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The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi and its collaborators. The word "Holocaust" came from a Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." Germany believed that Germans were racially superior. They would target other groups because of their perceived race. -
Japan invades China
Japan went to war with China. Japanese claimed that they were fired on by Chinese troops at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. The war had lead to four million Chinese casualties with sixty million made homeless. -
Germany invades Poland
Adolf Hitler wanted to regain lost territory and then take over Poland. This battle would be the first to use a “blitzkrieg” strategy. Blitzkrieg means a lightning war. This strategy was done by extensive bombing early on to destroy the enemy’s air capacity, railroads, and communication lines. Then a massive land invasion with overwhelming numbers of troops, tanks, and artillery made sure ther were no survivors. -
Munich Conference
The Munich Conference was negotiated at a conference held in Munich. The agreement permitting Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland. Sudetenland were portions of Czechoslovakia. -
Non- Aggression Pact
The Soviet Union signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. It ment that the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. The Soviet leader saw this pact as a way to give the Soviet Union some time to build up a Soviet military. Hitler used the pact to make sure Germany was able to invade Poland unopposed. -
Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is a German term for “lightning war”. An intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory. First used by Germany to invade Poland. -
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Battle of Britain
The battle was a part of World War II. The German air force's attempted to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force. This failed attempt was one of the turning points of WWII. -
Lend- Lease Act
An arrangement between Allied forces and the U.S. where the U.S. would lend supplies to their armies for a leased price. -
Operation Barbarossa
Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea. Adolf Hitler sent over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks. He had underestimated the Soviet Union and made a wrong decision by going in too deep into Soviet territory. -
Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack only lasted two hours. The Japanese destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved. -
Bataan Death March
The Japanese assembled about 78,000 prisoners and they began marching up the east coast of Bataan. The prisoners, already desperately weakened by hunger and disease, suffered even more during the march. The prisoners who could not keep up would be killed. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a crucial naval battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. A battle between U.S. and Japanese navies. A U.S. victory. The U.S. won by overhearing the Japans plan to attack. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
German fought the Soviet Union for the control of Stalingard. Adolf Hitler wanted Stalingrad for two main reasons. It was a major industrial city on the Volga River, which was a transport route between the Caspian Sea and Northern Russia that Hitler wanted. secoundly, Hitler wanted the city so it would secure the left flank of the German armies as they advanced into the oil-rich Caucasus region. If he had captured Stalingrad he could use the oils for the war machines. -
D-Day
More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along the French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft were invovled in the D-Day invasion. After the invasion the Allies gained Continental Europe. -
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Battle of the Bulge
The battle was the bloodiest battle the Americans have ever fought in. 80,000 Americans were killed or captured. The battle of the Bulge was a suprise attack the Germans had planned. The Germans main purpose for this fight was to recapture harbor of Antwerp. -
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Battle of Iwo Jima
A major battle where the United States captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. This island was used to attack the main islands of the Japanese. The battle was an American victory. -
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Battle of Okinawa
The last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II. It involved 287,000 troops of the U.S. Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Army. Japanese forces changed their typical tactics of resisting at the water’s edge to a fight further away, designed to gain time. -
V-E Day
V-E Day is also known as the Victory in Europe Day. On this day both Great Britain and the United States celebrate victory in Europe. Western Europe defeated the Nazi machines. The Russians took around two million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki
During World War II, an American bomber dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, another A-bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. -
V-J Day
Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. This is known as Victory over Japan Day. -
Warsaw Pact
A treaty signed by the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. The treaty was a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the member states. If any member state were to be attacked by an outside force the members in the treaty would come help.