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Japan's invasion of China
Japan launched a full scale invasion of China trying to control more territory. They won many victories and gained control of cities such as Shanghai and Nanjing -
Germany invades Poland
Germany moved into Poland unannounced and used their surprise, stealth, and quickness for their conquest. They stunned the world with their blitzkrieg (lightning war) and sudden victory. -
Battle of Britan
This was a battle between British and German Air Forces which turned out to be a decisive victory and a turning point for Britian. -
Tripartite pact
Japan signed a ten-year military and economic pact with Germany and Italy to align itself with other revisionist nations. -
Lend-Lease Act
The United States "lent" destroyers and other war goods to the British in return for the lease of naval bases. The program later extended to other countries. -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
Germany tried to invade the Soviet Union with a surprise attack and seemed assured of victory as they captured many important parts of the Soviet Union. However, German Blitzkrieg tactics were not very effective and the underestimated Soviet troops were able to inflict heavy losses to the Germans. -
Germany takes Leningrad
German troops attacked Leningrad and tried to take over as part of Operation Barbarossa. This siege was one of the longest and most destructive in history. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Japanese bombers, fighters, and torpedo planes attacked Hawaii and destroyed many ships and devastated the American naval power in the Pacific. This lead to the United States joining and fighting in World War II. -
Wannsee Conference
This was meeting of senior officials of Nazi Germany to discuss and coordinate. The implementation of the final solution. They agreed to evacuate all Jews from Europe to camps in eastern Poland where they would be worked to death or exterminated. -
Battle of Midway
The United States Navy was able to defeat the Japanese as they sunk many of the Japanese aircraft carriers. This was a turning point in the war and was one of the most important battles. -
D-Day
British and United States troops landed on the French coast of Normandy and began fighting. They leveled many German cities and German resistance faded. The fighting was deadly for both sided and the Germans were overwhelmed. -
Yalta Conference
This was the second wartime conference between the three principal Allied leaders. The main issue was about how to deal with the liberated countries of Eastern Europe. -
Iwo Jima/Okinawa
These islands were crucial during the island-hopping strategy of the United States. The fighting was savage and the Japanese were very defensive. This convinced many Americans that Japan would never surrender but after the conquest of these two islands, Japan became much easier to attack for the United States. -
Hitler's suicide
Hitler and many of his Nazi compatriots committed suicide a week before Germany's surrender. -
VE Day
This is the day when Germany unconditionally surrendered and ended the war in Europe. -
Potsdam Conference
This took place in a Berlin suburb as the last wartime summit conference of the Allies. The major focus was on the immediate Allied control of Germany, the occupation of Austria, and the demarcation of the boundaries of Poland. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States used its revolutionary new weapon, the atomic bomb, on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as its final blow. This was very disastrous for Japan and killed upwards of 200,000 people. -
VJ Day
This is when Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allies and ended World War II. -
Formation of the U.N.
Many of the world superpowers created the United Nations to maintain world peace and promote friendly relations. -
Truman Doctrine
This stated that the United States would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent them from falling into Soviet ideology. This can be seen as the beginning of the Cold War. -
Marshall Plan
This was a plan developed by the United States to help shore up destroyed infrastructures of Western Europe. This proposed to rebuild European economies through cooperation and capitalism -
NATO
The United States established NATO as a military alliance against Soviet aggression. The intent was to maintain peace in postwar Europe through collective defense. -
Mao Zedong & People's Republic of China
Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China as the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. He set out to imitate Soviet socialism. There were many political, social, and economic transformations. -
Korean War
This was a war between the north and the south of Korea due to the unstable political conditions as part of the Cold War. This ended with both sided ceasing fire and being divided at the 38th parallel as before. -
Stalin's death; Krushchev
After Stalin's death in 1953, many communist leaders attacked and questioned Stalin and his methods. Krushchev was Stalin's successor and he began a policy of de- Stalinization which was the end of the rule of terror and the partial liberation of the Soviet society. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union formed the Warsaw Pact as a countermeasure to NATO. The pact included seven communist European nations. -
Vietnam War
This was a long and costly war fought between North Vietnam aided by communist countries and South Vietnam aided by anti-communist countries. The involvement of the United States was highly disliked by Americans and they withdrew from the war in 1973. The war ended with all of Vietnam under communist control. -
Sputnik
This was launched by the Soviet Union and was the first satellite sent into space. This was part of the space race. -
Bay of Pigs
Many anti-Castro Cubans trained by the CIA tried to overthrow Castro and his supporters and launched an invasion. This was a failure and diminished United States prestige. -
Berlin Wall
During the time that Germany was divided, many people moved from the east to the west. In order to stop this, communists constructed a fortified wall dividing Berlin. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in Cuba as the Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles aimed at the United States. This was very close in turning into a nuclear confrontation. -
Gorbachev
He was a new Soviet leader and his restructuring of the Soviet Union contributed to the end of the Cold War and later the dissolution of the Soviet Union also. -
Soviet Union Falls
The Soviet system and regime disintegrated due to many reasons such as political unrest and Gorbachev's reforms. The Soviet flag was last atop the Kremlin on December 1991.
