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Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty between the Allied and Axis powers which technically ended WWI. The treaty was extremely harsh on Germany and forced the country to accept the responsibility for causing all the loss and damage during the war. -
Hitler Voted to Power in Germany
In January of 1933, Hitler was appointed as chancellor of Germany after a series of electoral victories by the Nazi Party. Later Hitler asked for reelection and it was granted. The election was very violent and the Reichstag was set on fire. Many people were afraid and decided to cast their vote for Hitler ultimately ending with him rising to power in Germany. -
Hitler's Olympics (1936 Summer Olympics)
The Nazi Regime and Hitler used the 1936 Olympic Games for propaganda purposes. The Nazis promoted an image of a new, strong, and united Germany while masking the regime's targeting of Jews. For the first time in the history of the modern Olympic Games, people in the United States and Europe called for a boycott of the Olympics because of what would later become known as human rights abuses by Hitler and his party. -
German Invasion of Poland
In 1939, the German army, under the control of Adolf Hitler, launched an invasion of Poland that triggered the start of World War II. They claimed that Poland was planning, with its allies Great Britain and France, to encircle and dismember Germany. The battle for Poland lasted about a month before a Nazi Victory. -
Tripartite Pact Signed
The Tripartite Pact was an agreement signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan one year after the start of WWII. The document created a defense alliance between the countries and largely intended to deter the US from entering the conflict. This set up the Axis powers that ruled the world for the next five years. -
Pearl Harbor
One day, the Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The bombers dropped bombs on American battleships below, while the fighter planes targeted American planes on the ground, preventing them from fighting back. In total, 2,280 soldiers and women were killed, with another 1,109 injured. -
Japanese Americans Sent to Internment Camps
The United States government issued Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, just ten weeks after the Pearl Harbor bombings, ordering the internment of Japanese Americans. These camps were initially created to prevent Japanese spies receiving intel for the Japanese government. Executive Order 9066 affected the lives of 120,000 Japanese Americans, many of which were American citizens that had found asylum in California, Oregon, and Washington. -
Nazi's Establish Gas Chambers at Auschwitz
The Nazis killed millions of Jews in gas chambers, disguised as shower facilities, with different chemicals. The buildings were called "Crematorium" by the Nazis, including an area for the victims to undress, gas chambers, and incinerators for burning the bodies. They conducted experiments with either carbon monoxide gas or with the pesticide Zyklon B. -
D-Day
Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle also known as D-Day was when the American, British, and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along the heavily fortified coast of France's Normandy region. With a huge force of over 150,000 soldiers, the Allied Forces gained a victory against the German forces that became a turning point for World War II. Even though France was our ally, they had already fallen to the German forces. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was an epic military campaign between the United States Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan. The island was a strategic location that allowed the US Military and Japanese Army because they both needed a place for fighter planes and bombers to land and take off. -
Hitler's Death
Adolf Hitler died on April 30, 1945, when he committed suicide in his underground bunker by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. This event sent Germany into a panic and unconditionally forced them to surrender to the Allied Forces, ending Hitler's dream of a "1,000 year" Reich. -
Axis Powers Surrender
Just seven days after Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allied Forces on May 7, 1945. A few months later, Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, when they signed the official Instrument of Surrender. Italy was the first to surrender on September 8, 1943, to the Allies. -
Atomic Bombs Dropped on Japan
On August 6, 1945, the United States became the first nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Germany had already been defeated, however, the war against Japan in the Pacific continued to rage on. The city became ruins and immediately killed 80,000 people. Three days later, another bomb, sent by the United States, exploded in Nagasaki and killed many people as well but also helped save many American lives.