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The burning of the Reichstag allowed the Nazi party within Germany to suspend almost all civil liberties in Germany by exploiting public fear of a Communist plot and seize near complete control of the country. -
The Nuremberg laws were a set of antisemitic and racist decrees issued by Hitler and the Nazi party that forbade marriages and relations between Jews and German citizens, along with stripping Jews of German citizenship. Would be expanded to also include Romani and Black people as well -
Nazi Germany marched forces into the Rhineland, a piece of land on the western part border of Germany that constituted a major portion of the German industrial base. It was demilitarized in the Treaty of Versailles and Germany violated the treaty by marching forces into it. Great Britain and France issued a diplomatic protest but did not take serious action, thus beginning the policy of appeasement. -
A small skirmish broke out between Japanese and Chinese forces in northern China, this would lead to larger scale fighting and mark the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War -
This was the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany. It was carried out peacefully and was justified through linguistic, political, cultural, and historical ties between the two countries but marked the first step in Nazi territorial expansion. -
The Munich agreement was a meeting that ceded Germany the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, a region along the Czechoslovak border that was primarily made up of ethnic Germans. Britain, under the leadership of Neville Chamberlain, and France decided to appease Hitler under the promise that he take no more land in Europe. Of further note is that the Czechoslovaks had no say in this meeting whatsoever and were not present. Czechoslovakia would later be fully annexed by Germany in march of the 1939. -
Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, was a series of attacks carried out by German civilians and paramilitaries throughout Nazi Germany. Was an indication of further anti-semitic prosecution by Hitler and the Nazi Party -
Nazi Germany led by Hitler and the Soviet Union led by Stalin, two countries diametrically opposed to each other, sign a non-aggression pact. -
German forces, under the pretenses of a false flag attack on a German outpost, invade Poland and begin WW2. -
Following the collapse of the majority of the French army, due to the incompetence of the French generals and the new Blitzkrieg tactics used by the German army, and the fall of Paris, the French surrender to Nazi Germany. -
A massive, prolonged aerial campaign over Britain wherein the Luftwaffe attempted to destroy the Royal Air Force as well as open up Britain to greater bombing raids and eventual invasion. Would prove a decisive British victory and prevent a German invasion.
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This was the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler issued these orders due the ideological incompatibility between Fascism and Communism, a need for greater resources (primarily oil), fears that Stalin would soon invade him anyways, and lastly because the Nazi party wished to seek Lebensraum (living space) for the German people. Barbarossa marked the opening of the Eastern Front of WW2.
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"A day which will live in infamy", this surprise attack on the US Navy stationed in Hawaii by the Japanese navy, forces of whom were led by Admiral Yamamoto, marked the point at which the United States entered WW2. While large amounts of obsolete battleships and other smaller vessels were destroyed, the vitally important aircraft carriers were spared by being away from the harbor at the time. US President at the time, Franklin Roosevelt, makes a famous speech following the attack. -
Having begun their invasion of the Philippines a few months earlier, the Japanese forces finally managed to force American troops under Douglas MacArthur to surrender despite putting up fierce resistance. POWs would be treated terribly, leading to such atrocities as the Baatan Death March. -
This massive naval engagement near the atoll of Midway marked the turning point in the Pacific Theater. Due to suffering massive losses in this battle, and an inability to replace ships, the Imperial Japanese Navy would never again launch a successful, major offensive following their defeat at Midway by American forces under Chester Nimitz. -
This was a major turning point in the North Africa campaign and marked the beginning of the Axis retreat out of Africa.
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German forces attempted a massive offensive into the Caucuses in order to capture Soviet oil fields in Azerbaijan. Large amounts of forces would be funneled into Stalingrad and eventually large amounts of German troops would be surrounded and force to surrender. This marked a massive turning point for the Eastern Front. -
Operation overlord, also known as D-Day, saw the amphibious landing of massive amounts of troops in Northern France. Orchestrated by General Eisenhower, this reopened the Western Front in Europe and proved that Nazi Germany's days were numbered. -
The largest German concentration camp and extermination camp, Aushwitz, was liberated by Soviet forces. Many of the prisoners had already been force marched out of the camp to other facilities further west by the time the Soviets arrived. An estimated 1 million people died at Auschwitz, a large percentage of the 11 million total and 6 million Jews that were victims of the Holocaust -
The capture of Iwo Jima was significant for granting an airfield to the United States that was extremely close to the Japanese Home Islands thus allowing for greater bombing raids on Japan. American forces launched an amphibious invasion of the island and faced extremely stiff resistance by well entrenched forces of the Japanese army but eventually were able to secure the island. -
Soviet forces surround and capture Berlin. Hitler's forces attempt a desperate defense of the city, even conscripting children of the Hitler Youth and the old and infirm through the Volksturm. Hitler commits suicide on April 30th and fighting within Berlin ends a few days afterwards. -
This marks the day in which fighting officially ended in Europe following the unconditional surrender of the remaining German forces. -
The culmination of the Manhattan Project, begun under F.D.R. and continued under Truman, culminated in the first successful detonation of a nuclear weapon. Would eventually lead to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. -
Harry Truman, then president following the death of F.D.R, orders the dropping of an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was done in order to prompt the Japanese under the military leadership of Hideki Tojo, as well as nominally controlled by Emperor Hirohito, to surrender. Despite the massive loss of life they still refused. This marked the first use of a nuclear weapon in war. -
Harry Truman ordered another atomic bomb dropped on Japan in order to further persuade them to surrender. After seeing this, Japanese Emperor Hirohito surrendered unconditionally despite some members of his military wishing to fight on. -
Victory over Japan Day marks the day wherein the Japanese formally signed documents of surrender.
