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Military draft
When World War 2 broke out, service act of 1940 was still in place, forcing men who were ages 18-37 to sign up for the draft. Soldiers who were drafted had to endure training before being sent out. By the end of the war in 1945, around 10 million men had served from the draft, since we needed more soldiers to fight, and 50 million were entered in it. -
Germans opened Auschwitz
The largest of the concentration camps, Auschwitz was opened in 1940 and functioned through World War Two. Over this time, Nazis imprisoned Jews because of their beliefs. The Jewish people held here endured slave labor, starvation, cruel experiments, and death. The camp was finally abandoned in January, 1945 due to the Soviet army. Around one million jewish lives were taken here. -
Pearl Harbor
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White Rose
The White Rose movement was founded in 1942 as a group that was against the Nazi policies. Hans Scholl, one of the founders of White Rose did not like the way the Germans were treating the Jews, as he witnessed it first hand as a soldier. After word that the German army had been defeated, the Scholls, Hans and Sophie, were caught handing out phamphlets for their rebellion, and were executed in 1943 as a result. -
Japanese internment
About 117,000 Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps throughout California, Washington, and Oregon in 1942. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was what initially sparked this, and FDR created these camps as a precaution. The people, mostly citizens, were treated poorly and were kept in unacceptable conditions until March 20th, 1946. -
D day
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Korematsu vs. U.S.
December 18th, 1944 -
Battle of the Bulge
January 25th, 1945 -
Hiroshima
In an attempt to end World War 2 and give the US a dominate position, it was decided to drop the first atomic bomb over the Japanese city, Hiroshima, on December 7th, 1941. The bomb weighed over 9,000 pounds and was carried on a B-29 bomber plane. This did not cause the Japanese to surrendure as hoped, but it did inflict more than 80,000 deaths and managed to destroy 90% of the city. -
Nagasaki
After the first bomb was dropped in Hiroshima and the Japanese still hadn’t surrendered, a second one was dropped over Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. The “fat man” weighed 10,000 pounds and produced a 22 kiloton explosion, much more than the “little boy,” used in Heroshima. Because Nagasaki was between mountains, it limited the bombs destruction to 2.6 miles. Finally, on August 15th the Japanese then surrendered. -
Baby boom
Lasting until 1964, the baby boom began almost 9 months after the end of WW2 in 1946. In this year alone, 3.4 million babies were born in the U.S., which had been the most recorded births in a year. This may have been due to the fact that women married around 20, and only 8% did not have children in the 1940’s. Adults also now had high hopes that the future would involve “comfort and prosperity” after the war. -
Red scare
1950’s -
Ghandis assassination
Ghandi was known for his role in the Indian independence movement. After being exposed to severe racism and South African laws discriminating Indians in Natal, Ghandi decided to take major steps to try to end the discrimination. Finally after seven years, he and the SA government were able to make a compromise. Ghandi continued throughout his life to fight for these rights in different ways, one being fasting. On January 30, he was visiting New Delhi, where Nathuram Godse ended his legacy.
