-
Japan attacks Manchuria
Japan invaded Manchuria because it was becoming overcrowded due to its population growth. They wanted land and raw materials that Manchuria had to offer. The Japanese had high hopes of gaining more natural resources to support their massive expansion and militarization. -
Hitler comes to power
Adolf Hitler came to power by a stream of political problems. He began as a soldier and climbed up using propaganda and giving great speeches. Hitler also gained votes by making alliances with other political parties. -
Italy conquers Ethiopia
Italy had tried to conquer in the 1890s but didn't succeed. Ethiopia was one of the few independent states in Africa in 1934. A border incident between Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland that December gave Benito Mussolini an excuse to intervene. -
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War was a military revolt against the Republican government of Spain. When the military failed to win control of the country, a bloody civil war was started. The Nationalists received aid from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The Republicans received aid from the Soviet Union. -
Munich Conference
Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier and Benito Mussolini signed the Munich Agreement which passed possession of Sudetenland to Germany. -
Hitler takes over Sudelenland
Sudetenland contained 3.5 million Germans who had been cut off from the rest of Germany after the creation of Czechoslovakia by the Treaty of Versaille.
Hitler felt he had a right to claim upon the area because he saw it as German land. -
Fall of France
The Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries. Over 90,000 French soldiers lost their lives, within six weeks France had fallen. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a struggle between the German Luftwaffe and the British Royal Air force. It was Germany's plan to win air dominance over Southern Britain and the English Channel by destroying the British air force and aircraft industry. This battle was fought in the air. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii, was attacked by Japanese torpedos and bomber planes. That same day, former President Roosevelt, declared war on Japan. That was America's entry to World War II. -
Hitler begins Final Solution
Hitler's final solution was to assassinate all Jews. Hitler invaded the Soviet Union and gathered up all Jews to kill them. He wanted to get rid of them. -
Germany invades USSR
A large invasion in history took place when over three million German troops invaded the USSR. The invasion broke the treaty signed by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939. -
Atlantic Charter Signed
British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, were joined at Newfoundland for the Atlantic Conference. The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration on the purposes of the war against fascism. -
Battle of Midway
Japanese, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, wanted the US Pacific Fleet to go into a battle where he could easily destroy it. To accomplish this, he planned an invasion of Midway Island which would provide a base for attacking Hawaii. -
D-Day Invasion
Western Allies landed in northern France, starting the "second front" against Germany. Although they had been fighting in mainland Italy for about nine months, the Normandy invasion was in a more important region, it could drive the Germans from France and destroy the National Socialist regime. -
Yalta Conference
A conference between Franklin Roosevelt (U.S.), Josef Stalin (USSR), and Winston Churchhill (Great Britain). They agreed to divide germany into zones. -
V-E Day
V-E Day was the day on which the Allies accepted the surrender from armed forces of Nazi Germany. The Allies had won the war. -
Potsdam Conference
Stalin, Churchill, and Truman, as well as Attlee, who participated with Churchill while waiting the outcome of the 1945 general election, and then replaced Churchill as Prime Minister, had a meeting. They wanted to establish a post-war order, peace treaties issues, and count the effects of war. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
An atomic bomb was thrown over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion destroyed about 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was thrown on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. -
V-J Day
V-J day was the day Japan surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as "Victory over Japan Day".
