WWII Test Timeline

Great Depression begins

Oct 29, 1929

Date is Black Tuesday, the worst day of the crash.Some stocks dropped up to 75%. The Derpression was ended with the coming of war and its production.

Japan conquers Manchuria in northern China

May 12, 1931

Real year, not acutal date.

Roosevelt first elected president

Nov 13, 1932

 Four terms
 Died April 14, 1945 from a cerebral hemorrhage/massive stroke (while the battle for Okinawa was going on)
 Elected into the depths of the Great Depression
 Got the country out of the Great Depression and through most of WWII

Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany

Jan 30, 1933

Elected into the position and then overthrew the constitution and the government.

Nuremberg Laws

Sep 15, 1935

 Excluded German Jews from citizenship & marrying “pure” German people, as well as taking away other rights such as positions in office, to be in a profession or organization, or taking away the right to an education.

Hitler & Mussolini form the Rome-Berlin Axis

May 13, 1936

Correct year, wrong date/month.
 Became known as just the Axis when Japan joined {Japan, Germany, and Italy}
 Opposing force of the Allies

Japan invades China

May 13, 1937

Wrong date, right month/year.

Germany invades Austria

Mar 12, 1938

March 12/13 they took over.

Britain’s appeasement of Germany

Sep 30, 1938

"In mid-September 1938, Hitler encouraged the leader of the Sudeten Nazis to rebel, demanding union with Germany. When the Czech government declared martial law, Hitler threatened war. On 15 September, Chamberlain met Hitler at Berchtesgaden. Without consulting the Czech authorities, he pledged to give Germany all the areas with a German population of more than 50 per cent. At the Munich Conference, the deal was sealed with Britain and France."

Kristallnacht

Nov 9, 1938

rolled onto the tenth as well (because riots were at night)

“Night of Broken Glass” or “Night of Crystal”
 Violent anit-Jewish riots, named for all of the broken glass from smashed windows of Jewish churches, shops, and homes that lined the streets

Germany invades Poland - blitzkrieg (start of WWII)

Sep 1, 1939

 “Employing blitzkrieg (literally, "lightning war") tactics, Germany invades Poland. Polish military forces are unprepared for the ferocity of Germany's attack. When efforts to negotiate a withdrawal fail, Britain and France declare war on Germany. World War II begins.”

Japan joins the Axis Powers

Sep 13, 1940

Wrong date, right year/month.

Lend-Lease Act

Mar 11, 1941

 “This act empowered the president to ‘sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government [whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States] any defense article.’ In effect, it allowed Roosevelt to authorize the transfer of military materials to Britain with the understanding that they would ultimately be paid for or returned if they were not destroyed.”

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor

Dec 7, 1941

 Japanese airforce bombed Pearl Harbor without warning or sign of disturbance in peace between the two countries
 Set off Americans into going to war

D-Day

Jun 6, 1944

 started at midnight
 Aerial and marine attacks
 Bloodiest day since Antietam in the Civil War
 Allies parachuted men down to take bridges, tried to bomb beaches to use as trenches but ended up falling inland
 Naval attack across channel: hundreds of ships and thousands of men
 Allies were failing miserably so they chose to throw the plan to the wind and improvise
 More than 1.5 million Americans in the English Channel before D-Day
 Normandy, France
 Less than 24 hours long
 Allies won

Iwo Jima

Mar 25, 1945

At the start, Allies were having a really rough time on the beaches with the equipment the made it on to the beaches slipping into the water in the loose sand. Mt. Suribachi was the Japanese base on Iwo, and was needed to be taken ASAP for the Allies to get the island. 2/25, Suribachi was conquered with 6845 casualties, Once Suribachi was claimed, more troops were sent in to help claim the Northern part of the island. Date - all of Iwo had been taken. Used as airbase in between Japan and the US.

Battle of Okinawa

Apr 1, 1945

 April 1: Okinawa invaded by the U.S.
 June 22, 1945: Okinawa was completely under American command, with very heavy casualties to Japan

Roosevelt dies, Truman becomes president

Apr 12, 1945

 April 12, 1945 – Roosevelt died from a Cerebral Hemorrhage
 Truman was the 33rd President

Formation of the United Nations

Apr 25, 1945

 April 25, 1945: 50 nations met in San Francisco to discuss a new peacekeeping organization to replace the weak and ineffective League of Nations
 June 26, 1945: all 50 nations ratified the charter, creating a new international peacekeeping body known as the United Nations
 President Roosevelt had urged Americans not to turn their backs on the world again
 Unlike the League of Nations, the United States is a member of the United Nations

Potsdam Conference

Jul 17, 1945

 July 17 – August 2, 1945
 Allies held the Conference to plan the war’s end
 Decision was made to put Nazi war criminals on trial

Nuremberg Trials

Nov 20, 1945

 November 20, 1945 – October 1, 1946
 24 defendants, including some of Hitler’s top officials
 Hermann Goring – creator & head of Gestapo (the secret police)
 Charged with crimes against humanity
 19 found guilty, 12 sentenced to death
 People are responsible for their actions, even in wartime.

Marshall Plan

May 13, 1948

 Wrong date/month, correct year
 Congress approved Secretary of State George Marshall’s plan to help boost European economies
 The U.S. gave more than $13 billion to help the nations of Europe get back on their feet