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Concentration Camps Open
The first Concentration Camp to open was Dachau, located in southern Germany just outside of Munich. It was first just a camp for political prisoners then became a "death camp" where many Jews died. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also named the "Night of Broken Glass" the Nazis torched and vandalized synagogues, the homes of Jews, schools, businesses and also killed about 100 Jews, this happened in Germany. After 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps. -
Germany invades Poland
The reason Germany invaded Poland was to regain territory and rule Poland. They bombed to destroy Poland's air capacity, railroads, communication lines and munitions dumps and invaded a lot of land. All of this would help Hitler approach his "Blitzkrieg" strategy. -
Battle of Britain
The first battle to be fought in the air was between Britain’s Royal Air Force and Nazi Germany’s air force. the began on July 10, 1940 and ended on October 31, 1940. They fought over Great Britain and Germany. -
The Blitz
The word "Blitz" comes from the German work "blitzkrieg" meaning "lightning war". Hitler organized attacks to the UK, German forces bombed London and other cities across Britain for 8 months. It ended on May 11,1941. -
Pearl Harbor
A surprise attack by the Japanese on U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii. It ended up causing more conflict between the Japanese and the US. -
The Tuskegee Airmen
The first black military men were the Tuskegee Airmen, in the AAC (U.S. Army Air Corps). They flew more than 15,000 individual sorties in Europe and North Africa during WWII and earned 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, a military metal given to a person who has performed extraordinary achievement in aerial flight. -
FDR signs Executive Order 9066
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, starting a controversial WWII policy. It ordered removal of resident "enemy aliens" in the West some identified as military areas. -
WAACs is created
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps was created in May of 1941 but wasn't approved by congress and signed by Roosevelt until May 15, 1942. Women that served in the Army would do so with all the rights and benefits given to Soldiers. -
Battle of Midway
A battle between the U.S. and Japan. Japanese naval forces wanted to seize Midway Island, U.S. prepared for it by mobilizing about 115 land-based aircraft's and three aircraft carriers. -
D-Day
One of the largest amphibious military assaults began when American, British and Canadian forces landed on the coast of France’s Normandy region. The allies had defeated the Germans but had left liberated all of northern France -
Battle of the Bulge
"The greatest American battle of the war was the last major battle against the Western front during WWII. It is also claimed to be the most costly battle fought by the US Army. The battle lasted 6 weeks. -
Auschwitz Liberated
In January 1945, the liberation of Auschwitz started with soviet soldiers that went into Auschwitz and discovered that the warehouses that made up Auschwitz were left were thousands of Jews that were left to die by guards who had left the camp. -
Yalta Conference
The "big three" also known as President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin discussed the "post-war fate" of Europe and Germany. -
Truman becomes President
Only being vice president for 82 days, Truman became president after Franklin D. Roosevelt died. -
Hitler dies
On April 30, 1945, in Berlin, in his underground headquarters Hitler kills himself by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. -
Germany Surrenders
Germany only wanted to surrender the forces that were fighting Western allies, but General Dwight Eisenhower demanded that all German forces surrender and if they didn't he would seal off the Western front so that they wouldn't be able to flee causing them to surrender. -
V-E Day
Celebrating the defeat of the Nazi war machine, Great Britain and the United States put out flags and banners, as well as other occupied cities in Western Europe. -
U.S. Drops Bomb on Hiroshima
During WWII and American bomber dropped the first deployed atomic bomb over Hiroshima a Japanese city, it killed an about 80,000 people and tens of thousands more died after due to radiation exposure. -
U.S. Drops Bomb on Nagasaki
A second bomb was dropped over Japan in Nagasaki another Japanese city, the first bombing (Hiroshima) wasn't enough to convince the Japanese council to surrender, so the US bombed again which eventually led to the Japanese to surrender. -
Japan surrenders
Embarrassed to have to say they had been defeated by a nuclear weapon the Japanese decided to surrender instead once the Soviet Union entered the war. -
Nuremberg Trials
A series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. The defendants included were Nazi Party officials, military officers, lawyers and doctors, all charged with crimes against peace and humanity. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was also supposed to be a defendant but he died before the trials.