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Nazi Germany Invaded Poland
Nazi diplomats and propagandists scrambled to head off hostilities with the Western powers, but on September 2 Britain and France demanded that Germany withdraw by September 3 or face war. -
Sitzkrieg
The Phoney War was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germany's Saar district. -
France Fell to Germany
The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries during the Second World War -
America First Committee Launched
The America First Committee was the foremost United States non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II -
Battle of Britain
the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces -
Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
US Navy destroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy from the United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions -
Congress Instituted the Draft
The 1940 law instituted conscription in peacetime, requiring the registration of all men between 21 and 35, with selection for one year's service by a national lottery. -
Four Freedoms
Roosevelt insisted that people in all nations of the world shared Americans' entitlement to four freedoms: the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship God in his own way, freedom from want and freedom from fear -
Lend-Lease
the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II -
USS Kearny Attacked
a United States Navy warship torpedoed by a German U-boat before the U.S. had entered the war. -
Reuben James Sank
USS Reuben James became one of America's first casualties of war—even before war was declared -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory -
Battle of Bataan
represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan's invasion of the Philippines during World War II. -
Bataan Death March
the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war -
Battle of Coral Sea
a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia, taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. -
Battle of Midway
The United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Atoll, marking a turning point in the war in the Pacific theatre. -
Battle of El Alamein
a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought in Egypt between Axis forces of the Panzer Army Africa and Allied forces of the Eighth Army. -
Battle of Stalingrad
the largest confrontation of World War II, in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia -
Casablanca Conference
to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II - In attendance were United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill. -
Tehran Conference
a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943, after the Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Iran. -
D-Day
Allied forces invaded northern France by means of beach landings in Normandy. -
MacArthur Returned to the Philippines
a few hours after his troops landed, MacArthur waded ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte -
FDR Elected to a 4th term
The only president to serve more than two terms was Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
Battle of the Bulge
the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II -
Yalta Conference
The main purpose of Yalta was the re-establishment of the nations conquered and destroyed by Germany -
Battle of Iwo Jima
One-third of all Marine losses during World War II happened at Iwo Jima; it was the only large engagement of the war in which Allied forces suffered more casualties (dead plus wounded) than their Japanese counterparts. -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
a military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against Japan and the Axis powers during World War II. -
VE Day
the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces -
Battle of Okinawa
the last major battle of World War II, and one of the bloodiest -
FDR Died / Harry Truman Became President
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes away after four momentous terms in office, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge of a country still fighting the Second World War and in possession of a weapon of unprecedented and terrifying power. -
Manhattan Project Began
a secret military project created in 1942 to produce the first US nuclear weapon -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
The bomb was known as "Little Boy", a uranium gun-type bomb that exploded with about thirteen kilotons of force -
Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the first being Little Boy, and its detonation marked the third nuclear explosion in history. -
Potsdam Conference
The conference failed to settle most of the important issues at hand and thus helped set the stage for the Cold War that would begin shortly after World War II came to an end. -
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. -
Nuremberg Trials
Judges from the Allied powers—Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States—presided over the hearings of twenty-two major Nazi criminals. -
Japanese War Crime Trials
In Tokyo, Japan, the International Military Tribunals for the Far East begins hearing the case against 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during World War II
