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Germany invades Poland in an effort to expand the German Empire. (expansionalism) The invasion is the start of WWII
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Germany continues invasion and occupation of surrounding countries, and the Holocaust of "inferior groups" especially the Jews continues.
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Japan attacks Pearl Harbor to protect their oil supply while expanding the Japanese Empire. The United States enters WWII in the Pacific Islands.
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Island Hopping is a strategy the Allies used in the Pacific Islands in order to gain control of the area. Many battles occured during this time including the Battle of Midway and Iwo Jima.
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The Allies invade German occupied France in the Normandy (northern shores) area. The Allies then begin the long fight to push them out of France and capture Berlin.
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Raising of the FlagBattle of the island of Iwo JIma begins. The battle lasted 36 days. The victory at Iwo JIma allowed the island to become a U.S. staging area for fights on mainland Japan. Mt. Surabachi, the highlest point on the island is where the infamous 'Raising of the Flag" photo was taken. Six marines lifted the flag. Three perished and three survived the fighting on Iwo Jima.
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Funeral of F.D.R. President Franklin D.Roosevelt dies in Warm Springs, Georgia. Harry S. Truman becomes President. Roosevelt missed seeing the surrender of Germany by less than one month.
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Germany surrenders to the Allied forces, ending WWII in Europe. Fighting still continues in the Pacific Islands
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Although American forces were close enough to Japan to invade the island, Truman believed that there would be too many U.S. casualities. On August 6, 1945, an American airplane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The explosion killed nearly 100,000. people.
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Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, another atomic bomb on Hagasaki Japan was dropped.
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Five days after the second atomic bomb was dropped on a Japanese city, Emperor Hirohito surrendered. August 14th, 1945 is known as Victory in Japan Day or VJ Day.
