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Kristallnacht
Before Kristallnacht, acts of violence towards jews were reoccuring a ridiculous amount. Kristallnacht was the most serious attacks of all on the Jews. During this attack, they injured or killed over 800 Jews in three different nations. These attacks were led by Hitler and were what sparked a long-term action of anti-semitism. -
WW2 Begins
Before the war, communists were starting to take over large areas that obtained the majority of the political power in the world. With tensions rising, Hitler and his forces blitzkreiged Poland and the war began. The Axis Powers were defined as Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Allied powers were defined as France, UK, Russia, and China. All other nations were not involved at this point but would soon be incorporated when the war continued expanding, -
Stalingrad
When Germany attacked Russia in 1941, Hitler focused on two main points. One of these points was Stalingrad where he refused to let his army surrender. Many of the soldiers died either from the fierce battles, environmental factors, or unsanitary conditions. This major defeat was one that symbolized change and was a turning point in the war. After Stalingrad, the Soviet Union went on the defensive side. -
Pearl Harbor
When Tojo became the prime minister, tensions started to rise even more though he wanted to keep US nuetral. The battle was when Japan attacked US naval bases. It was a major defeat for the states as over 3500 were wounded or killed. The attack strategically was split in two between a main attack and a "clean up" attack. Pearl Harbor put a major dent in the US's strength and stopped the country from making any major war move for six months. -
Battle of Midway
When the Japanese began to conquour the US's surrounding nations, they began to become suspicious. Therefore, Midway, the American naval base in the Pacific, was heavily stocked with weapons in preparations for a potential attack. The island was vital and so the force put every effort into defeating the Japanese; and they did. This was the turning point of the war in the Pacific and the US was now officially involved and on the offensive side. -
D-Day Invasion
As Germany was continuing to grow larger in size, the Allies determined that it was time for another attack. This time, they would storm the four beaches of Normandy from ships and try to defeat the Axis powers. However, the attack was a fail as many died even before hitting the shores from things such as heavy equipment and drowning. Hitler's forces were easily able to pick out soldiers from their bases on shore and easily defeated the forces. A two-front war was not created and Soviets pushed. -
Battle of the Bulge
After an embarrasing defeat, Hitler was not quite satisfied with his moment of victory. Once again, he wanted to perform a counter attack; the Battle. The battle was not quite successful as it was not thought out well enough but it did make a dent as it destroyed a few key towns for the Allies. The attack was a desperate attempt to drive a wedge between British and American forces. The Allies were now pushing to victory and Hitler was becoming more endangered. -
Iwo Jima
With Hitler now dead, Japanese forces were prepared to fight to the death. With American forces near Japan, Iwo Jima was one of the fiercest battles in the island hopping campaign. The Japanese were dug in along the 5 mile island and were in serious trouble. Though 23,000 marines were killed, the island was still taken. This led to an even deadlier battle that the US would still win- Okinawa. -
FDR's Death
Before death, FDR played a key role in developing the atom bomb project. Without his key strategies for the country, they would not have gained the same type of momentum that they did. It was very unfortunate that he did not live to see V-E day which was the German surrender. With Roosevelt dead, Harry S. Truman would take his place and see the US through the war. -
Atom Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima
With the end of the war near, one last major attack needed to be held before a legitimate surrender would occur. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were major attacks that involved the most developed technology of the time. The atom bomb on Hiroshima was the worst in history. The bomb destroyed almost 1/5 of the total city's population within 4 minutes- killing many later on. Though Japan still refused to surrender, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki which signified Japan's complete defeat.
