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German Blitzkrieg
Hitler breaks the agreement and invades Czech. After that, he turns his sights on Poland. He created the Nonaggression Pact with Stalin. He invades Poland using the blitzkrieg strategy.
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Invasion of France
France and Britain declare war on Germany. The first few months were a phony war. Hitler invades though Belgium in May and by June controls France.
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Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was Hitler's plan to soften Britain for invasion by continuously invading Britain. The invasion was unsuccessful and Hitler called it off after eleven months of continuous bombing. It was the first stop to Hitler's expansion.
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Lendlease
FDR fears the U.S. will be dragged into the war and begins to alter the Neutrality Acts to help the Allied Powers. Britain was struggling with the constant air strikes from Germany. FDR created the Lend-Lease Act which is when the U.S. would lend arms or other supplies to the allies.
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Operation Barbarossa
Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. By this point German combat effectiveness had reached its apogee; the forces invading Russia represented the finest army to fight in the 20th century. Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in WWII. Its failure forced Germany to fight a two-front war.
(http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa) -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese were expanding over Asia. FDR froze Japan's financial assets and stopped exporting oil to Japan. Japan attacked the U.S. at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii by trying to destroy the whole Pacific fleet, which they nearly did.
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Countries Declare War
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declares war on Japan on December 8, 1941. On December 11, Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S.
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Bataan Death March
The U.S. surrendered the Bataan Peninsula to the Japanese during WWII. About 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps. They were forced to march in intense heat and under harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands died.
(https://www.google.com/search?q=bataan+death+march&safe=strict&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS760US760&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiK-7GNgf7YAhUJxWMKHaB9CsoQ_AUICigB&biw=889&bih=781#imgrc=X0j4ryxohsoMRM:) -
Battle of Midway
The U.S. defeated Japan in of the most decisive naval battles of WWII. It was an important turning point the in the Pacific campaign and allowed the U.S. and its allies to move into an offensive position.
(http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway) -
Battle of Stalingrad
Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union defeated Germany. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history.
(http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad) -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Germans murdered or deported around 300,000 in the Warsaw ghetto. The Germans deported 265,000 Jews to the Treblinka killing center and 11,580 to forced-labor camps. The Germans murdered more than 10,000 Jews during the deportation operations.
(https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005188) -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by a surprise blitzkrieg thrust. As the Germans drove deeper, the Allied took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle's name. (http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge) -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Soviet soldiers were the first to liberate concentration camp prisoners in the final stages of war. British, Canadian, American and French troops also freed prisoners from the camps. Allied troops, physicians, and relief workers tried to provide nourishment for the surviving prisoners, but many of them were too weak to digest food and could not be saved.
(https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007724) -
D - Day
Code named Operation Overlord, 156,000 American, British and Canadian forced landed on beaches along Normandy. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history.
(http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day) -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The American amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese who fought from networks of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground installation. The American marines wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting.
(http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima) -
Atomic Bombs
On August 6, America dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over Hiroshima in Japan. The explosion wiped out 90% of the city. 3 days later, America dropped another bomb on Nagasaki. On August 15, Hirohito announced his country's surrender on radio.
(http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki)
