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Nuremberg Laws
At their annual rally, the Nazis announce new laws that revoke citizenship for Jews and prohibit Jews from marrying or having relationships with person of German culture. The Nuremberg Laws define a "Jew" as someone with three or four Jewish grandparents. Consequently, the Nazis classify as Jews thousands of people who had converted from Judaism to another religion. Anyone with a Jewish background was instructed to obey these laws, as penalties could be as harsh as the death sentence. -
Italy Seizes Ethiopia
During this time, Italy's leader, Benito Mussolini, wanted the same power as Adolf Hitler. He was one of Hitlers allies, and Mussolini saw all the progress he was making to create a "Greater Germany". He believed that his fascism would lead Italy to dominance. Mussolini followed this policy when he invaded Ethiopia. The aim of invading Ethiopia was to boost Italian national prestige, which was driven by Ethiopia's defeat of the Italians at the Battle of Adowa in the nineteenth century. -
Hitler Invades the Rhineland
On 7 March 1936 German troops marched into the Rhineland. Against the act proposed in the Treaty of Versailles in which Germany had accepted responsibility. Adolf Hitler was the man who led these troops to invade the land. The treaty meant that no German troops were to be stationed inside that area, yet Hitler and his Nazi party marched onward. They began re militarizing the Rhineland, going against the Treaty of Versailles. This would be one of the main follow-up causes of World War II. -
Munich Pact
The Munich Pact/Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's invasion of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders. Mainly inhabited by German speakers, the pact was being negotiated at a conference held in Munich Germany, among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union.The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland and the demands made by Adolf Hitler. As a result, it was signed by Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy. -
Hitler seizes Czechoslovakia
By this time, the Nazis had perfected the act of stealing neighboring countries. They would start by encouraging political unrest inside the area. As well, they would wage a propaganda campaign containing real or imagined crimes committed against Germans. By early 1939, two border areas had already been seized by Poland and Hungary. Hitler reacted to this turn of events just as he had when Schuschnigg took a defiant stance in Austria –he ordered his generals to prepare for an immediate invasion. -
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the first German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, which meant the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin viewed the pact as a way to keep his nation on peaceful terms with Germany, Adolf Hitler used the pact to make sure Germany was able to invade Poland with ease. The pact fell apart in June 1941, when Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union. -
Fall of France
Known commonly as the Battle of France, it marks the fatal day that the Germans invaded France and allied forces during the second World War. From May 10th to June 25, German forces defeated Allied forces by mobile operations and conquered colonies such as Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. With this, it bringing land operations on the Western Front to an end until the sixth of June 1944. -
Miracle at Dunkirk
June 4, 1940, the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk on the Belgian coast ends as German forces capture the beach port. The nine-day evacuation, the largest in history, saving 338,000 Allied troops from capture by the Nazis. On May 10, the Germans launched their attack against the West. Faced with superior air power and highly mobile armored forces, the Allied defenders were a poor match for the Germans. In a lightning attack, the Germans raced across Western Europe. The Dutch surrendered. -
The Battle of Britain
From July 10 to October 31,German and British air forces in the skies over the United Kingdom, took part in the largest sustained bombing to that date. A turning point of World War II, the battle ended when Germany’s Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Forces,despite months of targeting their air bases and military posts. Britain’s victory saved the country from a ground invasion,and possible occupation by German forces. It was a very important battle, and great victory. -
Pearl Harbour
At about 8 a.m, Japanese planes flew in over Pearl Harbor. Bombs and bullets rained onto the vessels below. Hundreds of fighter planes attacked the American naval base. The attack lasted just two hours, but it was devastating. The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight ships, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2000 Americans soldiers and sailors died, and another 1000 were wounded. After this, America was furious, and had finally joined World War II. -
Final Solution
The term "Final Solution" was used by the Nazis to refer to their plan for the mass exiles of the Jewish people. The German leadership was to be extremely guarded when discussing the Final Solution. The direct and orderly genocide across German-occupied Europe was formulated in procedural terms by Nazi leadership in January 1942, at the Wannsee Conference near Berlin. The plan carried out in the Holocaust which saw the killing two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe. -
Allied Troops Land in Sicily
United States and Great Britain, the leading Allied powers, looked ahead to move next against Italy, hoping an Allied invasion would remove the fascism from the war, and secure the German divisions from the northwest coast of France where the Allies planned to attack in the near future. The Allies’ Campaign began with the invasion of Sicily in July. After 38 days of fighting, the U.S. and Great Britain successfully drove German and Italian troops from Sicily and prepared to attack the mainland. -
D-Day
D-Day, also known as the Battle of Normandy, lasted from June 1944 to August 1944. Code named Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when about 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on beaches along a 50 mile stretch of the heavily armed coast of France’s region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history and required extensive planning. The Normandy landings have been called the "beginning of the end of war" in Europe. -
Hiroshima Bombing
During World War II, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The plane that was used to drop the massive bomb was named the Enola Gay. The plane dropped the bomb, known as “Little Boy”, and it exploded 2,000 feet above Hiroshima that morning. In a blast equal to 12-15,000 tons of TNT, its radius spanned about five square miles. Yet with thousands dead, and the city in ruins, the Japanese held their ground and did not surrender. -
Nagasaki Bombing
Being the result of the Japanese refusing to surrender, the United States dropped yet another atomic bomb, this time in Nagasaki. Just three days later, a 21-kiloton plutonium device known as "Fat Man.” was dropped over the city. Because of the immediate blast,an estimated that between 40,000 and 75,000 people died immediately following the atomic explosion, while 60,000 suffered severe injuries. And on August 14th, Japan had surrendered.The deaths by the end of 1945 may have reached 80,000. -
V-J Day
After the dropping of the atomic bombs, Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, ending World War II. With no emperor to lead them, the United States had finally got what they wanted. "V-J" stands for “Victory over Japan Day,” with was a celebration over many parts around the United States and the rest of the world. It gave the allies the overwhelming sense of relief, as war ended. Also, V-J Day" has also been used when Japan’s formal surrender took place in the U.S.S. Missouri.
