-
Japan and China Officially Declare War
The declaration of war was a long time coming, since the two sides had fought in skirmishes for multiple decades before that. These skirmishes were often fought as a result of Japan’s desire to expand themselves and to gain raw materials and resources, which they could not provide for themselves due to the nature of their island. The catalyst, however, was the Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937, which would force Japan and China to declare war with one another. -
Invasion of Nanking
For a six week period, the Imperial Japanese Army slaughtered hundreds and thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians in Nanking. Their purpose for attempting to capture Nanking through this brutal method was to ensue fear and to control the city for the benefit of their own personal agenda.
Over 300,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians died as a result of this event. -
Hitler Takes Austria and Czechoslovakia
Nazi Germany forcefully took the northern and western provinces of Czechoslovakia in 1938, but was then convinced into signing a treaty called the the Munich agreement, which would basically say that Germany promised not to take any more land in Czechoslovakia or anywhere else. The Munich Agreement would be completely irrelevant to Nazi Germany, however, since they soon took the rest of Czechoslovakia and Austria after the agreement was made. -
Euthanasia Program is Started by Nazis
The Euthanasia Program was essentially a secret mass murder program. The purpose of this program was to eliminate the impure and those who the Nazis deemed unworthy of life from society. This program targeted, at first, children under the age of 5 that had any mental or physical disabilities. The children admitted were either starved or given lethal doses of medication. Since this program proved to be successful, the Nazis ended up gradually incorporating all ages into the program. -
Hitler Attacks Poland
France and Britain within this timeframe followed the policy of appeasement, and allowed Germany to take Czechoslovakia and Austria without much protest. They did however, promise integrity to Poland, and when Germany made the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact with Russia and ended up finally invading Poland, they were forced to retaliate. Germany ended up invading Poland first, and two weeks later the Russian army met the retreating Polish army, resulting in Poland’s eventual loss. -
France and England Declare War on Germany
In retaliation to Germany’s invasion of Poland, France and England declared war on Germany. Their first offensive attempts began with Britain sending anti-Nazi propaganda leaflets to Germany. These leaflets foreshadowed the eventual bombing of German ships in early September of that year. France’s first offensive began two weeks after Britain's bombing, and involved an assault against Germany’s western borders. Germany defenses, however, stalled this offensive. -
Japan Allies Themselves with Germany and Italy
Although there were efforts years before 1940, Japan, Germany, and Italy formally allied themselves in 1940 by signing the Tripartite Pact. The reason for such an alliance rested mostly on the Axis partners’ common interests: the desire for territorial expansion, the creation of an empire, the overthrow of post-World War I international order, and the desire to destroy Soviet Communism. -
Germany Invades Russia
Hitler sent his armies further into Europe for a massive invasion of the Soviet Union, which was codenamed “Operation Barbarossa” . These armies consisted of over 3 million german soldiers, 150 divisions, and 3,000 tanks. The invasion stretched 2,000 miles, covering the front of the North Cape to the Black Sea. Although the Nazi military was at their peak effectiveness, they had underestimated the Soviets, causing them to be undersupplied. This mistake would lead to Germany's loss of the battle. -
Manhattan Project is Started
In 1939, scientists realized that the Axis powers had ways of developing weapons of mass destruction. Scientists Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi expressed their concerns to President Roosevelt. Roosevelt did not believe in the necessity of such a project, but agreed to start one in order to create weapon for the Allies, which was dubbed, “The Manhattan Project”. The project was kept secret to most for four years, until the US revealed they had A-bombs, which would be used against Japan. -
Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
On Dec. 7th of 1941, Japan surprise attacked the US Naval Base in Hawaii. Around 2,403 Americans were killed, 180 US aircraft were sunk and 18 US Naval vessels were sunk or destroyed. The surprise attack shocked the US, and it was known without a doubt that FDR would soon declare war on Japan. The US was already very close to joining the war, but stayed neutral by sending supplies to the Allies insead of fighting. They then realized this was a mistake, and ultimately entered combat in WWII. -
FDR Asks Congress to Declare War on Japan
A day after the surprise attack on the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, President FDR convinced Congress to declare war on Japan through his speech, which was one of the most memorable speeches of his career. Although there had been some intelligence reports sent to Roosevelt before the bombing warning of an upcoming attack on the US, he still sent American diplomats to negotiate with the Japan in hopes the US could avoid it. This failed however, and the US knew they had to declare war on Japan. -
Japan Invades the Phillipines
The invasion of the Philippines began with the attack on Clark Air Base in Pampanga, followed by the attack on the Nicholas Field outside of Manila. Before the Japanese proceeded to the city, General Douglas MacArthur of the Filipino military declared Manila an open city to avoid its destruction.
