-
Period: to
World War II
-
World War II starts in Europe.
Germany Invades Poland marking the start of World War II. -
U-boats sink merchant vessels
U-boats were sinking merchant vessels at an alarming rate in the Battle of the Atlantic to prevent ships from bring supplies to Britain and the Soviet Union. -
Japan Joins Axis
Japan signs the Tripartite Pact which brings together the 3 major axis powers of WWII. This is important because it officially marks the alliance between the three powers. -
Vichy France Begins
After Germany defeated and captures France in 1940, they decide to force a new type of government on France like that which was done to Germany with the Weimar Republic. A new occupied government was placed on France known as the Vichy French government. -
Battle of Britain
Battle of BritainThis was the first completely dog fighting battle to take place and marked a turning point in the war. After France had been defeated Germany moved on the Britain but the RAF, although greatly outnumbered, defended against Germany and caused their first defeat. -
Hitler breaks Non-Aggression Agreeement and invades the Soviet Union.
This is Important because Operation Barbarossa is the largest military offensive in the all of world history. It also marked a turning point in the war when Germany lost an estimated 4.3 million men. -
FDR approves shoot on sight
After the attempted sinking of the Greer ship that was called piracy, FDR ordered a shoot on sight of any German or Italian vessels that came into waters that endangered U.S safety. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japan attacked the U.S naval base Pearl Harbor killing a few thousand american miliary men and many citizens. This attack by Japanese forced America to enter World War II. -
Japanese Ambassadors Arrive at D.C
The Japanese Ambassador arrived in D.C to deliver a message to America that there would be an attack on Pearl Harbor, he was supposed to give the message 30 minutes before the attack but it was not done until a couple hours after. -
Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S
This is obviously important because it means that the rest of the axis is now at war with the U.S and both sides of the war have been made complete. -
General MacArthur Promises to Return
General MacArthur promises to the world that he would return to Bataan, which was important because Bataan was an important area in the Pacific where America had already lost a lot of troops fighting the Japanese. -
Bataan Death March
After defeat at Bataan by the Japanese, 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war were marched to prison/death camps where they were mistreated, tortured, or murdered. -
Battle of Coral Sea
This was an important naval battle between the allies and the Japanese, where luckily the allies learned of the Japanese's plans to attack Port Moresby in New Guinea and were able to counter the attack. -
Eisenhower and forces arrive in North Africa
America was not of much help to the North Africa Campaign of Britain until Eisenhower and his troops surrounded Tunisia where Italy surrendered their African forces. -
Battle of Midway
The battle of Midway was the most important naval battle in WWII where Japan lost a sizeable amount of their navy and America only lost a couple of ships. It also showed the great strength of aircraft carriers over battle ships. -
Battle of Guadalcanal
This was the first major offensive against Japan in the war and victory here allowed the Allies to push furthur in their campaign where they adopted the Island Hopping strategy. -
End of the Battle of Stalingrad
Germany attacked the Soviet Union at the city of Stalingrad resulting in one of the bloodiest battles of all time, with casualties from both sides at en estimated 2 million. This is a very important part of the war as after the Soviet Union's victory, they began their counter offensive. -
Sicily Falls
The allies gained control of the all imortant Sicily which allowed them to continue on and advance into the invasion of italy, which would end Italy's time in WWII. -
Rome Falls
Fall of RomeAfter 6 months of fighting a Monte Cassino, Frances forces in Italy moved through the south and after breaking german lines captured Rome, symbolizing the fall of Italy from WWII. -
D-Day
Largest amphibious invasion of all time which cleared past the Atlantic Wall and allowed the Allies to push on through Germany. There was no way of knowing how the battle would come out as a last minute lifting of the clouds and fog allowed Allied paratroopers to be succesful in landing. -
MacArthur Returns
MacArthur returns to the Philippines as promised and fought in the Battle of Leyte which ended in a decisisve allied victory. -
Kamikaze attacks Begin
Kamikazes BeginJapan started using their Kamikaze attacks in the Battle of Leyte which showed America just how desperate Japan was becoming. The strategy of suicide plane diving resulted in many deaths on both sides. -
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the BulgeThis was the last major offensive by Germany. They tried to do an all out push against the thin line of Allied troops but were only able to push them back, but not break the line causing a 'bulge' in the territorial lines if it were looked upon by an aerial view. -
The Raising of the Flag on Mt.Suribachi
Some americans marines were sent out into Iwo Jima and were told to get the top of Mt.Suribachi and capture it. If they were successful they were to raise the flag, which they did as they arrived without incident. -
Truman Becomes President
Truman Becomes PresidentAfter Roosevelt died Truman succeeded as President of the United States. This was a major event for the war because Truman was the one who decided to use the atomic bomb against Japan. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
Germany's loss became quite evident to Hiter and the execution of Mussolini pushed him to make sure this would not happen to him. To end his third reich he along with his new wife took cyanide tablets and shot themselves in the head. -
V-E Day
This date marks the end of the Third Reich and the date of signed and accepted unconditional surrender by Germany, ending World War II in Europe. -
Okinawa is Taken
The Allies gained control of the island of Okinawa where they were able to set up an air base that would be involved with the attacks on Japan if there had not been an atomic bomb dropped. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
Truman gave an exective order to drop and explode the little boy Atomic bomb over Hiroshima in order to end the war quickly. He was successful in this but the bomb cost the lives of over a hundred thousand of Japanese, although it is believed the casualties would have been more in an attack on Japan. -
Bombing of Nagasaki
The atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki by America and was the second atomic bomb used in WWII. The bomb was nicknamed fat man and estimates say it caused 250,000 casualties over the course of the year it was dropped. -
Formal Surrender of Japan
Formal Surrender of JapanJapan formally surrenders aboard the USS Missouri in prescence of American Commander General MacArthur. This is important because Japan was the last remaining axis force, so the war was officially over. -
V-J Day
Truman declared that V-J day would be on september 2nd, the day of the formal surrender of Japan. It was originally going to be in mid August but because of time zone discrepencies it would have been on a different date (14th or 15th) for many allied countries. This marked the end of world war II as Japan was the last axis force.
