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Rhineland
On March 7, 1936, Hitler sent German troops into the Rhineland. The Rhineland was part of Germany, but, according to the Treaty of Versailles, it was a demilitarized area. France had the right to use force against any violation of the demilitarized Rhineland but would not act without British support. -
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World War II main events
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World War II starts
Germany invades poland by launching the blitzkrieg. Poland had a two million men army, and they were easily defeated. The british then declared war on Germany on September 3rd. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~knigh20c/classweb/index1.html -
Blitzkrieg against Denmark and Norway
After a winter break, Hitler resumed the attack on April 9, 1940, with another blitzkrieg against Denmark and Norway. A blitzkrieg means a "lightning war". http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005437 -
Germans bomb british cities
Luftwaffe, German airforce, bombed British air and naval bases, harbors, communication centers, and war industries. The British had an effective radar system that told them when Germany was coming. However, by the end of August the British airforces had suffered critical losses. http://bazze.deviantart.com/art/Backbone-of-the-Luftwaffe-127506616 -
National Scientific Research and Development
President Roosevelt creates "National Scientific Research and Development"(NDRC) to mobilize the nation's scientists and engineers to work for the war efforts. Starts out with the "Uranium Committee" that later becomes the Manhattan Project. NDRC sponsors development of radar, medicines, electronics, computing, and a host of other technologies. -
Battle for Tobruk begins
The British were successful in removing the Italians from Egypt, and there next victory was at Tobruk in Lybia. 30,000 Italians gave in to a mainly Australian force in late January, 1942. These Allied victories led Hitler to appoint Field Marshal Erwin Rommel as commander of Axis forces in North Africa. http://www.northlandts.blogspot.com -
The first gassing
The Natzi's kept people at death camps. The death camp was called Auschwitz. At one of six of the Natzi prison camps in Poland the gassed the prisoners for the first time. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/26/boxing-for-bread-a-forgotten-story-from-auschwitz/ -
U.S. begins nuclear bomb program
The U.S. begins a crash program to develop an atomic bomb. Code-named the Manhattan Project, it is the latest research and development project in American history to that date. British and Canadian scientists are transferred to the project, which will eventually cost over $2billion and employ more than 100,000 people. -
japan attacks Pearl Harbor
Japan declares war U.S. and Britain. 2,350 Amerincan were killed. The US Pacific Fleet in Battleship Row was severely crippled. Twenty-nine Japanese aircraft were drowned. Roosevelt told a stunned Congress December 7 was "a date which will live in infamy." The US will now fight against Japan and Germany, but fight with Britain. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm -
U.S. declares war on japan
A day after Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, we declare war on Japan. When japan bombed Pearl Harbor The United states aer officially in the war now. -
Battle of Midway Island
This was the turning point of the war. It was in Asia at the Battle of Midway Island. U.S. planes destroyed four attacking Japanese aircraft carriers. The United States defeated the Japanese navy and established naval superiority in the Pacific. http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/world-war-ii-battle-of-midway-and-the-aleutian-campaign/100137/ -
"Unconditional Surrender" policy
Roosevelt announced that America will only accept an "unconditional surrender" from the Axis powers. The Axis powers are Germany, Japan, and Italy. This required the Axis nations to surrender without any favorable condition. This policy made it nearly impossible for Hitler to divide his foes. -
German Surrenders at Stalingrad
At Stalingrad Germany is forced to surrender. The German troops were stopped, they encircled, and supply lines were cut off, all in frigid winter conditions. Hitler knew not ever Germany could defeat the Soviet Union. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad -
The Colossus computer
This computer begins operating in Englandat Bretchley Park in December of 1943. This was used for code-breaking purposes. -
D-Day
Allied forces under U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower landed on the Normandy beaches in history’s greatest naval invasion. The Allies fought their way past underwater mines, barbed wire, and horrible machine gun fire. Within three months, the Allies had landed two million men and a halfmillion vehicles. Allied forces then pushed inland and broke through German defensive lines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings -
Paris is liberated
In Paris, resistance fighters rose up against the occupying Germans. The Allies liberated Paris by the end of August. -
Allied firebombing of Dresden
THis bombing created a firestorm that may have killed one hundred thousand inhabitants and refugees. Germany suffered enormously. The bombing ruined the city. -
Hitler commits suicide
In Hitler's final political testament, he, consistent to the end in his anti-Semitism, blamed the Jews for the war. He wrote, “Above all I charge the leaders of the nation and those under them to scrupulous observance of the laws of race and to merciless opposition to the universal poisoner of all peoples, international Jewry.”Seven days after Hitler committed suicide, German commanders surrendered. -
Japan Surrenders
THis occured after the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Emporer Hirohito forced japanese military leaders to surrender. This is when the war ended. There were a total of 17 million deaths. -
Hiroshima
Truman decided to use the bombs in the first place. The U.S. launches atomic bombs on Hiroshima. They killed as many as 140,000 people. We later dropped a second one on Nagasaki. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atomic_cloud_over_Hiroshima.jpg
