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World War II Begins
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Japan's Invasion of China
Japanese Kwantung Army turned a small incident into a full-scale war in China, thus starting the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese were better armed and better prepared, leading to an easy victory. -
Germany invades Poland
Nazi Germany bombards Poland on land and in the air in a successful attempt by Adolf Hitler in order to regain lost territory and rule Poland. -
Battle of Britain
Germany's air force (Luftwaffe) air raided and bombed Britain multiple times from July up until September under Hitler's rule. Britain's Royal Air Force defeated the Germans and this led to events that would eventually destroy Nazi Germany. -
Tripartite Pact
AKA Axis Pact, signed in Berlin, Germany and was signed by Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan. -
Lend-Lease Act
Allowed the U.S. to provide military assistance to foreign nations during WWII. -
Germany takes Leningrad
AKA Siege of Leningrad/Leningrad Blockade in Russia, the Soviets defeated the Germans but it was one of the longest and most destructive seiges with an overwhelming amount of casualties. -
German Blitzkrieg on the Soviet Union
AKA the Battle of Moscow, German forces attempted to invade the Svoiet Union through attacking Moscow which ended up in defeat for the Germans. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Japanese surprise attack on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii. This leads to the U.S. joining WWII and eventually brought about the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. -
Wannsee Conference
A meeting in Berlin between Nazi and German officials in order to decide the fate of the European Jews. -
Battle of Midway
The U.S. Navy defeated the Japanese Navy with the aid of code breakers and permanently crippled their naval force. -
D-Day
AKA the Battle of Normandy and Operation Overlord, approximately 156,000 Americans, Britains, and Canadians invaded Normandy, France in order to liberate it. -
Yalta Conference
A conference in Crimea held by the head of government for the U.S., U.K., and the Soviet Union. Used to discuss the reorganization of Europe after the war was over. -
Iwo Jima/Okinawa
The U.S. Armed Forces captured Imperial Japan's island of Iwo Jima and in April 1 the U.S. captured Okinawa from Japan as well. -
Hitler's Suicide
Hitler shot himself and his wife ingested cyanide. This was done while Germany was on the verge of collapsing and losing to the Allies. -
V-E Day
Western Allies overran Western Germany and Germany surrendered on May 7 and May 8 is known as Victory in Europe Day. -
Potsdam Conference
The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union met to decide the punishment for Nazi Germany. It also established peace treaties, post-war order, and fixing the effects of war. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The U.S., provoked by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. First on Hiroshima, and then on Nagasaki three days later. -
V-J Day
Victory over Japan Day, Japan officially and unconditionally surrenders to the Allies, ending WWII. -
World War II Ends
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Formation of the UN
50 countries met together in order to form the United Nations in order to pool all their resources into fighting the Axis powers during WWII. -
Truman Doctrine
Stated the U.S. would assist all democratic nations under the treat from authoritarian threats. -
Marshall Plan
AKA the European Recovery Program (ERP), served to restore Europe's devastated economy by providing over $13 billion between 1948 to 1951. -
NATO
A system of collective defense where all member states in the oraganization promise to defend each other from external forces. -
Korean War
War between the Republic of Korea (south) supported by the United Nations and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (north) supported by the Soviet Union. The war ended in the seperation of Korea into north and south. -
Stalin's death
Stalin dies due to a stroke cause by high blood pressure. He may have been poisoned. -
Mao Zedong & People's Republic of China
A Chinese Communist revolutionary who found the People's Republic of China and made Maoism to represent his thought process. Republic of China aided the Viet Cong in the spread of communism. -
The Warsaw Pact
A mutual defense treaty that states all Svoiet member states must defend each other from foreign attackers. -
Vietnam War
AKA Second Indochina War between Nroth Vietnam (supported by the Soviet Union) and South Vietnam (supported by the U.S. and other anti-communist supporters). Lasted for over 18 years and concluded in a communist victory, making all of Vietnam a communist country. -
Sputnik
Earth's first artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union. -
Bay of Pigs
Brigade 2506, funded by the U.S. CIA, invaded Cuba in order to overthrow Fidel Castro. They were defeated in three days. -
Berlin Wall
AKA the Iron Curtain, the wall was contructed by East Germany to seperate Berlin into east and west. Western Germans weren't fully Nazi, so the wall seperated the fascists from the communists. -
Cuban missile crisis
AKA the October Crisis, known as the moment when the Cold War could have become a full blown nuclear war because the Soviet Union proposed the idea of placing nuclear missiles in Cuba to prevent invasions from the U.S. -
Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev was the final president of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev had policies of glasnot (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). -
Soviet Union Falls
11 Soviet representatives met and disbanded the Soviet Union in order to form the Commonwealth of Independent States.
