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Germany invades Poland
On this day in 1939, German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun. -
Stalin attacks Finland
Russia attackes finland to take over other european countries -
Germany attacks France
France had thought that Germany would attack along the German-French border just like during World War I. Thinking this, France built the Maginot Line, a series of forts that were joined by underground tunnels backed up by pillboxes (low concrete walls used to hide soldiers and machine guns) and barbed wire. The French built these defenses to keep the Germans out. Almost the entire French army was there waiting to fight. Unfortunately for France, Germany attacked in the west on May 10, 1940 -
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of Britain
Friday 10 May 1940 was one of the most dramatic days in British history. The government was in disarray as Winston Churchill became PM and, on the continent, Germany ended the Phoney War by invading the Low Countries. -
Battle of Britain
): The Battle of Britain was the intense air battle between the Germans and the British over Great Britain's airspace from July 1940 to May 1941, -
Hitler takes over the Balkans
Hitler wanted to take the Balkans to expand the amount of area available for his invasion of the USSR in 1941 -
Lend-Lease Act
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 money to "the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States." -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
Blitzkrieg (lightning war). Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise air attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After just two hours of bombing, more than 2,400 Americans were dead, 21 ships* had either been sunk or damaged, and more than 188 U.S. aircraft destroyed. -
Holocaust
"Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." -
Japanese internment camps
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which permitted the military to circumvent the constitutional safeguards of American citizens in the name of national defense. -
Battle of Midway
It was fought over and near the tiny U.S. mid-Pacific base at Midway atoll, represents the strategic high water mark of Japan's Pacific Ocean war. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The battle at Stalingrad bled the German army dry in Russia and after this defeat, the Germany Army was in full retreat. -
Guadalcanal
Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began constructing an airfield there. Operation Watchtower was the codename for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands. -
Battle of El Alamein
fought in the deserts of North Africa, is seen as one of the decisive victories of WWII -
Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference was a meeting between U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin in Tehran, Iran, between November 28 and December 1, 1943. -
D-Day
D-Day was the day of an attack by the Allies on western Europe during World War II. It was supposed to happen on June 4,1944 but a storm blew in and the military had to change the date of the attack. -
Nuremburg Trials
The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference took place in a Russian resort town in the Crimea from February 4-11, 1945, during World War Two. At Yalta, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin made important decisions regarding the future progress of the war and the postwar world. -
Cold War
The Cold War is the relationship that developed primarily between the USA and the USSR after WWII. The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades and many major crises occurred -
F.D.R’s death
Someone grabbed his head complaining of a sharp pain. The president was suffering a massive cerebral hemorrhage that would end his life in minutes. America's longest serving president who had led the nation through the Great Depression and World War II was dead. -
Mussolini’s assassination
Once Mussolini was in his car, 50-year-old Gibson raised her revolver and pointed it at Mussolini's head. She then fired at nearly point-blank range. -
Hitler’s suicide
Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. -
Potsdam Conference
On 16 July 1945, the "Big Three" leaders met at Potsdam, Germany, near Berlin. In this, the last of the World War II heads of state conferences, President Truman, Soviet Premier Stalin and British Prime Ministers Churchill and Atlee discussed post-war arrangements in Europe, frequently without agreement. Future moves in the war against Japan were also covered. The meeting concluded early in the morning of 2 August. -
McArthur’s plan for Japan
He acted as leader until 1945, oversaw the rebuilding of the country and the formation of a democratic government, and helped to draft a new constitution. Under his guidance, Japan recovered from the war and was on its way to becoming a leading industrial world power. -
Atomic bomb on Hiroshima & Nagasaki
On August 6, 1945, the United States used a massive, atomic weapon against Hiroshima, Japan. This atomic bomb, the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT, flattened the city, killing tens of thousands of civilians. While Japan was still trying to comprehend this devastation three days later, the United States struck again, this time, on Nagasaki. -
Formation of the U.N.
It was the second multi purpose internantional organization -
Marshall Plan
Us sponsered program designed to rehabilitate the econimes of 17 westren and southern european countires in order to create stable conditions. -
Berlin Airlift
On Dec. 31, 1948, Allied aircraft logged the 100,000th flight of the Berlin airlift. The airlift began after World War II when Germany was occupied territory and Berlin was surrounded by the Soviet zone. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
An American plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba. President Kennedy did not want the Soviet Union and Cuba to know that he had discovered the missiles. He met in secret with his advisors for several days to discuss the problem.
