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The Great Depression was a time when the stock market crashed and caused the beginning of a world-wide economic decline.
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President Roosevelt was first elected in 1932, and by March there were 13 million people unemployed, and almost all banks were closed. Roosevelt was serve four terms as president.
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The Nuremberg Laws were laws to segregate Jews and make sure that the Jews don’t have any rights left.
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Austria was home to many German speaking people, so many residents of Austria and Germany were welcoming the soldiers and welcoming the idea of becoming part of Germany.
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Great Britain’s Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, met with Adolf Hitler in Munich Germany where they reached an agreement. Hitler promised he would stop trying to get more land, and this way Great Britain and France would avoid war with Germany.
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Kristallnacht means “Night of broken glass”, and it was all anti-Jews pogroms that were widespread and very violent.
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Blitzkrieg means “lightning war”, and this was a war strategy that used speed and surprise through tanks, troops and planes. In less than a month, Poland fell.
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The Final Solution was a plan created by the Nazis to murder every Jew in the world.
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Congress approved the Lend-Lease act, which President Roosevelt had supported. The act let the US lend resources and equipment to the Allies. The US sent the Allies around $50 billion worth of goods.
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Japanese war planes bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack was a total surprise, killing 2,400 servicemen and civilians. Many US warplanes and ships were damaged or destroyed.
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The Tuskegee Airmen were African-American pilots and crew members who served with honor in Northern African and in Europe.
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Executive order 9066 was made to remove all Japanese and Japanese Americans from the pacific coast. Over 110,000 men, women, and children were taken from their homes and shops. They were forced to sell all belongings that the owned.
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The Bataan Death March was when over 70,000 Filipino and American troops surrendered to the Japanese, and then the Japanese forced them to go on a death march. About 10,000 soldiers died on the march from starvation, beatings, or shootings.
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The Manhattan Project was a top secret operation to build the atomic bomb. It took three years for physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team to create the bomb.
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The Battle of Midway was a naval battle between the US and Japan that happened off the island of Midway. The US navy destroyed four Japanese carriers and 250 of their planes.
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After six months of fighting, the US claimed victory on the island of Guadalcanal. Code Talkers, who we Navajo Indians, sent important messages to other code talkers so the Japanese could not break the American’s codes.
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In September of 1942, German forces attacked the Russian city of Stalingrad, and the Soviet army fiercely defended the city. The German commander begged Hitler to retreat, but Hitler refused. The Soviets cut off the German supplies, and thousands of Nazis froze or starve to death before surrendering.
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Rosie the Riveter was an image of a strong woman that was working in a factory. Rosie was used to promote women working in the workplace, instead of just in the house.
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In February of 1944, US Marines invaded Iwo Jima, and later that month they placed the American Flag atop Mount Suribachi, claiming their victory, although there would be fighting for several more days.
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In April 1944, the US invaded Okinawa. It took several months to conquer Okinawa and there were many casualties.
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D-Day was an allied attack on the beaches of Normandy, France. There was three phases to the attack, phase 1 was paratroopers who would be sent down behind enemy forces. Phase 2 was hundreds of bomber planes bombing the beaches, and phase 3 was the troops coming in and attacking the five beaches they had nicknames Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno.
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Hitler launched his final attack in the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg. German troops pushed back the Allies before they regrouped and defeated the Germans.
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All Allied leaders met in the Soviet resort of Yalta where they discussed the end of the war and the future of Europe.
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In April 1945, the Russians advanced on Berlin, and captured it on May 2. Adolf Hitler sensed the end was near, and on April 30 he committed suicide.
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50 nations met in San Francisco to discuss a new peacekeeping organization to replace the weak and ineffective League of Nations.
June 26, 1945 all 50 nations ratified the charter, creating a new international peacekeeping body known as the United Nations. President Roosevelt urged Americans not to turn their backs on the world again. Unlike the leage of nations, the US is a memberd of the UN. -
Allies held the conference to plan the war's end, and the decision was to put Nazi war criminals on trial.
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Hiroshima August 6, 1945
Nagasaki August 9, 1945
After telling Japan to surrender of suffer destruction, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. When they still did not surrender, the US dropped another on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Overall, about 115,000 Japanese people were killed. -
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24 defermants including some of Hitler's top officials, including Goering was the creater and head of Gestapo (Secret Police). They were charged with crimes against humanity. 19 were guilty, 12 were sentenced to death. All people are responsible for their actions even in wartime.
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Congress approved Secretary of State George Marshall's plan to help boost European economies. The US gave more than 13 billion dollars to help the nations of Europe get back on their feet.
