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Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
This invasion of China occurred long before the war in Europe began but it did alert America to Japan’s attempt to expand its empire and gave some military units like the Marine Corps and Navy time to prepare to fight in the Pacific theater. -
Hitler made Chancellor of Germany
After Hitler became chancellor of Germany he began to rearm the country and turned it into a dictatorship. Under his rule the military vastly expanded and the unemployment in the country began to fall. -
The Munich Pact
The Munich Pact was an agreement between Germany, Great Britain, and France that in exchange for the Sudetenland, the Germans would stop conquering countries. Germany agreed to this but eventually completely ignored it. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht was a night during which Jewish synagogues, businesses, and homes were attacked, burned, and vandalized. Following this event conditions grew steadily worse for the Jewish population until the “Final Solution” was put in place. -
Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland was what sparked World War II in Europe and was the reason France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. -
Dunkirk
Dunkirk was the site of a mass evacuation of British and French troops across the English Channel to escape the advancing German army. This was the last place of resistance in Europe and with its fall almost all of Europe fell under control of the Axis. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
A Japanese surprise attack on the American fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This attack is what caused Americans to become willing to join World War II. -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was a forced march of captured American and Filipino troops from the Bataan Peninsula to prisoner of war camps in San Fernando. This forced march killed thousands of soldiers and fueled the anti-Japanese sentiments in the US. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a significant event because it not only prevented the Japanese invasion of the Midway Islands, a strategic center for the defense of Hawaii and the West Coast, but also severely crippled the Japanese fleet by destroying several of its aircraft carriers. -
D-Day
The landing of Allied forces on the beaches of Normandy, France created a foothold in Europe and made another front for the Germans to have to fight on. This forced the Germans to have to spread out their forces in an attempt to stop the Allies advance and draw forces from other fronts to fight. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was the last great offensive the Germans mounted on the Western Front in World War II. It succeeded in driving Allied forces back almost 50 miles but failed to turn the tide of the war or even slow Germany’s defeat. This was also the bloodiest battle that Americans had been in since the Civil War. The Battle of the Bulge was won largely in part due to the American units in the city of Bastogne, who held the strategic crossroad point while completely surrounded -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta conference was a meeting between Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill to discuss what to do after the war ended and what would happen with the German homeland. They also discussed the USSR joining in with the war against Japan. -
VE Day
The day that Germany surrendered officially ending World War II in Europe, but the war in the Pacific wouldn’t end until September. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima
The bombing of Hiroshima was a major event because it is the one of the only times in world history that a nuclear weapon was used against an inhabited target. It also scared the USSR into creating their own nuclear weapons is what would become and arms race known as the Cold War. -
VJ Day
The day that the Japanese surrendered unconditionally to the US and ended World War II