MacArthur and his troops soon retreated to Bataan, where the soldiers surrendered on April 9th, 1942. The 76,000 soldiers were captured (excluding MacArthur, who had retreated) as POWs. -
Germany and Italy Declare War on US
Three days earlier, the US had declared war on the third axis power, Japan. Since the three axis powers had signed the Tripartite Pact previously, the other two axis powers had to agree to wage war also, Benito Mussolini, Italy’s dictator, had instantly declared war on the US with no hesitation. Hitler, however, was much more reluctant, in that he had tried to avoid conflict with the US. He eventually did declare war because the pact required him to do so. -
Battle of Stalingrad Occurs
The successful defense of Stalingrad is considered the greatest battle of the entire European Theater. This battle was Germany’s second attempt at taking Russia, but had also failed due to how undersupplied they were, the amount of time in which the battle had taken, and the fact that Russian civilians were more than willing to fight against them. Hitler had been very obsessed with Russia because he wanted to make it a living space for the Aryan race. Over 20 million Russians died as a result. -
The Bataan Death March Occurs
The American and Filipino POWs captured by the Japanese in the invasion of the Philippines were forced to participate in an approximate 60-mile march to prison camps. Due to the intense heat and harsh treatment of the prisoners by their Japanese captors, many died in the Bataan Death March. The prisoners in the march were often mistreated by their captors by being starved, beaten, or bayoneted if they were too weak to continue marching. It is said 10,000-13,000 died in the five day march. -
Battle of Midway Occurs
The Battle of Midway was the most crucial battle in the Pacific Theater, since the Allied victory allowed the them to take the offensive.The Japanese had actually planned to ambush the Allied forces at Midway, but due to a major advancement in breaking the Japanese codes, the Allies were able to successfully counter the Japanese attack. This ended up inflicting irreversible damage onto the Japanese Navy, with a staggering loss of over 5,000 Japanese soldiers, 4 aircraft carriers, and 322 planes. -
Rosie the Riviter is Created
Rosie the Riveter was the US government’s propaganda campaign that led to the drastic increase in women in the work force. The start of WWII left large gaps in the industrial workforce, therefore the Rosie the Riveter campaign aimed to fill the gaps with women. The two industries that saw the most increase in workers as a result of the campaign were the aviation and munition industries. Rosie, who was partly based on a real munitions-worker, became the iconic image of working women in WWII. -
FDR Creates the War Refugee Board
The War Refugee Board was a US agency created in the light of the State Department keeping the news of the Holocaust secret from the US public. The agency’s purpose was to attempt to rescue those who fell victim to the brutality of the Nazis, which was mainly Jews. Since the board was created after t85% of the Jews were killed, their effectiveness wasn’t impressive. Other factors influenced their effectiveness also, including the lack of resources and multiple conflicts within the government. -
D-Day Occurs
D-Day, which was given the codename “Operation Overlord”, was the battle that gave the Allies a hold in Europe, and started the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. D-Day, which involved storming the beaches of Normandy, France, was one of the largest land, air, and sea battles to date. The Allies had tricked Hitler into thinking D-Day was taking place somewhere else, which aided the Allied victory. More than 4,000 Allied soldiers died in the battle. -
Battle of the Bulge Occurs
The Nazis’ goal was to split the Allied forces in Northwest Europe by a large blitzkrieg attack through the Ardennes to the Belgian city of Antwerp.The American forces stationed at the targeted location were very unexperienced and damaged, so the blitzkrieg attempt surprised them. The Nazis, however, had run into a shortage of fuel, and American Lieutenant General George had also made a crucial decision to turn the US Army’s focus to the overwhelmed town of Bastogne, aiding the Allies victory. -
