World War 2

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    Battle of the Atlantic

    German U-Boats were sinking unprotected US and the Allies merchant ships. The US used convoys and sonar technology to locate the U-boats. Germans were successful in the beginning but by mid-1943, the Allies had the advantage.
  • Attack on Pearl Harbor

    Full blown attacks with 2400 lives lost and 18 ships and 350 planes were sunk or damaged. Japan viewed this as a victory as they wanted more land across the Pacific.
  • US declares war on Japan

  • Germany and Italy declare war on the US

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    Battle of the Coral Sea

    Japanese were taking over the Pacific but the US and Australia stopped them from invading. Japan won the actual battle but the allies were finally figuring out how to stop Japan.
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    Battle of Midway

    US launched a surprise attack on Japan on an island in the Pacific called Midway. US were successful.
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    Battle of Stalingrad

    Germans violated nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union and attacked hoping to catch their oil fields. Winter hit and forced the Germans to stay put so the Soviet Union used this to their advantage and won.
    - Became a turning point in the war
  • Normandy Invasion (D-Day)

    Largest land-sea-air operation in history. Nearly 425000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or missing at the end of the entire campaign.
  • France was freed from Nazi control

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    Battle of the Bulge

    Fought in Belgium as Germany was trying to capture Antwerp. One of the most demanding battles of US military.
  • Yalta Conference

    Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill met in Yalta to discuss post WW2. Set up the United Nations
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    Iwo Jima

    An island in the Pacific that was critical for the US to take and ended with a victory for the US.
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    Battle of Okinawa

    Japan’s last defensive stronghold. US Win.
  • The Passing of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Harry S Truman (Vice president) takes the role as President. Major grieving period for all of America
  • The End of Hitler

    Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide by a gunshot and cyanide, their bodies were burned
  • 1st Part of the War is Over

    General Eisenhower accepted a surrender from the Third Reich. V-E Day (Victory for Europe)
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    Potsdam

    Leaders met in Potsdam to come up with a plan to disarm Germany and eliminate the Nazi regime. Set up the Nuremberg Trials for the persecution of Nazi leaders.
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    Manhattan Project

    Atomic bombs dropped a two cities, Nagasaki and Hiroshima. 200 000 Japanese civilians died
  • Japan offers unconditional surrender

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    Nuremberg Trials

    Over 23 nations tried over 200 Nazi war criminals. 12 were sentenced to death and 200 were given lesser sentences
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    US Occupation of Japan

    Similar trials held for the Japanese with 7 sentenced to death. US occupied Japan for 6 years and called for a new constitution and introduced free market economy