World War 2

Anschluss of Austria

Mar 12, 1938

Union of Austria and Germany

Munich Conference

Sep 30, 1938

British and French convinced the Czechs to give up Sudentenland to appease Hitler

Nazi-Soviet Pact

Aug 23, 1939

Agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, in which the two nations promised not to fight each other and to divide up land in Eastern Europe

Blitzkrieg

Apr 9, 1940

Hitler orders a "lightning war" or constant bombing on Norway and Belgium

Operation Sea Lion and Blitz on London

Aug 1, 1940

Hitler invades Britain between August and September

Operation Barbarossa

Jun 22, 1941

Hitler breaks Nazi-Soviet Pact and invades Soviet Union to take over their vast natural resources

Pearl Harbor

Dec 7, 1941

A surprise attack on American soil that killed 2,400 people and the reason America entered World War 2

Battle of the Coral Sea

May 8, 1942

A goal of the U.S. to defeat the Japanese one island at a time and allowed them to move North

Big '3' Meet

Nov 28, 1943

FDR, Churchill, and Stalin meet and decide to first fight the war in Europe, then in the Pacific

Yalta Conference

Feb 4, 1944

Meeting between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin on February 1945, where the three leaders mode agreements regarding the end of World War 2

D-Day Assault

Jun 6, 1944

Code name for June 6, 1944, the day that Allied forces invaded France during World War 2

Hitler Dies

Apr 30, 1945

Hitler commits suicide

V-E Day

May 8, 1945

Victory in Europe Day, the day the Allies won World War 2 in Europe

Manhattan Project

Jul 16, 1945

A code name for the A-Bomb;
Truman warned Japan to surrender

Nagasaki and Hiroshima

Aug 6, 1945

U.S. drops two A-Bombs, one on August 6th and the other on the 9th. Japan refuses to surrender twice

Truman Doctrine Adopted

Mar 12, 1947

United States policy, established in 1947, of trying to contain the spread of Communism

Marshall Plan Enacted

Apr 3, 1948

Massive aid package offered by the U.S. to Europe to hold countries rebuild after World War 2

NATO Signed

Apr 4, 1949

A military alliance between several North Atlantic States to safeguard them, from the presumed threat of the Soviet Unions communist bloc; countries from other regions later joined the alliance

Division of Germany

Sep 21, 1949

Soviets were angry because the Western Allies rebuilt West Germany's economy. The Soviets controlled East Germany

Warsaw Pact

May 14, 1955

Mutual Defense alliance between the Soviet Union and seven satellites in Eastern Europe set up in 1955