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Japan Invades Manchuria
This started the Japanese Aggression against China and Indochina. Japan intended to create a Japanese Sphere of economic domination, trying to solve economic problems through expansion. -
Nuremberg Trials
established the precedent that individuals are responsible for their own actions for future trials on war crimes. The precedents set by the Nuremberg Trials and the conviction of Nazis has not, however, brought an end to genocide throughout the world. -
Munich Pact
Britain and France agreed to allow Hitler to take more land in exchange for Hitler's agreement to seek no more territory after that concession. Hitler broke that pact 6 months later by continuing to take territory, ending the European policy of Appeasment. -
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Kristallnacht
“night of broken glass” (November 9 to November 10, 1938)
Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools, businesses, and killed close to 100 Jews. -
Neutrality Act of 1939
Allowed nations ar war to buy goods from the US if they paid cash upfront and carried the merchandise on their own ship. -
Germany Invades Poland
This led to France and Britain declaring war on Germany. Germany utilized the strategy of Blitzkrieg (lightning war, overwhelming enemy) then quickly invaded France and launched devastating air raids on Britain. -
Lend Lease Act
Congress authorizes Roosevelt to ¨sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend or otherwise dispose of to any such government and defense article¨ which he thought was ¨necessary in the interest of the defense of the United States. -
Atlantic Charter/Atlantic Conference
A broad statement of US and British war aims. It endorsed self-determination and an international system of general security. It also showed FDR's commitment to opposing German and Japanese aggression. -
Executive Order 8802
This prevented ethnic or racial discrimination in the nations defense industry. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Surprise attack launched by the Japanese against Pearl Harbor naval base, as well as nearby airfields. Japan attacked in response to US embargoes and because it saw the US Pacific fleet as a threat to its growing empire. 2400 Americans were killed, 1300 wounded,19 US ships sunk or damaged. -
Executive Order 9066
This order authorized the internment of Americans of Japanese descent and resident aliens from Japan. -
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Battle of Midway
The US used the strategy of island hopping. The goal was to get close enough to the Japanese home islands to launch air attacks in preparation for an invasion. Victory at midway stopped the Japanese advance and put them on the defensive. -
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Operation Torch
the invasion of North Africa was launched to free the Mediterranean Sea from German control and protect the oil fields in the Middle East. Took some pressure off the USSR, but the Soviet’s fierce resistance to the Germans at Stalingrad turned the tide on the eastern front. American and British landings in Italy opened up another front, but still delayed direct attack on Germany. Italy surrendered, but German troops continued to fight in Italy, which tied up Allied troops. -
D-Day (Invasion of Normandy)
The invasion of Normandy on D-Day finally provided the long-awaited western front. Germany was now engaged on 3 fronts and had to divert resources to a western front. -
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Battle of Bulge
The Battle of Bulge was the last German offensive and the beginning of the end for the Nazis. -
Korematsu v. United States
Fred Korematsu was a Japanese American who refused to leave his home per Executive Order 9066 issued in regards to Japanese Americans and resident aliens. He took his case to the Supreme Court, arguing that internment violated his constitutional rights. Korematsu lost and the Supreme Court upheld Japanese internment as Constitutional. -
Yalta Conference
Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin's final plans for the defeat of Europe and began the discussion of Post War European Plans. -
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Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
President Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to prevent the necessity for landing and fighting on the Japanese home islands. Japanese surrendered unconditionally, and no invasion was necessary after the bombs were dropped. -
United Nations is Created
The United Nations was an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international cooperation and to create and maintain international order. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine pledged to contain communism in Europe and was first applied when the United States supplied military and financial aid to Greece and Turkey to resist the communist-backed rebel forces there. -
Marshall Plan
to promote economic rebuilding and prevent the fall of European countries to communism. The Marshall Plan, or Economic Recovery Plan of 1948, was proposed by Sec. of State George Marshall. -
Israel is established
The US supported the self-determination of the Jewish people with the creation of the Jewish state of Israel. The US promptly recognized & supported Israel demonstrates the impact of German war crimes on the conscience of the US & the world. -
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Berlin Airlift
The US supplied the people of Berlin with food, water and other supplies via air drops. -
US Established NATO
established a military alliance aimed at the Soviet Union. -
Soviet Union Test Atomic Bomb
This led the United States to accelerate the development of the hydrogen bomb and began a nuclear arms race. -
Korean Conflict (War)
In 1950, communist North Korea invaded South Korea. The Truman administration believed this invasion had been orchestrated by the Soviet Union and urged the United Nations to take action. The United Nations voted unanimously to demand a ceasefire and support ‘police action’ to defend South Korea.
The majority of troops & financial support for the Korean War came from the United States. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
President Eisenhower intervened in the Suez Crisis in 1956 and extended containment to the Middle East. -
Soviet Launches Sputnik
The space race took off when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. -
National Defense Education Act
the US Congress passed the National Defense Education Act to promote science and math skills, counteract the fear that consumerism had made Americans less competitive and less likely to win the arms race. The arms race raised fears that were reflected in the building of bomb shelters as well as in the popular culture. Eventually, the US took the lead in the space race when the first man landed on the moon (1969). -
Rise of The Berlin Wall
became a symbol of the Cold War to separate East & West Germany and keep people of the eastern bloc from escaping to freedom in the west through Berlin [1962]. -
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Soviets invaded Afghanistan to prop up a friendly government. US-supported Afghan resistance movement (much of it done secretly) because of the containment policy. Soviets withdrew in 1989. Afghan rebel groups evolved into the Taliban, which aided and sheltered Al Qaeda (Osama bin Laden) -
Fall of The Berlin Wall
This considered being the end of the Cold War. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.