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Invasion of Manchuria
On September 19th, 1931 Japan invades Manchuria, a region in Northeast China, and created a "puppet state". It was renamed to Manchukuo, this was the first step of Japan starting to take over China. Japan started gaining control of their major railroad links and coastal areas.This event led to Japan taking over the then capital city Nanjing where they murdered over 200,000 civilians burning a huge portion of the city. This was called and known as the "Rape of Nanjing". -
Roosevelt Opposes Aggression
On October 5, 1937 President Franklin Roosevelt gave a speech in Chicago criticizing Japan's decissions in China. He claimed it was a "reign of terror and international lawlessness". Roosevelts decissions for stopping aggression led to forming an alliance with all of the peace-loving nations. His speech was widely criticized and many American civilians felt it put the country in a threat to Japan. -
Germany initiates blitzkrieg
On September 1, 1939 Germany initaited a surpise attack (blitzkrieg) on Poland hitting three different directions. Blitzkrieg initially means "lightning war" and was relatively new at this time. Withing a couple weeks more countries started to attack Poland, receiving no help at all. Eventually Poland fell in a devastating defeat. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941 Japan had a surpise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This was the United States Navy's main Pacific Base at the time. Japan had 6 aircraft carriers, 360 airplanes, an assortment of battleships and cruisers, and many submarines. All headed towards Pearl Harbor. Nearly 2,500 people killed, 8 battleships damaged, 3 destroyers left unusable, 3 light cruisers damaged, and 160 aircraft carriers destroyed and 128 damaged. -
Plans to defeat Germany
By the beginning of June 1942 the allies were hurt but still fighting. At this time they started to focus more on the main points; defeating Germany. The allies started sharing more unified goals and considered Germany the most dangerous enemy. This is where the "Europe First" startedgy started. -
Nazis at Stalingrad
Germany had attacked Russia, Hitler mainly focussing on southern Russia. This is where he sent most of his armies. Hitler wanted to control the oil fields, and for him to achieve this he had to gain control over Stalingrad. The Nazis fought hard, but the Soviets trapped them. Hitler refused to let his army to retreat which left the troops starving, sick, and freezing until Germany finally surrendered on January 31, 1943. -
What's happening in American
While the troops were over in Europe and Asian fighting the war, there were conflicts in American as well. This especially fell within the work forces. Women started having to work the mens jobs and there was conflict with African Americans working as well. Riots started occuring with whites and blacks over consturction when in reality this was the last thing the country needed. -
D-Day
On June 6, 1944 the Allies attacked Germany in full force. More than 11,000 planes prepared the way to attack the germans. They landed on four different beaches, and this day was considered the "longest day" of the war due to all the constant fighting. This was the biggest step the Allies had taken, and the first, that led them to their victory. -
Response to Holocaust
At the point and time there was no name for the occurence of events that happened. Today it is known as the Holocaust, where Hitler targeted all Jews for persecution. He sentenced all Jews into concentration camps, which later became known as "death camps". The United States never really had any idea what was going on or how bad it was until the saw it. It was a world wide shock. When they saw this it led to a world wide sympathy and heart ache. It was devastating and unbelievable. -
Atomic Bombing
On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. It exploded at 9:14 A.M. Withing two minutes more than 60,000 of Hiroshima's residents were dead, injured, or missing. This was a huge tragedy for Japan, yet they still did not surrender. At least not until V-J Day on September 2, 1945.
