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Japan's Invasion of China
Japan began to invade China immediately after the Mukden Incident and continued to do so for many years after. They created a puppet government in China in 1934, and they starrted a full-blown war in 1937. -
Germany Invades Poland
The Polish army fell easily at the hands of the Germans. Due to this invasion, Great Britain and France officially declared war on Germany. -
Lend-Lease Act
The main way of America lending aide to outside countries. It allowed the president to give money or arms for which Congress gave money to. -
Battle of Britain
When the German air force, led by Hitler, attempted to invade Great Britain. The British were successful in defending their country due to their advanced equipment. The battle began with bombs being dropped on British ports. The main air attack was called "Adlerangriff". -
Tripartite Pact
Pact that allied Italy, Germany, and Japan. It insured that they would help the others if they went to war. -
Germany takes Leningrad
The Nazis took over the city and with its 600,000+ starving people, it "fell like a leaf". -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
The turning point of World War II. Hitler lost brutally. -
Pearl Harbor Bombing
A surprise Japanese naval attack in Hawaii; the climax of Japanese and American tensions. Over 20 American ships were damaged/destroyed. The total United States' casualties were over 3,000 people, with over 2,000 injured. -
Formation of the U.N.
First used in 1942 when 26 countries pledged to continue fighting against the Axis powers. -
Wannsee Conference
Meeting of Nazi powers to discuss the "Jewish Question". The final decision were gas vans that were able to kill 1,000 people a day. -
Battle of Midway
Battle fought over the US mid-Pacific base at Midway toll. Represented the the high mark of the Japanese Pacific War. After this battle, the united states switched to being offensive versus being defensive in the beginning. -
D-Day
The day that the Allies invaded northern France by beach invasion. -
Yalta Conference
Meeting of Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and president Roosevelt when World War II was winding down. -
Iwo Jima/Okinawa
The battle in which America fought for and captured the Japanese island Iwo Jima. -
Hitler’s suicide
Hitler was hidden in an air-raid shelter and took cyanide before shooting himself with a pistol. -
Marshall Plan
The American initative to help Europe after the end of World War II in an attempt to stop the spread of communism. -
VE Day
The day that Germany surrendered, which marked the Allied powers victory in Europe. -
Potsdam Conference
An Allied conference, held in a Berlin suburb. The main countries attending were the United States, Britain, and the Soviets. They officially declared to Germany that they would allow them to rebuild their country peacefully. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The first bomb, on Hiroshima, killed 90% of the city's population. The second bomb, on Nagasaki was dropped 3 days later. The majority were killed by the explosion itself but radiation poisoning led to thousands of more deaths. These bombings forced Japan to surrender on August 15, 1945. -
VJ Day
The day that Japan stopped fighting in World War II. They officially surrendered on September. -
Truman Doctrine
Declared immediate economic and military aide to Greece and Turkey because they were threatened. -
NATO
NATO, or the North American Treaty Organization, was created in 1949 in response to Soviet threats. -
Mao Zedong & People’s Republic of China
The claiming of the People's Republic was the climax of the battle between communism and socialism in China. -
Korean War
Communist North Korea invaded South Korea during the cold war of the United States and Russia. The U.N. decided to help South Korea and lost many lives. -
Stalin's Death/Khrushchev's Rise to Power
Stalin had ruled for about 30 years. When he died, there was a power struggle between Nikita Khrushchev and Georgi Malenkov. Finally, Khrushchev won the majority and took power in March of 1953. -
Warsaw Pact
Established a mutual-defense organization including the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania -
Vietnam War
A very long, very expensive war over the communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam, with the United States as an ally. -
Sputnik
The release of 10 artificial-Earth satellites by the Soviet Union that began the 'Space Age'. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The attempted, and failed, attack on Cuba's communist government, led by Fidel Castro. The invaders were CIA trained by the United States. The attack only made things worse between the US and Cuba. Most likely the cause of the Cuban Missle Crisis. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin wall was created to seperate the eastern, or Soviet, side of the city from the English, or western side. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States had a political/military stand off over the production of nuclear weapons in China. -
Soviet Union Falls
On Christmas, 11 countries said they didn't want to be a part of the Soviet Union anymore and wanted to form sovereign states. The empire couldn't take the pressure and collapsed shortly there after.