Yalta Conference Occurs
The Yalta Conference was a meeting in which the three Allied leaders, Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt, determined the fate of Nazi Germany. The results of this meeting were kept secret from people at the time. It was decided that Germany would be split into 4 zones, and each would be ruled by either of the Allies or France. These zones would be allowed to hold free elections, which Stalin nullified by forcing Soviet rule on his zone. -
Battle of Iwo Jima Occurs
The amphibious battle fought at Iwo Jima, from which the iconic image of marines raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi was created, arose from the fact that the Allies needed a base closer to the coast of Japan. After continuously bombing the island, the US stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima. The fighting was very arduous due to the fact that the Japanese fought from a large network of caves which were difficult to track and destroy. It took a month of fighting for the Allies to win. -
Battle of Okinawa Occurs
The Battle of Okinawa was the last and biggest island battle of the Pacific Theater, which resulted in 200,000 Japanese casualties and 19,000 American casualties. 287,000 American soldiers and 130,000 Japanese soldiers total participated in this bloody battle. The purpose for this island battle was that there were airbases on the island that the US needed for the then anticipated invasion of Japan. The commanding generals of both sides, Buckner and Mitsuru, died during the Battle of Okinawa. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
Hitler, afraid to be tried for war crimes, committed double suicide with his recently married wife Eva in his underground bunker on April 30th 1945. Having been warned by his officers that the Russians would soon overtake the chancellery (Hitler’s base of operations), Hitler chose to commit suicide instead of escaping to his home in Berchtesgaden. Hitler and his wife took cyanide pills after testing them on the their dog. As a safeguard, Hitler shot himself in the head to ensure his death. -
V-E Day Occurs
On V-E day, or Victory in Europe day, cities across the world started celebrating the defeat of the Nazis. The Germans had finally surrendered, which was formally realized when the Nazis quit firing on their opponents. Some German forces would continue fighting their Soviet aggressors until the next day, in which they finally saw that defeat was imminent and surrendered also, therefore V-E day was not celebrated in Moscow until May 9th. -
Potsdam Declaration Occurs
After the recent win in the European Theater, the leaders of the three Allied powers met for the last of the World War II meetings in Potsdam, Germany. A declaration was made during the meeting, which gave an ultimatum to Japan: to surrender or face complete and utter decimation. The ultimatum was foreshadowing the atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although this was not made known to Stalin, for Truman nor Churchill trusted him enough to let him know about it. -
Bomb is Dropped on Hiroshima
Hiroshima, which was the first target to due its importance to the Japanese military, was left in ruin by theAtomic bomb, “Little Boy”. As promised by the Potsdam Declaration, the casualties of the detonation of Little Boy by the Enola Gay, the American B-29 bomber, over a hospital in Hiroshima were staggering. 80,000 Japanese died from the initial explosion, with thousands more dying as a result of after effects of the bomb. 60,000 more Japanese would die throughout the year from radiation. -
Bomb is Dropped On Nagasaki
Following the detonation of Little Boy in Hiroshima, the plutonium bomb “Fat Man” was detonated over Nagasaki by another B-29 bomber, the Bockscar. The Japanese had not yet surrendered, so the US decided to drop a second bomb on another militarily beneficial city, Nagasaki. 60 to 80 thousand Japanese were believed to have perished due to the bombing of Nagasaki. Due to the destruction of the second bombing, Emperor Hirohito announced the Japanese surrender 6 days later.
