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Invasion of Manchuria
Russia was tired of having Japan in Manchuria so Russia invaded Japanese occupied Manchuria. Japan did not expect this and began to negotiate terms of surrender with the allies. This was pretty much the end of WW2 -
Rape of Nanjing
The Rape of Nanjing was a genocide of the Chinese people. Japan was attacking China and to show their power they destroyed the capital of China, Nanjing, killing innocent children and women. Many of the people killed were tortured and the Japanese enjoyed it. -
Anschluss
Hitler announced that Austria will now be part of Germany. Many Austrians wanted this to happen and as did Hitler a native Austrian. The final poll to have Austria join Germany was a 99.7% agreement. -
Munich Pact
The Munich Pact was one of Hitler's first tests against the Treaty of Versaille. Hitler simply demanded Sudetenland (a region of Czechoslovakia). Hitler got it because Britain and France just wanted peace but soon Hitler knew the Treaty of Versaille had no backbone anymore. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht was the beginning of the Holocaust. Kristallnacht was sparked because a Jewish teen killed a Jewish homes, businesses, and schools. -
Non-Aggression Pact
This was a pact between The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The two agreed not to attack each other and also Germany and The Soviet Union would divide up Europe after the war. Germany ended up attacking Russia in 1941 -
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Invasion of Poland
Germany Invades Poland for more living room for the Germans. Hitler's beliefs were that the Slavic people were inferior and Hitler was going to enslave them. This is where the Non-Aggression Pact would come in handy because now Russia would not attack Germany. -
Dunkirk
British troops were being surrounded and were up against the coast. All the military ships and many personal ships were used to evacuate everybody from France to Britain. The Royal Air Force was used to fend off the Germans while the troops were evacuating. Anybody with a boat that could carry soldiers were used for evacuation. The citizens risked their lives for they could have gotten torpedoed or hit a mine. -
Tri-Partite Agreement
The Tri-Partite Agreement is an alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan. This was the Axis powers formation. The Axis powers were what you could call the enemy's in the WW2. -
Lend Lease Act
This was an act passed by congress to help support the war effort. This act essentially brought the US into the war. The US aided the Allies and really helped end the war. -
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Operation Barbarossa
This was Hitler's decision to invade the Soviet Union. Hitler thought that he had enough strength to invade the USSR but he overestimated himself. Hitler was defeated by the Russians and had to fight two fronts once again.This was the deciding point for the war cause had Hitler not invaded or had he won he would have a large advantage by not having to fight two front war. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was a premeditated assault on the naval base in Honolulu, Hawaii. Japan and America were at a stalemate with agreements and neither side budging so Japan attacked but didn't get the desired results. This offense caused America to go to war and also horrible discrimination against Japanese Americans. America put the Japanese Americans into concentration camps and could only leave if they joined the war effort and their property was taken and sold. -
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Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a fight between America and Japan. America won but only because they were able to decode Japanese fleet codes. When we deciphered the code we knew their plans and were able to defeat them. -
D-Day
This was the beginning of the Battle of Normandy. Around 156,000 American,Canadian,&British troops landed on The Coast of Normandy, France.This invasion was actually suppose to be on June 5th but there was bad weather so the invasion began at 6:30 am. The Allies actually fed misinformation to Germany. One was using a phantom army to make Germany think they were gonna attack another location. -
Liberation of Paris
Germany was occupying Paris and then French Troops started attacking the Germans.So that the prisoners weren't killed French Resistance freed all French civilians from imprisonment. The Germans kept fighting back by burning Resistance buildings until General Jacques Leclerc (Philippe Marie) came in with a whole division to remove the rest of the Germans from Paris. -
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Battle of the Bulge
This was an ambush on the Allied Army. Germany tried to split the army down the middle. This fight lasted for over a month and the Germans lost the battle. -
Hitler's Suicide
Hitler decided to commit suicide by taking cyanide pills and then shooting himself in a bunker. This effectively ended the reign of Hitler and ending World War II on the European side. -
Germany Surrenders
German forces on the western front surrender unconditionally. General Dwight Eisenhower denies the surrender unless they also surrender on the Eastern front. This was officially the end of WW2 on the European side. Many German officials were sentenced to death but General Jodl who started the surrender was off the hook. -
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Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Japan would not surrender and were possibly planning to invade. America was working on a nuclear bomb for a little while now and had already tested them. These bombings did eventually convince Japan to surrender.