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Nazi Invasion of Poland
First major conflict of the Second World War -
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Sitzkrieg
Period of time after the Nazi invasion of Poland in which there was almost no conflict between Allied and Axis forces -
The Fall of France
The German invasion of France and the lower countries, such as Belgium, in which the Germans succeeded -
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The Battle of Britain
Battle between the Royal Navy and the German Air Force in which the Royal Navy defended their capital from the Nazi invasion -
Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
Agreement between the United States and Great Britain that stated that Great Britain would exchange land rights for American naval destroyers -
The America First Committee
This anti-war group was founded on this day and became the largest isolationist driven organization in the United States at the time -
Congress Imposes the Draft
The draft for the United States Armed Forces begins for men ages 21 and 36 -
The Four Freedoms Speech
Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 famous State of the Union address where he proposed the four basic freedoms that everyone in the world should be promised -
The Lend-Lease Act
Permitted the United States to trade with European nations that were deemed vital to the protection of the United States -
The Attack on the USS Kearny
A United States Naval Warship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat before the United States had entered the war. The ship is redirected Iceland with 11 men killed -
The Destruction of the USS Reuben James
The first United States Naval Vessel to be destroyed by the Axis Powers -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Japanese aerial attack on United States Naval base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii -
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The Manhattan Project
Research and development team that produced the first nuclear weapons -
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The Battle of Bataan
The Japanese invasion of the Phillipines -
Bataan Death March
Transfer of Filipino and American prisoners by Japanese forces across the Phillipines -
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The Battle of Coral Sea
Major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean between the Japanese navy and a combination of the American and Australian navies -
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The Battle of Midway
Major naval battle that is known as the turning point of the war in the Pacific -
The Island Hopping Campaign
Military strategy that coordinated the raids of individual Pacific islands one by one moving towards Japan rather than invading the Japanese mainland -
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The Battle of Stalingrad
Major battle that took place in a major city of the Soviet Union's and was the turning point for the war in Europe -
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The Battle of Alamein
Major ground battle that took place just west of Cairo, Egypt and marked the turning point for the war in Northern Africa -
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Casablanca Conference
Meeting between some of the leaders of the Allied Powers including President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and representatives of the Free French cause -
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The Tehran Conference
Meeting between the "Big Three;" Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin: at which they held at the Soviet Union's embassy in Tehran, Iran -
D-Day
The Allied Powers' execution of Operation Overlord which ordered the invasion of Normandy, France, soon to be known as the largest seaborne invasion in history -
General MacArthur's Return to the Philippines
After being given an executive order to avoid capture by leaving the island and its doomed residents, General MacArthur returns -
The Election of 1944
Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected for his fourth term in the oval office -
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The Battle of the Bulge
German offensive through lower countries and into parts of France -
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The Yalta Conference
Another meeting between the Big Three in which they discussed post-war reorganization -
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The Battle of Iwo Jima
A United States Marine Corps invasion on the island of Iwo Jima with the objective of taking control of the entire island, including the few Japanese military establishments present -
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Battle of Okinawa
Series of Allied attacks on the island of Okinawa, which included the largest amphibious assault for the Pacific side of the war -
The Death of President Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt died shortly after the beginning of his fourth term and was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman -
Victory in Europe Day
The conflict in Europe is brought to an end after the surrender of Nazi Germany but the war continues with the Japanese -
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The Potsdam Conference
Meeting between leaders of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States in which they decided on what the repercussions should be for Germany's actions -
The Bombing of Hiroshima
The "Little Boy" hydrogen bomb was dropped on this Japanese city -
The Bombing of Nagasaki
The "Fat Man" hydrogen bomb was dropped on this Japanese city -
Victory over Japan Day
The final Axis Power surrenders to the Allies bringing an end to the entirety of the Second World War -
The Nuremburg Trials
The trial for many European Axis Power leaders that were accused for their involvment in the Holocaust or for other war crimes -
The Japanese War Crime Trials
The equivalent of the Nuremburg Trials but for the Asian Axis Power. Military anad political officials were tried for their war crimes throughout the Asian continent
