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Hitler becomes Chancellor
Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. The supposed one thousand year Reich began. But there was another 19 months before Hitler got absolute power. Info: http://www.historyinanhour.com/2010/01/30/hitler-becomes-chancellor/
Photo: http://www.oldpicz.com/hitler-becoming-a-chancellor-of-germany-1933/ -
Axis Powers break Non-Aggression Pact
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, where 2 countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin saw the pact as a way to keep his nation on good terms with Germany. Hitler used the pact to make sure Germany was able to invade Poland unopposed.
Info & Photo: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/german-soviet-nonaggression-pact -
Poland invasion
German forces attack Poland and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun. Hitler started the with the “blitzkrieg” strategy. Link: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-invades-poland
Photo: http://boards.4chan.org/pol/thread/118377640/breaking-germany-invades-poland -
Winston Churchill becomes leader of British Government
Winston Churchill, was called to replace Neville Chamberlain as British prime minister following the latter’s resignation after losing a confidence vote in the House of Commons. Churchill, who was known for his military leadership ability, formed an all-party union and quickly won the popular support of Britons.
Info: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/churchill-becomes-prime-minister
Photo: http://ww2history.com/key_moments/Western/Winston_Churchill_becomes_PM -
Italy enters war
After holding back loyalty to either side in the battles between Germany and the Allies, Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy, declares war on France and Great Britain. It wasn’t until the 20th that Italian troops were mobilized in France, in the southwest-and easily held at bay by French forces.
Info: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/italy-declares-war-on-france-and-great-britain
Photo: http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/594787 -
Battle of Britain
Germany had to be prepared to invade Britain, so they attacked towns and army defenses on the southern coast. The British did not stop fighting back. The British Royal Air force scattered German bombers. They shot many German planes. It was clear that Britain wasn't defeated and Germany wasn't being successful. Although the Germans had more planes and pilots, the British were able to fight and win the battle.
Info & Photo: http://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_ii/battle_of_britain.php -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. It lasted for 2 hours, the Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died, and 1,000 were wounded. Info: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor
Photo: http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/attack-pearl-harbor-1941 -
Bataan Death March
After the US surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make a difficult 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers marched in intense heat and were harshly treated by Japanese guards. Thousands of people died.
Info: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march
Photo: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bataan-Death-March -
Battle of Coral Sea
This four-day WWII battle was the first air-sea battle in history. The Japanese wanted to control the Coral Sea by invading Port Moresby in southeast New Guinea, but their plans were stopped by Allied forces. When the Japanese landed in the area, they got attacked by the aircraft carrier planes of the American task force commanded by Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher.
Link: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-coral-sea
Photo: http://www.historynet.com/trial-by-fire-at-coral-sea.htm -
Battle of Midway
A WWII naval battle, fought mostly with aircraft, in which the US destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. It ended the threat of further Japanese invasion in the Pacific. Info: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Midway
Photo: https://www.texvet.org/postings/battle-midway-survivorssurviving-family-members -
Battle of Stalingrad
It was a successful Soviet defence of Stalingrad in Russia. Russians think of it as the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. It was one of the bloodiest battles in history with nearly 2 million military and civilian casualties.
Info: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad
Photo: http://thebattleofstalingradperiodone.weebly.com/significance.html -
Italy surrenders to Allies
On this day, Gen. Eisenhower publicly announced the surrender of Italy to the Allies. Germany reacted with Operation Axis, the Allies with Operation Avalanche. Pietro Badoglio began negotiating with Gen. Eisenhower for weeks. Later then, Badoglio finally approved a conditional surrender, allowing the Allies to land in southern Italy and begin beating the Germans.
Info: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/italian-surrender-is-announced
Photo: -
D-Day
156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on 5 beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily secured coast of France’s Normandy region. This was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning.
Info: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day
Photo: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/03/world/europe/d-day-fast-facts/ -
1st Liberation Concentration Camp
Soviet soldiers were the 1st to liberate concentration camps. They entered the Majdanek camp in Poland, and later overran several other killing centers. British, Canadian, American, and French troops also freed prisoners from the camps. The Americans were responsible for liberating Buchenwald and Dachau, while British forces entered Bergen-Belsen.
Info & Photo: https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007724 -
Liberation of Paris
After more than 4 years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, disobeyed an order by Hitler to blow up Paris’ landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation.
Info & Photo: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paris-liberated -
Battle of Bulge
The largest battle fought on the Western Front in Europe and the largest battle ever fought by the US Army. It was the last German attempt. They managed to create a bulge in the American lines 50 miles wide and 70 miles deep.
Link: http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge
Photo: http://www.militaryeducation.org/10-bloodiest-battles-of-world-war-ii/ -
Battle of Iwo Jima
3 U.S. marine divisions landed on the island, Iwo Jima. It was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops. American soldiers make their first strike on the Japanese Islands, Iwo Jima. The marines wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting. Later a photograph was published showing the U.S. flag being raised in victory.
Info: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima
Photo: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marines-invade-iwo-jima -
Death of FDR
It was about 1 p.m. when the president suddenly complained from pain in the back of his head and he collapsed unconscious. One of the women immediately recognized the symptoms of a massive cerebral hemorrhage and gave him a shot of adrenaline into the heart in a vain. By 3:30 p.m doctors in Warm Springs announced his death.
Info: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-dies
Photo: https://blog.genealogybank.com/69th-anniversary-president-franklin-d-roosevelt-died-in-office.html -
Death of Hitler
Hitler was holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, then he committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. His wife Eva Braun also committed suicide with him. Then, Germany surrendered to the Allied forces, and ended Hitler’s dreams of a “1,000-year” Reich. Link: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/adolf-hitler-commits-suicide
Photo: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/406619/REVEALED-Eva-Braun-letters-tell-of-death-with-Adolf-Hitler -
Germany surrenders
German General Alfred Jodl, signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces, East and West, at Reims, in northwestern France.
At first, he hoped to limit the terms of German surrender to only those forces still fighting the Western Allies. But General Dwight Eisenhower demanded complete surrender of all German forces. Info:http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-surrenders-unconditionally-to-the-allies-at-reims Photo:http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/keitel.htm -
Atomic bomb #1
The US became the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. President Harry S. Truman, warned by some of his advisers that any attempt made to invade Japan would result in horrible American casualties. The American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and immediately killed 80,000 people.
Info: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
Atomic bomb #2
A 2nd atomic bomb was dropped on Japan by the US, at Nagasaki, resulting in Japan’s unconditional surrender. The US had already planned to drop this bomb, nicknamed “Fat Man,” on August 11 but bad weather expected on that day pushed the date up. At 1:56 a.m., a specially adapted B-29 bomber, called “Bock’s Car,” took off from Tinian Island.
Info: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-nagasaki
Photo: http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/little-boy-and-fat-man -
Japan Surrenders
Aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan formally surrenders to the Allies, which put an end to WWII. The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed. The Allied naval siege of Japan and bombing of Japanese cities left the country and its economy ruined. US General Douglas MacArthur was in charge of the invasion, which was code-named “Operation Olympic.”
Info: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/japan-surrenders
Photo: http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/592785
