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Hitler breaks Non-Aggression agreement and invades the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa set into effect and German troops began to invade the Soviet Union. Within weeks the Soviets lost millions. Germans took a million Prisoneers. Germans were able to get supplies. -
Vichy France Begins
This is where Nazi government was taking place in France. It was a government that was against the Jewish people. -
Battle for Britain
The air campaign started by the Germans against the UK was mostly to defeat Royal Air Force. The failure of Germany was considered to be the first defeat of the Germans in the war. -
Japan joins Axis
Japan joined the Axis for support as they planned to associate with the same govt. types as that of Italy and Germany. Therefore on this date they aligned themsevles with those countries, joining the Axis Powers -
Pearl Harbor attacked
This is where the Japanese performed a surprise attack on the U.S. This attack on the U.S. marked the arrival of the U.S. in World War II.Attack from Japanese. submarines and planes. The USS Arizona and Oklahoma were destroyed, -
Japanese ambassadors arrive in Washinton, DC
Upon arrival of the Japanese Ambassador, the United States had already recieved news of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Ambassador was instructed to destroy all official documents and deliver a 14-page paper to the Sec. of State Cordell Hull. -
FDR approves “shoot on sight”
FDR ordered a "Soot on Sight" law that all Germans seen should be shot at, no questions asked. -
Germany and Italy declare war on US
Four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. This was done in Germany as Hitler addressed the Reichstag and declaring war. -
MacArthur promises to return
MacArthur made a promise, "I shall return". He spent the next three years fighting for his promise. He fought against the Japanese for the freedom of the Phillipines. -
Bataan death march
After surrendering to the Japanese becuase of the fatigue and lack of food and fatigue, The US men on the tip of Bataan, Mariveles, were marched 70 miles to Camp O'Donnell. During this march men were beaten, starved, , shot, and had their throats slit. The men who lived through this were then put in a POW Camp. -
Battle of Coral Sea
This was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the US and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other. It was also the first naval battle in history in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other. -
Battle of Midway
Near the Central Pacific island of Midway, it is the most decisive battle in the Pacific during WW2. Japanese wanted to build a base and surprise the U.S. Pacific Fleet.But, the fleet surprised the Japanese and destroyed four of their carriers the ones used in the Pearl Harbor attacks. -
Guadalcanal
The Battle of Guadalcanal took place near the Solomon Islands. Marines went onto land against the Japanese where at the time battle was stagnant. It took six months for the Marines to take over, but it seemed to be the turning point for the Allies. -
U-boats sink merchant vessels
Germany was sinking U.S. vessels because we were producing so many. They were trying to weaken our navy -
General Eisenhower and his forces land in North Africa
Nicknamed Operation Torch, Eisenhower and his men chose to land in North Africa to help the Red Army fighting in the Soviet Union. Stalin wanted help in Europe, but Roosevelt and Churchill chose to help in North Africa. -
End of Battle of Stalingrad
Battle between Germany and the Soviet Union was for the city of Stalingrad in Southwestern Russia. -
Rome falls
The first of the Axis Powers was defeated as Allied Troops rolled into the city of Rome on June 4th, 1944. The Allies were greeted by the people screaming for joy as their city had been freed. -
D-Day
Allied forces launched an invasion of continental europe to defeat the Nazis. -
MacArthur returns
After being removed from the Phillipines in 1942, he fulfilled his promise of "I shall Return". He returned to restore the Phillipines and force the enemies out. -
Kamikaze attacks begin
With the war out of reach for the Japanese they tried any tactic to get a victory. They begin using Kamikazes or suicide bombers in air planes to attack Allied Forces. The first was at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Phillipine Sea, the largest naval battle of WW2. -
Battle of the Bulge
German offensive established by the fuhrer in the Ardennes Region of Allied Forces territory. The idea was to reach the Meuse River, but Germany made it nowhere close. The Germans lost 100,000 men and the Allies 80,000. This sealed the defeat of Germany. -
US flag raised on Mt. Suribachi
The raising of the American Flag on Iwa Jima symbolized all but the end of the battle of Iwa Jima as many Japanese men retreated to underground tunnels. Colonel Chandler Johnson gave the small flag to troops to fly on the summit of the mtn. The photograph was take by Joe Rosenthal -
Truman becomes president
Harry Truman becomes the 33rd president after Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his fourth term.Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Harry S. Truman replaced him on that day in 1945. -
Hitler commits suicide
The cause of death is suicide by a gunshot wound to the head and cyanide posioning. The lack of public information concerning the whereabouts of Hitler's remains, confused reports stemming from the dual method and other circumstances surrounding the event encouraged rumours that Hitler may have survived the end of World War II. -
V-E Day
Victory in Europe marks the day in which the Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and the Third Reich. This surrendering marked the end of World War Two. -
Okinawa taken
Fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The battle last 82 days.Operation Iceberg, the Battle ofOkinawa was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa. The objective was to capture the large islands only 350 miles from mainland Japan. This battle led to more than 50,000 Allied casualties and more than 100,000 Japanese. -
Nagasaki
Another effort by the US to end the war. Americans dropped the "Fat Man" an atomic bomb on the Japanese city following no compliance with the Potsdam Declaration given by the United States. This was the second Atomic Bomb dropped in Japan, the second and last in the history of warfare. -
Hiroshima
After an executive order from Truman the United States dropped the "Little Boy" an atomic bomb on the City of Hiroshima. This was the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare. This devistated the City of Hiroshima killing 100,000's plus. -
V- J Day
the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, ending WW2.The formal surrender took place on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2nd. -
formal surrender of Japan
Japan surrenders after the bombing of Nagasaki- Emperor Hirohito declared that he couldn't bare to watch his innocent people suffer the way they did, so he had his empire surrender.More than two weeks after accepting the Allies terms, Japan formally surrendered. The ceremonies, less than half an hour long, took place on board the battleship USS Missouri, anchored with other United States' and British ships in Tokyo Bay.