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Attack of Manchuria
The Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately following the Mukden Incident. The Japanese established a puppet state called Manchukuo, and their occupation lasted until the end of World War II. Within a few days Japanese armed forces had occupied several strategic points in South Manchuria. -
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany. They were introduced by the Reichstag at a special meeting convened at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. The introduced new ideas and progressions for the Germans. -
Alliance with Italy and Germany
The three principal partners in the Axis alliance were Germany, Italy, and Japan. These three countries recognized German domination over most of continental Europe; Italian domination over the Mediterranean Sea; and Japanese domination over East Asia and the Pacific. The Allied Powers, led by Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union, defeated the Axis in World War II. -
Kristallnacht
A massive attack on Jews throughout the German Reich on the night of November 9, 1938, into the next day. It has come to be known as "The Night of Broken Glass." -
Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, or the 1939 Defensive War in Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. From East Prussia and Germany in the north and Silesia and Slovakia in the south, German units, with more than 2,000 tanks and over 1,000 planes, broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on Warsaw in a massive encirclement attack. -
Soviet Union invaded E. Poland
Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov declares that the Polish government has ceased to exist, as the U.S.S.R. exercises the “fine print” of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact—the invasion and occupation of eastern Poland. Hitler’s troops were already wreaking havoc in Poland, having invaded on the first of the month. The Soviet Union would wind up with about three-fifths of Poland and 13 million of its people as a result of the invasion. -
France surrenders
The French found themselves at a point of defeat. They're forces were not strong enough against the surrounded armies and nations. They decided to surrender to keep what little they had left, their own. -
Lend Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. It authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress allowed money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.” -
Battle of Britain
Germany launched a further attack on Britain, this time exclusively from the air. The Battle of Britain was Germany’s first military failure, as the German air force, the Luftwaffe, was never able to overcome Britain’s Royal Air Force. -
German invasion of Soviet Union
Under the codename Operation "Barbarossa," Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, in the largest German military operation of World War II. They intended to destroy Russian forces and take over more for themselves. -
Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration released by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The Atlantic Charter provided a broad statement of U.S. and British war aims. -
Pearl Harbor
Warplanes from Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Although the Pearl Harbor attack provoked a declaration of war by the United States on Japan the very next day, it would be several months before U.S. forces would get seriously involved militarily. -
Battle of Midway
A naval and air battle fought in World War II in which planes from American aircraft carriers blunted the Japanese naval threat in the Pacific Ocean after Pearl Harbor. It's where the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. -
Allied invasion of Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy that happened during the early stages of the Italian Campaign of World War II. Allied troops soon expanded the invasion and this would change Italy's forces in the war. -
D-Day
The day in World War II on which Allied forces invaded northern France by means of beach landings in Normandy. A historic event that changed the new battles that would be taking effect. -
German surrender
Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Reims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of World War II. This was the event that truly ended WWII. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
The US dropped an atomic bomb ("Little Boy") on Hiroshima in Japan. This was one of the only times nuclear weapons were used, and was the first bomb dropped. -
Bombing of Nagasaki
Three days later after the bombing of Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb ("Fat Man") was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. This was the second bomb dropped causing mass destruction. -
Japanese Surrender
Aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan formally surrenders to the Allies, bringing an end to World War II. the defeat of Japan was a foregone conclusion. The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed. As well as the fact that the allied naval blockade of Japan and intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and its economy devastated. -
Japanese internment (in US)
Cite Two months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 ordering all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the West Coast. This resulted in the relocation of approximately 120,000 people, many of whom were American citizens, to one of 10 internment camps located across the country. This caused variating beliefs within the country and questionable Japanese citizens.
