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Japan invades China
Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931. In Japan, it was believed that Manchuria was very rich in agricultural land and minerals. Because of the problems Japan was facing, they thought that Manchuria would be an excellent solution. By the end of 1931 the Japanese government occupied part of the province. -
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The Holocaust
This was a mass murder of 6 million Jews by the German Nazi regime. Adolf Hitler was the leader at this time and in his opinion, Jews were an inferior race. The Holocaust was hitler's "solution" to saving German race and community. The allied forces invaded Germany in 1945 and then put an end to The Holocaust. -
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Munich Conference
This conference gets it's name from where it was held, Munich. The leaders of Great Britian, France, and Italy all agreed to allow Germany to annex parts of Czechoslovakia. There were no Czechoslovakia representatives invited to the conference. It lasted two days until the agreement was made. -
Non-Aggression Pact
The Non-Aggression Pact was a pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. It ended only a few days before World War II. The pact divided eastern Europe into German politics as well as Soviet politics.The two countires agreed in the pact not to attack each other or support any third party that could possibly attack one of them. The pact was suppose to last 10 years and it lasted less than 2 years. -
Germany invades Poland
After Germany invades Poland, the polish allies Britian and France declared war on Germany, staring World War II. 1.5 million troops invaded poland that morning, using the first Blitzkrieg strategy. The invaded Poland in the air and on land. Poland wasn't prepared for the Blitzkrieg strategy because it's army was built around the tactics used in World War I.Towards the end of September Germany and the Soviet Union had control of the country. -
Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg was a military tactic used during World War II. It was a German word for, "lightening war." This specific strategy used mobile forces and concentrated fire power to attack enemies. It was designed to disorganize enemy forces. The blitzkrieg tactic was a success during this war. -
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Battle of Britian
Once France surrendered to Germany, Hilter turned all of his attention and interest to Britian. German air forces attempted to gain air superiority. Air superiority was very important before Hilter was able to plan an invasion. This was the Second World War air campaign between the German Air Force and the United Kingdom. -
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was a plan to assist nations fighting against the axis powers. The plan opposed Isolationist. Advocates of the act provided aid to Britian as an attempt to prevent war with Germany. When the act was passed the president was able to ship food, weapons, and equipment to countries struggling against the Axis Powers. -
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Operation Barbarossa
Nazi Germany and it's Axis allies invaded the Soviet Union and it was named Operation Barbarossa. The soviets were unprepared for the Blitzkrieg tactics that spread 1,800 miles. Within a week the german troops were 200 miles into the soviet's territory. There were 600,000 Red Army troops killed or severly injured. The soviets suffered terrible losses. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7th the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Americans, at Pearl Harbor. The attack only lasted for two hours but ended terribly. The Japanese destroyed almost 20 American naval vessels. Three thousand soldiers and sailors were killed or injured. -
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Bataan Death March
The United States surrendered to the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942. 75,000 American troops were forced to make a 65 mile March to prison camps. The troops had to travel in horrible heat. They were treated harshly by Japanese guards during the march. The terrible conditions caused men to become very ill. The death rate continued even after entering the prison camps. -
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Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major turning point during the Pacific War.Yamamoto planned to attack the two islands that make up the Midway atoll. He thought that the U.S navy wouldn't be able to handle the attack. Yamamoto was attacked by three U.S carriers; Yorktown, Enterprise, and Hornet. The U.S lost one carrier which was the Yorktown but they took down four carries of their opponnents. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
This battle was considered to be one of the major turning points in World War II. Stalingrad was the center of Russia's communications as well as manufacturing. The Nazi army bombed Stalingrad, causing one of the bloodiest battles known in history. With civilian and military casualties combined, it reached nearly 2 million. -
D-Day
On this day, the allied forces invaded Northern France. There were over 16,000 troops during this invasion. There were also over 5,000 ships supporting the invasion. The number of lives taken on this day is high and there were 9,000 allied troops killed. -
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Battle of the Bulge
This was the last Nazi offense against the allies in World War II. It was fought in the winter from 1944-1945. Hitler's plan was to split the allies by using surprise Blitzkrieg. The Americans were caught off guard and had to fight desperately. -
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Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima is a small island in the Pacific, south of Japanese island, Honshu. Iwo Jima was small but was considered to have a great amount of tactical importance. Island hopping was used during this battle as a strategy. The Japanese knew how important the island was so they wanted to keep all control of it. There were two airfields on Iwo Jima and they were controlled by Japan. The island was considered to be a difficult target. -
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Battle of Okinawa
The battle was fought from April-June 1945 and was known to have the most casualties in the Pacific theater during World War II. The battle was code named "Operation Iceberg." There were over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 for the allies in the battle. The victory was for the allies, winning against the Japanese. -
V-E Day
V-E Day was victory in Europe. It was the end of suffering and misery around the world. It marked the ending to Hitler's war and 6 years of fear. People celebrated by having parades, drinking, and going to church. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki
On August 6, 1945, the United States used it's atomic weapon on Hiroshima. Hiroshima was the main target of the atomic bomb mission. At 8:15 AM the bomb was dropped and exploded, spreading miles around the city. Buildings started collapsing and there was dark smoke spread across the sky. -
V-J Day
V-J Day was victory in Japan day. It was celebrated all around the world. On that day, the japanese signed a formal surrender that ended the war. President Truman declared September 2, 1945 to be "V-J Day." -
Warsaw Pact
This pact was named after being signed in Warsaw. It was a defense treaty between eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War. It was seen as a potential militaristic threat. The Warsaw Pact was formed by the Soviet Union and communist nations in Eastern Europe. It was a rival to the Western nations forming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).