan Prime Minister Winston Churchhill to discuss the final occupation and defeat of Germany. -
Iwo Jima/ Okinawa
The Battle of Iwo Jima or Operation Detachments was a major battle between the US and Japanese forces for control of the Iwo Jima Island. It was a major American defeat with large casualties for everyone. The Battle of Okinawa was a battle between the US and Japanese forces on the Ryukyu Islands. -
Hitler's Suicide
Hitler and his wife commited suicide by ingesting cyanide pills and shooting himself in the head after he discovered news that Russian forces encroached the city and arrived at his bunker. -
VE Day
Hitler's army offically surrendered to the Allies which resulted in the war to conclude in Europe. -
Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
An atomic bomb on each city was dropped by B-29 planes on Japanese cities Hiroshima nad Nagasaki, thus killing thousands of civilans and wipping out the cities. Emperor Hirohito surrendered on August 15, 1945. -
VJ Day
The day in which Japan unconditionally surrendered to the Allies. -
Truman Doctrine
A foreign policy made by President Harry S. Truman that established that the US would provide political, military and economic help and assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal forces. -
Marshall Plan
A successful US sponsored program to help European countries recovery economically after WWII. It provided democratic instituitons and other aid. -
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Also called the Atlantic Alliance, the NATO or North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a military alliance created by the North Atlantic Treaty by the United States and some European countries. This alliance sought to create an alliance that could counterweight the Soviet Union militaries in central and eastern Europe. -
Mao Zedong and the People’s Republic of China
On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong offically proclaimed himself the head of state and pronounced the creation of the People's Republic of China. -
Korean War
The war that resulted after communist North Korea invaded South Korea past the 38th parallel in which the US helped South Korea fight against North Korea which was supported by China and the Soviet Union. -
Stalin’s death; Khrushchev
After Stalin's death on March 5, 1953, Nikita Khurshchev, a loyal supporter of Stalin, replaced Georgi Malenkov and eventually became premier of the Soviet Union. -
Vietnam War
War fought between Communist North Vietnam, which was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other pro-communist countries, and South Vietnam which was supported by the United States and other anti-communist countries. -
Warsaw Pact
A pact made between the Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites that assured mutual protection of each other in case of military attack. -
Sputnik
The 10 artifical space satellites lauched into space by the Soviet Union during the start of the space age. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
An invasion by U.S. CIA sponsored anti-Fidel soldiers on Cuba in which the attackers were either killed or captured. This event led up to the Cuba Missle Crisis between the US and Cuba/Soviet Union. -
Berlin Wall
A cold war divison wall that separated Soviet controlled East Germany and democratic West Germany, It prevented East Germans from crossing to West Germany. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
An intense situation during the Cold War between the US and Cuba and Soviet Union. It led to the agreement in which the Soviet Union agreed to remove nuclear missiles in Cuba, and the US agreed not to invade Cuba. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev was the last General Secretary of the Soviet Union who implemented radical reforms but could not effectively revitalize the Soviet Union ecnomy. The fall of the Soviet Union followed his resignation from office. -
Soviet Union Falls
After 11 Soviet republics declared themselves independent from the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union fell and Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev resigned.
