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Germany Invades Poland
On this day in 1939, German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun.The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war--what would become the "blitzkrieg" strategy. -
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War in Europe
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Germany Invades France
On 11 November 1918, the French and British allies accepted Germany’s surrender and, between them, signed the armistice that ended the First World War. The signing took place in a railway carriage in the middle of the picturesque woods of Compiègne, fifty miles north-east of Paris. The humiliation of that event ran deep into the psyche of Germany, and none more so than in Adolf Hitler, at the time a corporal in the Imperial German Army. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
President Franklin stated that this day December 7,1941 was,"A date which will live in infamy." On that day, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. -
The Battle of Midway
Turning point of the war for the Allied Powers.
June 4-5, 1942- Japan wants to expand its influence further
They set their sites on the Midway atoll- 1000 miles from Hawaii
Turning point in the war occurs with a decisive victory for the U.S against Japan.
Squadrons of U.S torpedo planes and dive bombers from ENTERPRISE, HORNET, and YORKTOWN attack and destroy 4 Japanese carriers two cruisers and two destroyers. -
The Battle of Guadalcanal
The first offensive and decisive victory for the Allied Powers. It was a surprise attack from the US Marines to take away the Japanese's air base from them. It lasted from August 1942 all the way to February 9,1943. By the end, the Japanese had lost two-thirds of the 31,400 army troops committed to the island, whereas the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Army had lost less than 2,000 soldiers of about 60,000 deployed -
US Forces Take Iwo Jima
The battle of iwo jima was a battle that lasted from Feb 19-March 26 1945. America tried to capture the island from japan because of its two airfields. The japanese were heavily fortified but the americans had extensive naval and ground support and won the battle. The most significant thing wa the flag raising on mount surabachi -
Firebombing of Tokyo
On this day, U.S. warplanes launch a new bombing offensive against Japan, dropping 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo over the course of the next 48 hours. Almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history. -
Americans Drop Atomic Bombs
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, many historians argue that it also ignited the Cold War. -
VJ Day 1945
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victoryover Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.” The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Coming several months after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan’s capitulation in the Pacific brought six years of hostili
