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Nazi invasion of Poland
After the staged attack of Nazi soldiers (posed as Polish soldiers) on a German radio station (which occured in order to circulate Nazi propoganda during the war), German "retaliation" was justified. Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union invaded and annexed Poland. -
Period: to
World War II
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France Surrenders to Germany
After Operation Dynamo, which rescued Allied troops from the hands of the Germans, the battle was quickly coming to an end. The French Prime Minister resigned and was followed by Marshal Philippe Petain. He announced to the general public that he planned to sign an armistce with Germany. The armistice was signed (in the same train car which the armistice ending WWI was signed) on June 25, 1940. -
Lend-Lease Act signed
This agreement, signed by FDR, told that the US would support the Allied forces by providing them with supplies for war. This resulted in a distribution of $50.1 billion war materials to the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, and France. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in an attempt to ensure America to not enter the war. They tried to cripple us by obliterating our Navy fleet, but ultimately, this pushed us to fight even more. -
Battle of Midway
The Japanese planned an attack to obliterate the US Navy and take Midway island, so they could then have a place from which they could attack Hawaii. But Admiral Chester NImitz intercepted radio signals and was able to counter the attack. The US sunk four Japanese carriers, forcing Japan to retreat. The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the War in the Pacific. -
Battle of Stalingrad begins
The battle of Stalingrad is one of the most renound, not only in the war but also in history, due to the lack of regard for military and civilian casualties. The battle was one of the bloodiest in history, and had nearly 2 million casualties. It proved to be a major turning point in the war in Europe, -
The Allies invade Italy
The Allies succesfully took Northern Africa from the Axis powers, and decided the next step was to invade Italy, the "soft underbelly of the Axis." The Allies would have influence over the Mediterranean ports, which would enable them to supply war materials to forces in the Middle (and Far) East, as well as the Soviet Union. The troops invaded on September 3, and took all of Southern Italy by the end of October. -
D-Day
D-day, the first day of the invasion of Normandy, was the beginninig of the Allies taking back France from the Germans. The first phase was a landing from the air by 24,000 Allied troops, and the second was the largest amphibious landing in world history, with more than 150,000 troops landing on the beaches early that morning. The invasion took place along 50 miles of the coast of Normandy. The invasion was considered the first successful landing across the English Channel in eight centuries. -
Battle of Iwo Jima begins
This 35 day battle was part of the Pacific Campaign and took the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. It was a strategically located island- halfway between Japan and the American islands in the Pacific. This was the first American attack on Japan's Home Islands, and the Japanese fought bravely. They used a system of tunnels underground for protection and to store ammunition. But the US overwhelmed them in numbers and in firepower. Ultimately, the battle could not be lost. -
"Little Boy" is dropped on Hiroshima
After many months of fire-bombing on Japanese cities, the US, UK, and Republic of China wrote the Potsdam Declaration, calling for Japan's surrender. They refused. President Eisenhower then called for the 1st atomic bomb, and "Little Boy" was deployed. After the bombing of Nagasaki came the end of the war which the world had been hoping for. But the end came with a price- an estimated total of more than 300,000 casualties in Hiroshima alone, most of them innocent civilians.
