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13. Attack of Manchuria
In 1931 Japan seized Manchuria in order to gain vast amounts of natural resources to improve their country. In Manchuria they set up a form of puppet government and began taking the natural resources. The League of Nations looked down on these imperialistic actions. This ultimately led to Japan dropping out of the League. -
12. Nuremburg Laws
The Nuremburg Laws disallowed the Jews to hold the rights of citizenship, jobs, or property. They were also forced to wear gold stars to mark the fact that they were Jewish. -
14. Alliance with Italy and Germany
After Hitler and Germany began to expand and strengthen its power other countries began to side with them. Mussolini saw Germany's strength and was convinced to join powers with Hitler. Since Japan had dropped out of the League of Nations they also created alliances with Germany. Italy, Germany, and Japan were known throughout WWII as the Axis Powers. -
11. Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht means "night of broken glass" and is used to describe some of the first physical attacks on the Jewish community. After news that a man named Grynzpan, seeking to avenge his father's deportation, shot an employee of the German Embassy in Paris the Nazis took action. They began to invade synagogues, jewish home, and shops. It is called "the night of broken glass" because along the main streets the shattered windows of Jewish shops glass covered the streets. -
1. Invasion of Poland
On September 1st, 1939 Germany, under the rule of Adolf Hitler, launched an attack to conquer Poland. They used the millitary technique of blitzkrieg so they fought fast with planes, tanks, and infantry. Poland quickly crumbled under this agressive attack. This event kicked off the begining of World War II because on September 3rd France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. -
2. Soviet Union invaded E. Poland
On September 17th, 1939 the Soviet Union under Stalin began to occupy the eastern part of Poland. While they were there they began annexing regions of the country such as Lithuania, Latvia, and, Estonia. They also annexed Finland although the country prooved to be harder to force Soviet power upon. From November to March the Soviets fought through a harsh winter in Finland only to win over the region due to the fact that the Soviet Union had more troops. -
3. France Surrenders
On June 22nd, 1940 Mussolini joined forces with Hitler and declared war on Great Britain and especially France who seemed to be on the verge of surrender. By attacking southern France they were able to take control of Paris. After this, the French parliament knew changes had to be made and appointed Marshal Petain as prime minister who officially declared the French surrender. The Germans then took control of the northern half of France and left the South with a form of puppet governement. -
5. Lend Lease Act
At the begining of WWII the United States remained neutral or did not get involved in war. The lend lease act was passed so that the US could sell or lease arms to any country that was vital to the US government. If the Allies were to fall then the United States would be drawn into the war. The Lend Lease Act helped prevent this from happening by supporting the Allies and making them better equipt. -
4. Battle of Britain
From the summer of 1940 to May 10th of 1941 German sent out constant attracks to defeat Great Britain. Since France was now defeated Germany focused its agression on Great Britain, bombing countless cities. Great Britain fought back hard creating weapons such as radar and Enigma to help them resist Germany. After almost a year of attacks Germany finally gave up and Great Britain had successfully resisted the Germans. -
7. German Invasion of the Soviet Union
With a strong desire to expand his territory, on June 22nd 1941, Hitler began his attack to conquer the Soviet Union. The Soviets fought back Hitler's blitzkreig with the technique of scorched earth which forced them into Leningrad. Leningrad refused to surrender and forced Hitler to move to Moscow to try and gain control of it. He had not planned for the harsh weather condition in Moscow and Hitler's soldiers froze along with their oil supply. -
6. Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was an agreement passed between the United States and Great Britain before the US entered the war. It promoted free trade between countries and the right for the people to choose their own form of government. The Atlantic Charter was also the Allies plan of peace after the end of the war. -
15. Pearl Harbor
As Japan continued to conquer other countries the US decided to cut off all oil trade to the Japanese. This harmed Japan's economy so they sought revenge. They also saw the US naval base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a threat. On December 7th 1941 they launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor killing over 2,400 Americans. -
20. Japanese Internment
The internment of the Japanese in the US, also known as exectutive order 9066, called for all people of Japanese decent living in America to be placed in camps and questioned about their loyalty. This happened due to the fact that the American government believed that the Japanese living in the United States had something to do with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and that they would sabotage the war efforts and support their native country. -
16. Battle of Midway
Midway Island is located off of the coast of Hawaii and is where the Japanese planned a second attack on the US, after Pearl Harbor. The Japanese ships was the largest fleet ever however the Americans were prepared for their attack and were able to defeat the Japanese navy. This battle is known for the US avenging Pearl Harbor and for the Pacific to turn against Japan. -
8. Allied Invasion of Italy
On July 10th 1943 Great Britain and the US attacked Italy, They captured Sicily, defeating Mussolini, which lead to Italy's surrender on Septemeber 3rd. However the Germans took control of northern Italy and put Mussolini back in charge. The Germans then retreated allowing the Allies to enter Rome in victory. The fighting continued in Italy however, until Germany eventually fell. -
9. D-Day
At the time of D-Day Germany had control of France. On June 6th 1944 British, American, French, and Canadian troops invaded the beaches of Normandy fighting agressively with Germany for a month. Finally on July 25th the were able to defeat the Germans and take Paris. This allowed them to free France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and a lot of the Netherlands from German rule. The Allies could now focus on defeating Germany. -
10.German Surrender
After events such as D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge the Allies invaded the Rhine Land coming closer and closer to German surrender. The Soviets then bombed Berlin persistantly until Hitler, seeing the need surrender, killed himself. This left the German military to officially surrender and on May 8th the surrender was signed in Berlin. This victory is often known as V-E Day or Victory in Europe Day. -
17. Bombing of Hiroshima
President Truman knew that the war needed to end soon due to the amount of casualities not only on in the US but in so many other nations. He decided to use a new weapon called the atomic bomb on Japan. He first warned them what he would do if they did not surrender however Japan did not listen and on August 6th, 1945 the first of two bombs was dropped in Hiroshima killing over 73,000 people. -
17. Bombing of Nagasaki
After the bombing of Hiroshima, a second bomb hit the Japanese city of Nagasaki. This bomb killed over 37,500 people. After Nagasaki was bombed the Japanese knew that they had to surrender. -
19. Japanese Surrender
A month after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese offically surrendered. The surrender was offically carried out aboard the Missori battleship in Tokyo Bay between US general Douglas MacArthur and the Japanese. This act ended World War II.
