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Invasion of Manchuria
The Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately following the Mukden Incident. After the war, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. -
Hitler becomes Chancellor
On January 30, 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler, leader or führer. He is the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (or Nazi Party), as chancellor of Germany. -
Invasion of Ethiopia
Ethiopia, one of the only two independent African nations at the time, was invaded on Oct. 3, 1935, by Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini. The Italians committed countless atrocities on the independent African state. Poisonous gas, aerial bombardment, flame throwers, and concentration camps were all employed. -
Munich Conference
The Munich Agreement or Munich Betrayal was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. It provided "cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory" of Czechoslovakia. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November Pogrom, was a pogrom against Jews carried out by SA paramilitary forces and civilians throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938. The German authorities looked on without intervening. -
Non-Aggression Pact
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. This stated that the two countries would take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. -
Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union had approved the pact. -
Invasion of France
The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries during the Second World War. On 3 September 1939 France had declared war on Germany, following the German invasion of Poland. In early September 1939, France began the limited Saar Offensive. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It has been described as the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. -
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, preemptive military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States. It was an attack against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, just before 08:00, on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army. It was the transportation of 60,000–80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from Saysain Point, Bagac, Bataan, and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, via San Fernando, Pampanga, where the prisoners were loaded onto trains. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. It took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The German offensive to capture Stalingrad began in August 1942, using the 6th Army and elements of the 4th Panzer Army. The attack was supported by intense Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. -
Invasion of Normandy
The Western Allies of World War II launched the largest amphibious invasion in history. They attacked German positions at Normandy, located on the northern coast of France, on 6 June 1944. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. It took place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, also known as the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference. It was held February 4–11, 1945, it was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. -
Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps and Navy landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. This battle involved aerial bombardment. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. This attack also included aerial bombardment. -
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day, generally known as VE Day or V-E Day, is a day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on 8 May 1945. It was the end of WWII in Europe. -
Atomic Bombings of Japan
The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. The United States had the consent of the United Kingdom, as required by the Quebec Agreement. -
V-J Day
Victory over Japan Day is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. This was the end of WWII in all places.
