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China falls to Japan
China oficially surrendered to the Japanese, and they conrolled the first main country in the Pacific. This was important because Japan could now take advantage of the other Pacific islands and their resources because China had been taken care of. -
Blitzkrieg into Poland
The German army advanced into Poland. They had already taken much of Europe. Hitler wanted to extend his influence into Poland as well and take over another important European territory. They captured Poland quickly along with Soviet support and an unprepared Polish army, but this marked the first time that the Allies had taken a committed stand to stop Hitler. -
Battle of the Atlantic
It was a campaign that tried to defeat Germany. This was important because this was the plan the US needed to employ to defeat Germany. -
German invasion of France
The Germans invaded France and took it in just 10 days. To maintain control, they set up a puppet government in Vichy.This is important because they then used France as a springboard for capturing all of the other nations in Europe. -
Dunkirk
The British escaped from France as it fell under German occupation. This was important because Britain was now the only nation in Europe not under German control. -
Battle of Britain/Operation Sealion
Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) battled the German Lauftwaffe and outlasted them. The invention of radar also helped them see German planes more clearly, and the British Spitfires were much quicker planes than the Lauftwaffe planes. This is important because it prevented the Germans from taking Britain and gaining control over all of Europe and still let out a little bit of hope to the US. -
Germany takes Greece
Germany took over Greece on April 16, 1941. This was important because it extended Germany's power into all of Europe except for Britain. -
Operation Barbarossa
Germany invaded the Soviet Union and attacked the cities of Stalingrad and Kursk. This is important because the Russians held their ground and pushed Germany out of their territory, preventing Germany from gaining access to oil fields in the Middle East. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese navy attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and killed more than 2,400 Americans. This is important because they almost wiped out all of the US navy's power in the Pacific except for a few aircraft carriers. -
Philippines 1942
The Philippines were invaded by Japan, and General Douglass MacArthur had no choice but to surrender the US troops. This is important because it marked Japanese control of the Philippines, another important territory in the Pacific. -
New Guinea
Japan took control of New Guinea, a long standing Fench colony. This is important because the Japanese had taken yet another piece of land in the Pacific. -
Bataan (battle and march)
In the Bataan Death March, 10,000 American troops died from hunger and disease as they marched to a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines after Generl MacArthur's troops had been captured.This was important because it temporarily halted the US advance in the Pacific. -
Doolittle Raid
Lieutenant Colonel James Doolitle ordered US aircraft carriers to fly to and bomb Tokyo. They would then land in China. This was important because bombing Tokyo boosted the morale of the American people. -
Island Hopping
This is the strategy that the US used to capture Japan. This was important because it was the US's plan to gain control of the Japanese mainland. -
Coral Sea
The US sent forces from Australia to fight Japan near the Solomon Islands. Both sides had aircraft carriers, but neither attacked at all. This is important because the Americans used Navajo translators to break the Japanese code and kept them from advancing in the Pacific. -
Midway
The Japanese tried to attack the Midway Islands and eliminate the US as a threat in the Pacific. The Americans learned of the attack through the Navajo codebreakers and won the battle. This is important because it kept the US alive in the war in the Pacific. -
El Alamein
The US and Britich troops halted the advance of German and Italian troops into Cairo, Egypt. This is important because the Allies could now use Egypt as a base for invading the rest of North Africa and could get supplies through the Suez Canal. -
Stalingrad
The Soviets held off the Germans and caught more than 300,000 of their troops. This was important because the Germans could no longer fight an offensie war in Europe or gain access to oil in the Middle East. -
Operation Torch
The Allies made a plan to invade North Africa. They defeated General Rommel and his Afrika Korps for the Germans. This is important because the Allies now had control of North Africa and had a chance to invade Italy. -
Guadalcanal
The Allies learned how to use the tactic of jungle fighting to thjeir advantage against the Japanese. This is important because the US could now invade more and more Japanese islands in the Pacific. -
Kursk
