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Period: to
WWII
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First Blitzkrieg attack against Poland
This is an important event because it signifies the first act of war made by the Nazis, therefore beginning the Second World War. Also, this war tactic had never before been used; it involved air raids where many cities were obliterated by the numerous bombs sent down by the enemy planes. Shortly after the Nazis began their air raids on Poland, the country fell under Nazi control. -
France signs the Second Armistice
At this point, France has pretty much been completely taken over by the Nazis, and in order to minimize damages, France decides to surrender. When Hitler hears this, he decides to have the French leaders sign the Second Armistice (basically just a formal surrender) at Compiègne- the same place where the Germans surrendered to the French in World War I. Hitler purposely did this to get revenge with the French and just to make it all the more humiliating to them as well. -
Lend-Lease Act is signed
The Lend-Lease Act was enacted because the U.S.A. did not quite yet want to fully involve itself in the war though it was clearly more sympathetic to the British, French, Soviets, and Chinese. In order to still support them, this Act was put into place where war materials were given to the above countries, and in return the U.S. received territory for its own tactical use. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a disastrous surprise attack by the Japanese on our major naval base in the Pacific. Many many ships and aircrafft were destroyed and/or damaged: a total of 19 ships and 347 aircraft. On top of this, many American soldiers were killed- 2,402 to be exact- plus 1,247 injured. There were also around 100 civilians who were either killed or injured because of the attack. The goal of the attack was to keep the U.S. from being able to interfere with the war in the Pacific -
U.S.A. declares war on the Axis Powers
After trying to keep itself out of the war for as long as possible, the U.S. had finally been attacked (Pearl Harbor) and therefore caused it to join in the war. President F.D.R. gave a memorable speech on this day encouraging Congress to declare war on the Axis Powers (which it obviously did), and he also gave the famous quote of, "a date which will live in infamy," when referring to the previous day. -
D-Day
D-Day is the day that the Allies had planned to begin their assault on retaking Europe from the Western front; the Soviets had already carried their load in attacking from the East and therfore did not partake in this battle. The attack took place on 5 different beaches, Omaha being the bloodiest (and fought by the Americans). Overall, the U.S. suffered a total of 6,603 casualties (around 2500 fatalities). -
Battle of the Bulge begins
The Battle of the Bulge was really the Nazis last attempt of going on the offensive and takin gover Europe once more. Now, due to heavy fog and snowy conditions, Allied aircraft were unable to fly and counterattack the Nazi forces and tharefore allowed the battle to last longer and become more intense than it actually should have been. The Nazi forces made a deep push into Allied territory but in the end was stopped at the city of Bastogne. -
V-E Day
After a long and hard-fought war, the Allies had finally pushed the Nazis back to Berlin and ultimately caused them to surrender. The V-E part of this title stands for "Victory in Europe" for obvious reasons. Hitler had already commited suicide at this point because he knew that if he were to be captured that there would be nothing good left to live for after everything he had done to the Jews in the Concentration Camps as well as many other war crimes he himself had commited or condoned. -
U.S. drops A-bomb on Hiroshima
In order to force the Japanese into a sooner surrender, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb over the populated city of Hiroshima killing a total of approximately 80,000 Japanese civilians. The reason for such incredible damage and killing to the Japanese was because up until this point, there had been no indication of them stopping fighting, even if it was the death of every single one of their soldiers. In fact, another A-bomb was dropped (on Nagasaki) before they surrendered. -
V-J Day
This date signified the final day of the Second World War. The Japanese Emperor Hirohito agreed to the peace terms set forth to once and for all end the war that had cost so many lives, on both the Allies and Axis sides. On the following day, Aug. 15, Emperor Hirohito made a live broadcast to the world announcing his country's surrender, fully making it official. And on Sept. 2 the formal signing took place on the USS Missouri and many Americans celebrated in the streets!
