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The Annexation of Sudetenland
The Sudetenland is an area that is geographically between Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. This land was taken from Austria by Czechoslovakia, and because the population mainly spoke German and/or considered themselves German, this caused an uproar among the citizens. Hitler and his Nazi party stepped into the spotlight by speaking out about taking this land from the Czechoslovakians, and he did so on September 30th, 1938. (Munich)
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World War II
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The Bombing of Pearl Harbor
On December 7th, 1941, the United States naval base at Honolulu, Hawaii was attacked by Japanese Naval Air Forces. It resulted in 2,403 American casualties, 1,143 wounded, 18 sunken/ grounded ships, 350 planes destroyed, and a declaration for war on behalf of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This event catapulted the United States into World War II, as we were unable to stand on the sidelines any longer.
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The Philippines
The Philippines were invaded and taken hostage by Japan in December, 1941, and liberated by the U.S. in early May, 1942. After liberating the Philippines, the US deemed the many military bases of great interest and importance to the cause of the war, and used them to attack the Japanese more effectively. This weakened the Japanese military by persistent resistance.
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The Battle of Stalingrad
Starting in late August of 1942 and ending in early 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad is regarded as the largest battle in the history of the second World War. Started by Germany in a fruitless attempt to capture the Russian city of Stalingrad, the allies of Germany attacked the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet Union won, resulting in the destruction of the German 6th Army.
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Japanese Internment Camps
Franklin D. Roosevelt set up internment camps for any Japanese family or person living in the United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The bombing instilled fear into many Americans, and thus threw the Japanese into separate, isolated quarters where they were to left to rot. The use of these camps lasted for 4 years, spanning from Feb. 19, 1942 to Mar. 20, 1946.
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The Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is regarded as the major “turning point” of the war in America’s favor. It was a naval battle against Japan spanning over 3 days (June 4-7, 1942), 6 months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was Japan’s last effort to reclaim the upper hand in the Pacific theater. The US lost 307 soldiers, while Japan lost 3,057 troops.
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Guadalcanal
The Guadalcanal campaign was a military campaign spanned from Aug. 7th, 1942 to Feb. 9th, 1943 and marked the start of the US offense in the Pacific theatre. Winning the Guadalcanal was crucial to the US as the air base stationed there was the key to controlling all sea lines of communication between the United States and Australia.
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Los Alamos
Los Alamos is the site where "The Manhattan Project" originated during World War II. The entire reason that a site was built in Los Alamos, was the fear that the Nazi party was scheming about how to create an atomic bomb to use in warfare. So because of this speculation, the U.S. detonated their first functional atomic bomb at Los Alamos on July 16th, 1945, which then led to the bombing in Japan.
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The Pacific Strategy
The Pacific Strategy, (also known as Island Hopping), was a war strategy used by the Allied forces during World War II. An Allied force would take over a small island in the Pacific Ocean, and then set up a military base on the land. This would aid in an attack on the next island of their choosing, and it slowly helped the Allies to get closer to Japan. Island Hopping lasted from 1943 to 1945.
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D-Day
D-Day references the day allied troops invaded the beaches of France. On June 6th, 1944, roughly 160,000 Allied troops dropped onto the beaches of Normandy and overtook the German offense, though not without loss. 6,603 American soldiers died, in addition to 2700 British and 946 Canadian troops. However, the D-Day invasion was crucial to the Allies winning the war, and thus caused a rather high death rate and a day many people grimace at.
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The Yalta Conference
This event was very important to working towards an end to World War II. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin all met on Feb. 4, 1945. The main focus of this meeting was to discuss the division of the European land once the war has come to an end. This event was very significant and iconic in the history of WWII.
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The Fall of Berlin
The Fall of Berlin, also known as the Battle of Berlin, was an aid to continue to break down Hitler's foothold in World War II. Joseph Stalin sent out armies to capture Berlin and crush the German armies. Towards the end of the ordeal, the three hundred square miles of Berlin had been taken by the Red Army, which led to the surrender of Berlin.
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The Death of Hitler
With the ever-approaching Allied powers had towards victory, Hitler took his own life to avoid capture on April 30th, 1945 in his air raid shelter in Berlin. This was his final effort to have the upperhand in his situation that he very obviously didn’t have control over, in hopes to preserve his vision of a “perfect Germany”. Instead, however, it just served as a catalyst for ending WWII.
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The Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference is another event where the "Big Three' men in power during WWII met to discuss ways to end the war, and how they all wished to reach the goal of unconditional surrender of Japan. The "Big Three" included Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill. This meeting was very significant towards the war efforts, as it established a central Allied Control Council for Germany.
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The Bombing of Hiroshima
This event signifies one of two atomic bombs that the U.S. deployed on Japan in hopes of the Japanese surrendering. On August 6th, 1945, the United States’ 393rd Bombing Squadron set out to drop the atomic bomb on the southern Japanese city Hiroshima. The weapon released energy equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT, killed 70-80,000 civilians, and injured another 70,000.
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