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In September 1931, Japan sought for an excuse to invade Manchuria, the eastern part of China, for resources. They eventually were able to blame a railroad accident on China and the execution of a Japanese spy. Thus, Japan invaded China and was successful in taking Manchuria.
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The Nazi party had growing fame in Germany. Hitler, the leader of the party, was able to gain popularity and became chancellor through a series of parliamentary elections.
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Benito Mussolini, leader of Italy, decided to regain Italy's glory through an invasion of Ethiopia. Italy took over Ethiopia, and this event demonstrated the weakness of the League of Nations to prevent armed conflict.
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The Munich Conference, a conference between Hitler and British and French leaders. It gave Hitler the Sudetenland to appease him so that he would not annex any other countries. It was a failure as Hitler continued to invade the rest of England.
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Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, is when Nazis attacked and rounded up Jews, breaking store windows and breaking into houses.
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The Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, was a neutrality pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, which promised no hostility between the countries. This was ultimately broken when Hitler invaded Russia.
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Germany sent about 1.5 million men to invade Poland. This was the last straw for the Allies and WWII began.
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After defeating Poland, German forces slammed into France, quickly taking over and crushing the French army which had little time to respond.
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The Battle of Britain was the successful defense of Britain under the bombings of the German Luftwaffe. This was important as Britain was one of the last remaining Allies.
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The Pearl Harbor Bombing was a devastating Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Shortly after, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan.
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The largest confrontation of WWII, occurred in Russia on the eastern front. This was significant because this is where the Nazi invasion could not advance any farther to and when Russia started pushing back.
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The Allied attack on Normandy, an invasion requiring the storming of the beaches of Normandy, France, to liberate France and create another front in Europe.
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Occurred after the Battle of the Bulge. The Allies moved into Germany and retook France. All major Axis Powers but Japan had surrendered, their leaders dead as Hitler had killed himself and Mussolini was shot down.
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The Japanese refused to give the United States an unconditional surrender, thus, President Harry Truman wanted to end the war quick and dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan.
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Even after the first atomic bomb, the Japanese still refused to give an unconditional surrender. It wasn't till the second atomic bomb that Japan had no choice to surrender.
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Japan had given an unconditional surrender and the war was over. Allied troops fighting in the Pacific got to return home and victory over Japan was celebrated.
