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Mao Zedong heads Long March
As the Communists and Nationalists were fighting in the civil war, Jiang gathered his army of 700,000 men. The Communists fled and walked for 6,000 miles. They were led by Mao Zedong. Thosands died from hunger, cold, exposure, and battle wounds. -
Anti-Comintern Pact
Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact aimed at the Soviet Union. This was a Pact between Japan and Germany to disapprove communism. -
Japenese invasion of China 1937
In 1937 Japanese and Chinese troops having a skirmish led to what became known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. This fighting sparked a full-blown conflict called the sino-japanese war. Several countrys including the U.S gave aid to Japan before hitler crreating an alliance with them. -
Germany invades Poland; France and Great Britain declare war on Germany
Hitler surprise attacked Poland to conquer it. They bombed Poland's capital, Warsaw. Afterwards, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. Hitler annexed the western half of Poland. It had a large German population. Hitler's military strategy was called the Blitzkrieg (lightning war). -
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
Isoroku Yamamoto was Japan’s greatest naval strategist who called for an attack on US fleet in Hawaii that had to be destroyed. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the Japanese sunk and damaged 19 ships. 2300 Americans were killed, and 1100 were wounded. The US military leaders didn’t know when or where attack would occur. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. They attacked the U.S Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The U.S.S. Arizona was thoroughly destroyed. There were more than 160 airplanes destroyed. -
DDAY
By dawn on June 6, thousands of paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground behind enemy lines, securing bridges and exit roads. The amphibious invasions began at 6:30 a.m. The British and Canadians overcame light opposition to capture beaches codenamed Gold, Juno and Sword, as did the Americans at Utah Beach. U.S. forces faced heavy resistance at Omaha Beach, where there were over 2,000 American casualties. However, by day’s end, approximately 156,000 Allied troops had successfull -
Battle of Bulge
In December 1944, Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Caught off-guard, American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and Bastogne. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name. Lieutenant Genera -
United Nations Formed
The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union began the original U.N. Declaration after World War II. It was signed by 26 nations, as a formal act of opposition to Germany, Italy, and Japan, the Axis Powers in 1945. -
Hitler kills himself
Hitler commits suicide. Before that, he and his family moved into a bunker 55 feet below the city of Berlin. He gave his family poison including himself, then he shot himself. -
Germany surrenders
During the Battle of the Bulge, German tanks broke through American defenses along a 75 mile front in Ardennes. The Allies pushed Germans back and the Germans retreated because there were no reinforcements available. The war in Europe drew to a close when General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of Third Reich from the German military. -
VE DAY
The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark—the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany. -
Allies use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
President Truman’s advisers informed him that an invasion of Japanese homeland might cost Allies half a million lives.
The atomic bomb would bring the war to end. It was developed by the Manhattan Project, headed by General Leslie Groves and J Robert Oppenheimer. President Truman warned the Japanese that unless they surrendered, they would drop the A-bomb. The US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 70,000 people died from each bomb. The radiation fallout killed many more. -
Hiroshima
The U.S drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The dropping of this bomb marked the end of World War 2. -
Nagasaki
A second bomb is dropped by the U.S on Nagasaki, Japan. This brought Japan to surrender. -
VJ DAY
On August 15, 1945, news of the surrender was announced to the world. This sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of World War II. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was held in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. At the time, President Truman declared September 2 to be VJ Day.