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Japan’s Invasion of China
A clash between Chinese and Japanese troops in North China that was followed by indications of intensified military activity on the part of Japan. -
Germany invades Poland
Germany used over 2,000 tanks and 1,000 planes to brake Poland's defenses and advance to Warsaw. -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
Hitler’s failed Blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union was one of the turning points of the war. -
Battle of Britain
The successful defense of Great Britain against the air raids conducted by the German Air Force. -
Tripartite Pact
The pact signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan to become allies and provide mutual assistance for one another. -
Lend-Lease Act
The principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. -
Germany Takes Leningrad
Germans surrounde the city of Leningrad and surrounds them, forcing many of the citizens to starve to death. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii just before 8 a.m. -
Formation of the U.N.
Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers met in Washington to sign the Declaration of the United Nations. -
Wannsee Conference
Nazi Party and German government officials gathered in Wannsee to discuss what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." -
Battle of Midway
The strategic high water mark of Japan's Pacific Ocean war. -
D-Day
The day that the Battle of Normandy (resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control) began. -
Yalta Conference
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin made important decisions regarding the future progress of the war and the postwar world. -
Iwo Jima/Okinawa
The two islands that were crucial to the invasion of Japan. -
Hitler’s Suicide
Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany, burrowed away in a refurbished air-raid shelter, consumed a cyanide capsule, then shot himself with a pistol. -
VE Day
The formal celebration of the Allies' victory in Europe during World War II. -
Potsdam Conference
The Big Three (Stalin, Churchill, and Truman) met in Potsdam, Germany to negotiate terms for the end of the war -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The United States used atomic bombs to flatten the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and kill tens of thousands of people. -
VJ Day
It was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, ending World War II. -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from authoritarian forces. -
Marshall Plan
A call for a comprehensive program to rebuild Europe. -
NATO
An intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty. -
Mao Zedong & People’s Republic of China
Naming himself head of state, communist revolutionary Mao Zedong officially proclaims the existence of the People's Republic of China. -
Korean War
The Korean War began as a civil war between North and South Korea, but the conflict soon became international. -
Stalin’s death; Khrushchev
After Stalin dies in early March, Khrushchev is selected as one of the five men named to the new office of Secratariat of the Communist Party. -
Warsaw Pact
A treaty establishing a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. -
Vietnam War
The prolonged struggle between nationalist forces attempting to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist government and the United States attempting to prevent the spread of communism. -
Sputnik
The Soviet Union launched teh first articial Earth satellite. -
Bay of Pigs
Cuban exiles launched what became a botched invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the south coast of Cuba. -
Berlin Wall
A barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. It was destoryed on November 9, 1989. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
After the US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy, aimed at Moscow, and the failed US attempt to overthrow Cuba, Khrushchev proposed the idea of placing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to prevent any future invasion attempt. -
Gorbachev
Gorbachev became the first president of the Soviet Union in 1990, and won the Nobel Prize for Peace that same year. -
Soviet Union Falls
The Soviet Union broke into fifteen separate countries.
