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Japan Invades China
The Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria in response to the Mukden Incident. The japanese army was able to capture vitually every city among the 730 mile length of the South Manchurian Railway. They then secured control of the Liaoning and Kirin provinces and the main line of rail communications to Korea. On November 5, General Ma declined a Japanese Ultimatum and the Japanese Army responded forcing General Ma out of Tsitsihar. -
Munich Conference
The Munich Conference was a meeting held in Munich, Germany that resulted in the signing of the Munich Agreement. This agreement prevented Nazi Germany from annexing Czechoslovakia. It is now widely referred to as the failed act of appeasment toward Germany. This ultimatley failed and Germany continued to march on Czechoslovakia despite signing this agreement. This caused tension between Germany and many other countries. -
Germany Invades Poland
This event is commonly reffered to as the September Campaign. It marked the beginning of World War ll. German forces advanced on the country and Polish forces were quick to withdraw. This led to heightened tension between Germany, Britain, and France and resulted in the declaration of war starting World War II. -
Battle of Britain
This was an air campaign waged by the German Air Force reffered to as Luftwaffe. This was the first major battle to be fought entirely by ariel forces. It is also the largest and most sustained ariel bombimg to date. Britain's refusal to surrender prevented Germany from gaining air superiority. This resulted in Germany's leader Hitler eventually cancelling operation Sea Lion. -
Lend-Lease Act
This policy was formally titled "An Act to Further Promote the Defense of the United States". This allowed the United States to provide military supplies to Great Britain, France and China. This was built on the idea that these countries would return the value of the supplies when the counrty was in a good econmic time and could support themselves. This however never really happened. Most of the war supplies were not returned. -
Operation Barbarossa
This was the code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Around 4 million axis power soliders assited in the invasion of the USSR. This was the largest invasion in the history of warfare. This invasion was the result of Hitler's desire to conquer the Soviet territories. The Germans were able to occupy some of the most important economic areas of the Soviet Union but the attack ultimatley resulted in failure. -
Wannsee Conference
This was a meeting of Nazi German Officials. The purpose was to ensure the cooperation of the government departments in the implementation of the "final solution". The plan was to deport the jews to Poland and murder them. They would be sent to extermination camps where they would be killed. This conference legalized the discrimination against jews. After the invasion of Poland the extermination process began. -
Bataan Death March
This was the forcible transefer of american prisoners of war to Camp O'Donnell following the Battle of Bataan. This was conducted by the Imperial Japanese Army. Many of the soliders died on their way to the camp therefore this travel was named the death march. -
Battle of Midway
This battle occured in the pacific theather and was one of the most important naval battles in World War II. This occured only 6 months before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States Navy was able to defeat an attack by the Japanese Navy. This battle enflicted irreparable damage on the Japanese Naval Ships. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This was a battle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. They were fighting for control of the city of Stalingrad. This was the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare. The vast losses make it the most strategically decisive battle of World War II. This was the turning point in the european theater during the war. -
Pearl Harbor
This was a surprise Japanese military air strike against the United States. This attack led to the United States entry into World War II. It was intended as a preventative action to keep the United States Pacific Fleet from interfering with future Japanese attacks. This led to the United States atomic bombing of two Japanese cities later in the war as revenge. -
D-Day
This refers to the invasion of France through Normandy by the Allied Powers. This operation was nicknamed Operation Neptune. This was the largest seaborne invasion in history. This contributed to an allied victory in World War II. -
Battle of the Bulge
This was a major German offensive campaign. This battle took place towards the end of WWII. Hitler;s original goal was to recapture the harbour of Antwerp. His suprise attack succeeded in catching the allied forces off guard. It was at this battle that the United States incurred the highest casualties for any operation during the war. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Also know as Operation Detachment this was a major battle in WWII. The United States Armed Forces captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese. The goal was to capture the entire island. This included its three airfeilds. This was to provide a staging area for future attacks on the japanese. This five week battle comprised some of the greatest fighting in World War II. -
Battle of Okinawa
This battle was codenamed Operation Iceberg. It was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa. It was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Thos 82 day battle involved a major amount of island hopping as the alllies approached Japan. They planned to use this island as a base for air operations to take down Japan. -
V-E Day
This refers to the day Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally. It marked the end of World War II in Europe. Adolf Hitler's suicide led to the weakening of Germany to the point of surrender. The act of military surrender was then signed on May 7th in France and May 8 in Germany. -
Bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki
This refers to the atomic bombings of two japanese cities conducted by the United States. These bombings killed at least 129,000 people and was a large controversy because they took civilian lives and not just military. This is the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in human history. These bombings were intended to weaken Japan to the point of surrender. This was successful. -
V-J Day
V-J day was the day the United States gained victory over Japan. This day the Japanese surrendered to the United States ending World War II. A formal surrender ceremony was performed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan. It is also referred to as the "memorial day for the end of the war". This event marked the official end of World War II. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact came into effect during the Cold War. It was a collective defense treaty between eight different communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. It was created as a Soviet military reaction to the integreation of Western Germany into NATO. But it was also motivated by Soviet desires to keep control of military forces in Central and Eastern Europe.