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Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
The year 1932 had seen Hitler’s meteoric rise to prominence in Germany, spurred largely by the German people’s frustration with dismal economic conditions and the still-festering wounds inflicted by defeat in the Great War and the harsh peace terms of the Versailles treat. -
Kristallnacht
German Jews had been subjected to repressive policies since 1933, when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) became chancellor of Germany. However, prior to Kristallnacht, these Nazi policies had been primarily nonviolent. -
Germany invades Poland
The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war. This was characterized by extensive bombing. Railroads, communication lines, and munitions dumps, followed by a massive land invasion with overwhelming numbers of troops, tanks, and artillery. -
France Surrenders To Germany
After the Normandy invasion in 1944, Petain and Laval were forced to flee to German protection in the east. Both were eventually captured, found guilty of high treason. -
Franklin Roosevelt proposes Lend-Lease Program
The Lend-Lease Act of March 11, 1941, was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. The act authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated to money. -
Attack On Pearl Harbor
The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. -
D Day
D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily feilded coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
Auschwitz Liberated
January 2015 marks seventy years since the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest camp established by the Germans. A complex of camps, Auschwitz included a concentration camp, killing center, and forced-labor camps. It was located 37 miles west of near the German-Polish border. -
Bombing Of Hiroshima
Over the next several years, the program’s scientists worked on producing the key materials for nuclear fission–uranium-235 and plutonium.
