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Treaty of Versailles
The significance of signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, was that it formally marked the end of the World War I. It was negotiated among Allied powers with little participation by Germany. The treaty stated that Germany had to take full blame for the war in order for the treaty to pass, among other things. In turn this sparked World War II, because the treaty was too hard on Germans and this caused the rise of Hitler to power. -
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Before World War II
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Rise of Hitler
Adolf Hitler’s rise to power began in Germany in September 1919, when he joined the German Workers’ Party. Born in Austria, Hitler, ex-soldier, became a radical German nationalist and leader the Nazi Party - in the 1920s. Hitler’s rise to power was based upon resentment in the German people, the weakness of the Weimar system - which he exploited through propaganda, terror of his troops, and great speeches. -
Czechoslovakia Crisis
Hitler’s forces invade and occupy Czechoslovakia. The Munich Pact, which sealed the fate of Czechoslovakia, virtually handing it over to Germany in the name of peace. The agreement was to give into Hitler’s hands only the Sudentenland. The Munich Pact was attempt to create peace, however it was actually a negotiating ploy by the Hitler, and only temporarily delaying the his lust for land and power. -
Violation of the Munich Pact
Hitler broke the promises he made with the Munich Pact when he invaded and took control of Bohemia and Moravia in western Czechoslovakia. Next, Hitler began to demand the Polish port of Danzig. Then, the German army invaded Poland despite British and French threats to intervene on the nation’s behalf. -
Invasion of Poland
Hitler believed that the West would not fight over Poland, but feared the West and the Soviet Union would make an alliance. Germany and the Soviet Union signed an agreement promising not to attack each other. The treaty gave Hitler freedom to attack Poland. On September 1, 1939 German forces invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war against Germany, and World War II began. -
Invasion of France
On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded France. France was taken by by surprise when the Germans went around, instead of across, the Maginot Line. The Germans action split the Allied armies, trapping French troops and the entire British army. The German armies now occupied about three-fifths of France, when the French signed an armistice. -
Battle of Britain
In the beginning of August 1940, the German air force bombed British air and naval bases, harbors, communication centers, and war industries. The British used an effective radar system that gave them early warning of German attacks. Britain attacked Berlin, then Hitler began bombing British cities instead of military targets. This gave Britain a chance to rebuild their air force quickly and inflict major losses to German air bombers. In the end, Germany postponed the invasion of Britain inde -
Invasion of Soviet Union
Hitler invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Hitler's massive attack of a front some 1,800 miles long, resulted in the capture of two million Russian soldiers. When German troops advanced towards Moscow they were stopped by an early winter. With no winter uniforms, the Germans were stopped for the first time in the war. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. Japanese leaders hoped that their strike at American bases would destroy the U.S. fleet in the Pacific. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor unified public opinion about becoming involved in the war, and the U.S. joined European forced to defeat Japan. Hitler thought the U.S. would be ineffective in the war since it was fighting Japan, so he declared war on the United States, four days after -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to prevent and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
Operation Ovetlord
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. It goes down in history as one of the greatest naval invasions. The Allies fought past underwater mines, barbed wire, and horrible resistance gun fire. Within three months the Allies landed two million men and a half a million vehicles. Allied forces then pushed inland and broke through German defensive lines. The Allies continued their advance and by 1945, Hitler had moved into an underground bunker under Berlin. Hi -
Okinawa
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign (April 1—June 22, 1945) involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82-day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties. -
Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, during World War II, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and killed 80,000 people. Three days later, a second A-bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s announced his country’s surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15. World War II was finally over.
