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Germany's Lightning Attack
As Hitler seeks to regain his lost land and power over Poland, he has a surprise attack in which German troops and tanks go to the Polish border while their aircrafts fly over Poland and bomb their capital city, Warsaw. This was the first use of the military strategy called blitzkrieg, in which he used a massive amount of troops and aircrafts against the enemy, which takes them by surprise and overwhelms them. -
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World War II
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Britain and France Declare War on Germany
This was these nations' response to Hitler invading Poland (managing to have annexed Poland's Western half); however, Poland falls before either of these countries can help them against the Germans. The British then begin to bomb German boats, and a few weeks later, the French begin their offense on Germany on their Western border. -
French Leaders Surrender
Soon after the Germans overrun Paris and take over Northern France, French leaders are forced to surrender by signing an armistice with the Germans, which stated that the French must bear the German invasion and not fight against it. However, some of the French leaders from the south were disturbed by this and refused to be so easily captured and silenced by the Germans. -
Germans and Americans
Germans give up their day raids over Britain, and resort to night-bombing instead so that the Royal Air Force will not attack them back. This is the beginning of the Battle of Britain.
-Americans manage to crack a secret Japanese code used for their military, and with this they discover what the Japanese plan to do in Southeast Asia, and are able to send the necessary support to China. -
Afrika Korps Strike Back & Lend-Lease Act
Hitler sends the Afrika Korps to aid the Italians against the British in Egypt. These troops, led by Rommel, strike against the British soldiers and later on, the British troops retreat in Tobruk, Lybia.
The president of the United States signed the Lend-Lease Act, in which they could lend or lease arms or other supplies to any country that was vital to them. -
Operation Barbarossa
Joseph Stalin's SpeechHitler was planning on taking/invading the Soviet Union, so on this day, he sends German troops, tanks and aircrafts, which announce the beginning of their invasion to the Soviets. The Soviets were highly unprepared because their troops were untrained. However, they used the same strategy that they used against Napoleon: the scorched-earth strategy, in which they retreated farther into their country and burned what the Germans would find. This led to the Germans retreating because of the winter. -
Roosevelt and Yamamoto
After the Japanese take over Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, Roosevelt decides to cut off their oil shipments to Japan. However, the Japanese planned on attacking the British colonies in Southeast Asia, and the Americans in the Pacific; and Isoroku Yamamoto also called out an attack on Hawaii since he thought it needed to be destroyed. -
Day of Infamy
Roosevelt's SpeechThe Japanese did what was known as the first on-land attack on Pearl Harbor; and in a time span of 2 hours, they managed to sink a total of 19 ships, kill 2300 American soldiers, and leave 1100 wounded. In this same day, they also attacked other places with British or American influence such as: Hong Kong, Guam, Thailand and Wake Island. -
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Final Solution Begins
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Revenge?
After the string of victories for the Japanese, the Allies (mainly the Americans and Australians) wanted to strike back, especially after the incident at Pearl Harbor. So, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, they bomb Tokyo and other Japanese cities. This doesn't really do much damage, however, it does affect the Japanese because they know of what the Allies can do or plan to do. -
The Battle of Midway
June 4 - Americans hide from the view of the oncoming Japanese fleets; and as soon as the Japanese aircrafts began to attack, the American aircrafts and troops swept in to fight back. This strategy turned out to be a success. They were able to destory 332 Japanese planes, all of the aircraft carriers and one support ship. This battle ended on June 7, and it turned the tide on war in the Pacific. -
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The Battle of Midway
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The Wannsee Conference and the Beginning of the Final Solution
The SS soldiers and German government agencies meet in Berlin to discuss the "Final Solution", which is the annihilation of Jews. They began implementing labor and extermination camps, and began to take Jews there. -
Battle of Guadalcanal
General Douglas MacArthur suggested "island-hopping" (only going to the islands with most importance to them), and suggested the island of Guadalcanal to be their first attack, since the Japanese were building an air base there. On August, 7, several U.S. Marines, with the help of Australians, landed on the island of Guadalcanal and its neighboring island. The Battle of Guadalcanal lasted 6 months and ended until Feb. 1943. -
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Battle of Guadalcanal
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D-Day
Letters from the FrontThe Allies began the invasion of Normandy, codenamed: "Operation Overlord." The Germans knew that this invasion was bound to happen, but they weren't prepared because they had not idea where it would be. British, Canadian, French and American troops fought their way into the beaches of Normandy, -
The Battle of the Bulge
Soldiers' Experiences in the BattleSince Germany is facing an attack on both its eastern (Soviets) and western (Allies) fronts, Hitler decides to go against the Allies first, hoping that this victory would lead to the separation of Britain and America as allies. German tanks then broke through the weak American defenses and pushed the Allied lines. However, although this did catch them by surprise, the Allies managed to push the Germans back, and they had to retreat because they didn't have enough reinforcements. -
The Yalta Conference
When it began to become clear that the Allies had won the war, the heads of state of Russia (Stalin), UK (Churchill) and US (Roosevelt) met to determine the fate of post-war Europe. Their conclusions ended up being that: Germany and Austria would be divided into four zones, there would be new German and Polish borders, the denazification and demilitarization of Germany, Nazi war criminals were to be executed and they discussed German reparations and the slave labor of Nazi soldiers. -
Okinawa
General Douglas MacArthur returnss, and leads American troops to take over Japan. However, the Japanese soldiers put up a fight and had deviced a plan to stop them. They would use suicide pilots (kamikaze's) to crash into U.S. ships. On April 1, U.S. troops moved onto the island of Okinawa, located near southern Japan, and fought against the Japanese soldiers. -
German Surrender
General Eisenhower experiences the surrender of the Third Reich from the German military. However, president Roosevelt didn't get to witness this as he died on April 12 that same year. -
Hiroshima Bombing
Albert Einstein's Letter to RooseveltOn that day, a bomber took off from the Tinian Island in the Marinian Islands and dropped the world's first nuclear bomb over the Japanese city, Hiroshima. It wiped out about 90% of the city and killed around 80,000 people upon impact. -
Nagasaki Bombing
Three days after the Hiroshima bombing, another nuclear bomb was dropped upon Nagasaki, in the midst of all of the chaos in Tokyo due to the first nuclear bomb. This bomb killed around 40,000 people. -
Japan Surrenders
Because of the recent bombings in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan's emperor, Hirohito, agrees to sign an act of unconditional surrender in the World War; which brought the Second World War to an end.
