Key Events and People of World War II **

By alyssaweisberger
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    Neville Chamberlain

    See document for ID
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    Winston Churchill

    Winston Churchill was a man that did not support the happiness of the Brits after peace was 'promised' after the Munich peace conference. Soon after this, Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister of Britain.
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    Josef Stalin

    Josef Stalin lead Russia all throughout WWII, until his death.
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    Benito Mussolini

    He was the leader of facist Italy.
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    Adolf Hitler

    Hitler was a huge part of EVERYTHING in WWII. Ranging from the annexation of czechoslovakia to the Holocaust.
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    Charles DeGaulle

    Charles DeGaulle was the leader of the 'Free French'. And this was a government set up by escaped French officers to England. And these people tried to liberate their homeland.
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    Francisco Franco

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    Karl Herman Frank

    Karl Herman Frank was a Sudeten German leader. He served in the Austrian Army in World War I and remained scared toward Czech Jewry. He was later sentenced to death.

  • The Holocaust

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    Italian Invasion of Ethiopia

    Mussolini decided to act on his own imperialist ambitions. When Italy invades, Ethiopia tries to resist but their old weapons have nothing on Mussolini's tanks, machine guns, poison gas, and airplanes.

  • Occupation of the Rhineland

    Hitler wanted to test the will of the Western Democracies and found that they were weak. Hitler kept defying the treaty that ended WWI, and he sent troops into the Rhineland.
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    The Spanish Civil War

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  • Air Raid on Guernica

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  • Formation of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis

    While Britain, France and the United States were noticably weak, this axis was formed by Germany, Italy, and Japan. These were the Axis Powers. And, they agreed to fight Soviet Communism and not interfere with eachothers' plans to expand.

  • The Anschluss

    The Anschluss was the union of Austria and Germany. This violated the Versailles Treaty and created "a brief war scare".

  • The Munich Conference

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  • Annexation of Czechoslovakia

    Hitler broke his promise towards Britain and France and added Czechoslovakia to his territory. This caused the democracies to realize that 'appeasement' had failed.

  • Nazi-Soviet Pact

    The name given to the treaty of Non-Aggression signed by Ribbentrop for Germany and Molotov for the USSR on August 23, 1939.
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    Invasion of Poland

    German Forces invaded Poland one week after the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Then two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. This was the official start of World War II

  • The Fall of France

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  • Formation of Vichy France

    Vichy, France was considered the 'puppet state', and it was created following the surrender of France.

  • Formation of the 'Free French'

    This government was created by escaped French to England. This government was lead by Charles DeGaulle. This government worked to liberate their homeland.

  • Battle of Britain

    Operation gain Britain, or "Sea Lion" was a failure. For example, German planes continued to bomb London and other British cities, but this seemed to only strenghten Britain's hatred towards Germany.

  • Operation Barbarossa

    Operation Barbarossa was code name for invading the Soviet Union. This plan was named after Frederick Barbarossa, who was a medieval Germanic leader.

  • Attack on Pearl Harbor

    Japanese airplanes bombed the American fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 2,400 people were killed and many battleships were destroyed. President Roosevelt wanted to claim war on Japan, but on December 11th; Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

  • Battle of Midway

  • Battle of Stalingrad

    Hitler wanted Stalingrad but Stalin was very willing to defend it. Germans surrounded the city to start the battle, but the German commander surrendered in January 1943.

  • El Alamein

    A fierce battle fought in North Africa. Britain was lead by General Bernard Montgomery.

  • D-Day

    This is the day that the Allies chose to invade France. On August 25, the allies entered Paris. Within a month, all of France was free.

  • Battle of the Bulge

    This was a very bloody battle that lasted a little more than a month. Both sides faced terrible losses. The Germans could not break through.

  • Iwo Jima

    Iwo Jima was the first sign to the Us that Japan would fight to the death. This was one reason why they dropped an atomic bomb on them.

  • V-E Day

    On May 7th, 1945 Germany surender. May 8th was proclaimed V-E Day, which stands for Victory in Europe".

  • Decision to use atomic weapons

    Harry Truman, when he found out that an atomic weapon was tested, thought that these were extemely dangerous weapons. But, he did agree to use them because they would save American lives.

  • V-J Day