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Japan Invades China
-Chinese Front
-Japan invades Manchuria and occupies it until the end of WWII.
-Word of atrocities committed by the Japanese created American animosity towards Japan -
Anschluss
-European Theater
-Nazi Germany annexes Austria
-No countries challenged Hitler so he expanded his aggression into the Sudetenland -
Occupation of the Sudetenland
-European Theater
-Hitler annexes the Sudetenland, claiming Czechoslovakia is persecuting Germans there.
-Bolstered Hitler's lust for land and allowed him to continue to take over Europe -
Invasion of Poland
-European Theater
-German and Russian invasion of Poland
-Started WWII in Europe -
Phoney War
-European Theater
-8 month period of little fighting between the Allied declaration of war and the German Blitzkrieg
-Allowed Hitler to build up defenses -
Invasion of Denmark and Norway
-European Theater
-Germany invades Denmark and Norway in order to preemptively stop the Allies from doing so
-Norway used to prepare for Operation Barbarossa -
Battle of Britain
-European Theater
-German air campaign to bomb the British mainland
-Established Britain as a real contender in the war -
Invasion of Indo-China
-Chinese Theater
-Japan invades French Indochina to stop China from importing goods for their war effort
-Japan grows in Asia and the US becomes more concerned at their expansion -
Operation Barbarossa
-European Theater
-German invasion of Russia
-Turned USSR into an Ally and started the most deadly part of the conflict -
Battle of Moscow
-European Theater
-Germans try to take Moscow, but are stopped and repelled by the Russians
-Eastern Front is pushed back and Hitler puts himself in control of the Wehrmacht -
Pearl Harbor
-Pacific Theater
-Japanses aerial attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
-Brought the US into WWII -
Battle of the Coral Sea
-Pacific Theater
-The Japanese attempted to occupy Port Moresby and US vessels intercepted. No aircraft carriers ever actually saw the enemy.
-First Japanese defeat in the Pacific and first engagement between aircraft carriers -
Battle of Midway
-Pacific Theater
-US naval forces defeat a Japanese fleet at Midway Atoll
-Most of Japan's carriers were sunk and they could not recooperate their losses -
Battle of El Alamein
-Mediterranean Theater
-Allied attack on Axis positions at El Alamein, dangerously close to Egypt's harbors
-Kept the Axis out of Egypt and her ports -
Battle of Guadalcanal
-Pacific Theater
-US Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal to gain control of Henderson Airfield and disrupt Japanses supply routes. They repelled Japanese counter attacks as well.
-The beginning of Allied offensives in the Pacific -
Battle of Stalingrad
-European Theater
-Close quarters fighting in the Russian city of Stalingrad which the Russians vow not to lose. The Germans lose.
-The Germans are pushed back and never regain their footing on the Eastern front. -
Operation Torch
-Mediterranean Theater
-Allied invasion of North Africa
-First combined forces operation of America and Britain -
Invasion of Italy
-Mediterranean Theater
-Allied invasion of Italy and Sicily
-Removed Italy from the war -
D-Day
-European Theater
-Invasion of France at the beaches of Normandy
-Established Allied foothold in Western Europe -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
-Pacific Theater
-US and Australian trrops invade the island of Leyte and Japan sends its strongest Navy to fight. Japan loses most of its force.
-Japan reaches the peak of it's navy, it will never be the same size as it was before this battle. -
Battle of the Bulge
-European Theater
-Last-ditch German offensive at the Ardennes in Belgium. American forces hold the city of Bastogne and maintain the line.
-Last major German assault -
Battle of Iwo Jima
-Pacific Theater
-American invasion of the island of Iwo Jima and it's three airfields. There were many entrenched Japanese making this a costly battle for the US
-Provided a US airfield even closer to Japan and raised morale with the iconic flag raising photograph on the top of Mount Suribachi -
Battle of Okinawa
-Pacific Theater
-Large scale amphibious invasion of the Ryukyu islands. Okinawa provided a strategic location from which an invasion of Japan could be launched.
-Ferocity of fighting led to atomic bombings to avoid more action of the same kind -
Battle of Berlin
-European Theater
-Russian assault on Berlin
-End of the war in Europe as German troops surrendered to American forces -
VE Day
-European Theater
-German surrender to the Allied powers
-War in Europe officially over -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
-Pacific Theater
-Atomic bomb dropped on Japanese city of Hiroshima. Almost entirely civilian casualties.
-First use of an atomic bomb on an enemy. Forced Japan to surrender after Nagasaki. -
VJ Day
-Pacific Theater
-Japan surrenders to the Allies
-WWII comes to a close. -
Nuremberg Trials
-European Theater
-Military tribunals of Nazi officials for The Holocaust and other war crimes
-Conviction and execution of many Nazi leaders
