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Attack of Manchuria
Manchuria is a Chinese province that is rich with iron and coal. The attack of Machuria was the first direct challenge to the League of Nations. Japan seized Manchuria and expanded their empire which began in 1931. -
Nuremberg Law
23 allied nations put Nazi war criminals on trial in Nuremberg, Germany. 22 Nazi leaders were charged with waging a war of aggression and the murder of 11 million people. 12 out of the 22 defendants were sentenced to death. -
Kristallnacht
A 17 year old Jewish youth named Herschel Grynszpan wished to avenge his father's deportion back to Poland. He shot an employee of the German Embassy in Paris. Nazi leaders launched a violent attack on the entire Jewish community. The night also became known as "Night of Broken Glass." -
Invasion of Poland
German warplanes invaded Polish airspace in a suprise attack. Germany rained bombs and terror on the Polish . Tanks and artillery followed. Poland crumbled under the assalt. -
Soviet Union invades East Poland
Stalin sent Soviet troops to occupy eastern Poland. Stalin then began annexing in the regions in the second part of the agreement. Lithuania, Lativa, and Estonia fell without a struggle, but Finland resisted. -
Alliance with Italy and Germany
Italy joined forces with Hitler and Germany. Italy seeked an easy and quick victory. They both decelared war on Great Britain and France. Both nations, Italy and Germany, became allies. -
France Surrenders
Following Dunkirk, France seemed doomed to defeat. Sensing a quick victory, Italy joined forces with Germany and declared war on France and Great Britain. With France falling, a French general named Charles de Gaulle fled to London and set up a government to later reconquer France. -
Lend Lease Act
The United States president could lend or lease arms and other supplies to any country vital to the United States. By the summer of 1941, the U.S. navy was escorting Britain ships carrying U.S. arms. -
Battle of Britain
With the fall of France, Great Briatin stood alone with the Nzis. Germany needed to defeat Great Britain to be the most powerful nation. Great Britain would not back down nor surrender to Germany's powerful and quick army. Stunned by British resistance, Hitler decided to call off his attacks. Allies had learned a crucial lesson: Hitler's advances can be blocked. -
Germany invasion of Soviet Union
The roar of German tanks and aircraft announced the beginning of the blitzkrieg invasion. The Soviet Union was not prepared. Even though it was the largerst, it was not well equipped nor well trained. -
Atlantic Charter
Upheld free trade among nations and the right of people to choose their own government. Later served as the Allies' peace plan at the end of WW2. -
Pearl Harbor
American sailors awoke to explosives and a Japanese attack. The U.S. were aware of an attack, but unsure of when or where the attack was going to happen. Within 2 hours, Japan had sunk and damaged 18 ships. Some 2,400 Americans were killed, with 1,000 wounded. Congress declared war on Japan the next day. -
Japanese Internment
In March, the U.S. military began rounding up "aliens" and shipping them to relocation camps. Two-thirds of those people were Japanese Americans. The camps were restricted military areas locked away from the coast. The United States imprisoned some 31,275 people it wrongly considered "enemy aliens." -
Battle of Midway
Another cracked Japanese code resulted in Admiral Chester Nimitz knowing that a force of 150 ships was heading toward Midway, an island just west of Hawaii. This fleet was the largest naval force ever. American planes swooped in and attacked Japanese ships. Japan's crippled fleet withdrew and the battle was over by June 6th. -
Allied invasion of Italy
Roosevelt and Churchill decided to invade Italy first before they invaded France. Allied forces of 180,000 soldiers landed on Sicily and captured it from Italian and German troops. Italy surrendered on September 3, 1943. The germans also managed to seize control of northern Italy and put Mussolini back in charge. -
D-Day
Thousands of planes, ships, tanks, and troops awaited orders of attack. American general Dwight D. Eisenhower planned to strike Normandy. This wa the greatest land and sea attack in history. The invasion day is known today as D-Day. -
German Surrender
Allies surrounded the capital of Germany as artillery pounded the city. Hitler prepared for his end in an underground headquarter beneath the crumbling city. Hitler shot himself after drinking poison. The German nation surrendered. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, The bomb killed 73,000 people out of 365,000. The bomb was a result in Japan not immediately surrendering to the United States. -
Bombing of Nagasaki
A bomb dropped by the U.S. on the city of Nagasaki. Nagasaki is a city of 200,000 people, amd the bomb killed about 37,500 of them. Radiation killed many more. The Japanese surrendered to the United States. -
Japanese Surrender
The Japanese surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur on September 2. The surrender took place aboard the United States battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. With Japan's surrender, the war had ended.