The Soviets once again held off the Germans at another Russian city. This was important because it stopped the German ofensive once and for all in Eastern Europe. -
Sicily
The Allies invaded the Italian island of Sicily. This is important because it helped them get further into Italy and gain contol of Mussolini's government. -
Salerno
The Alliers landed in this area of Italy to start the invasion. It was important because this helped them get further and further into Italy. -
Gilbert & Marshall Islands
The US established airfields here to aid in the fight against Japan. This was important because it gave the US more resources to fight the Japanese with. -
Anzio
The Allied trops took contol of Italy and went back behind enemy German and Italian lines. This was important because Germany took over Italy and fought on even after it collapsed, making it hard for the Allies to invade further until they received more help from across Europe in France. -
D-Day
General Eisenhower and the Allies invaded the coast of Normandy, France. They had trouble, but they still took Paris and regained France. This was important because it helped the Allies break into Germany. -
Guam
The US finally took back Guam from the Japanese. This was important because it signalled a return of US naval power in the Pacific. -
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the name for the Allied invasion of France. They took down the Vichy government and found Charles de Gaulle. This was important because it completed the Allied invasion of France. -
Philippines 1944-45
The US gained back control of the Philippines from Japan. This was important because it signalled that territory in the Pacific as returning to US control once again. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The US fought the Japanese near the Philippines in what was the largest naval battle in history. The US completely obliterated the Japanese navy and aircraft carriers and virtually ended their hopes of fighting offensively in the Pacific anymore. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germans unexpectedly attacked the center of the Allied troops in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. This resulted in heavy losses for the Allies and the Germans and prevented them from getting into Germany for about another month. This was important because it was the last German offensive during the war, and the Allies invaded Berlin soon after. -
Bastogne
The Allies laid siege to the Belgain town of Bastogne in The Battle of the Bulge, the last German offensive during the war. It was important because it signalled that the end was near for Germany. -
Yalta Conference
FDR, Churchill, and Stalin met and agreed that the Soviet Unon would old free election in Poland after the war. They also agreed to defeat Japan together and stick to democracy around the world after the war. This was important because Stalin did not hold true to his word and tried to take control of Eastern Europe after the war. FDR had little choice but to accept the terms. -
Iwo Jima
The US troops defeated a heavily guarded Japanese island, even though it lost a significant amount of men in the process. This was important because the US had now started to take back many Japanese islands in the Pacific, and the tide was beginning to turn. -
Okinawa
The US started to invade the Japanese mainland. Kamikaze pilots in Okinawa did everything they could to stop them, including planes filled with explosives, but the US held tough. This is important because the US could now start the invasion of Tokyo. -
Hitler's Suicide
Knowing that the Allies were in Berlin, Hitler shot himself while his girlfriend, Eva Braun, ingested a cyanide pill. His dead body was buried in a hallow grave by a few loyal servants. It was important because Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allies just a week later. -
German Surrender
The Germans unconditionally surrendered to the Allies on May 7, 1945. This is important because it marked the end of World War II in Europe. -
Potsdam
Harry S.Truman, Churchill, and Stalin met in Potsdam, Germany to work out the boundaries of post-war Europe and discuss how Europe and the rest of the world should be rebuilt after the war. They also agreed to split up Germany into four democratic zones after the war. It was important because it settled all war conflicts and tried to restore a degree of normalcy to a destroyed Europe. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, another atomic bomb was dropped, this one on Nagasaki. This is important because when the Japanese government saw the effects of the atomic bomb, they did not want to risk more civilian lives being lost and unconditionally surrendered to the Allis on September 2, 1945. The war in the Pacific between the US and Japan had finally come to a close. -
Japanese Surrender
Emperor Hirohito and the Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945, after the Us had already dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, instantly destroying almost all of those cities. Almost 100,000 had died later from burns or radiation poisoning. This was important because it marked the end of World War II in the Pacific for good.
