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The Holocaust
The Nazi party had put blame for all the issues in Germany on the minorities. They decided to "purify" Germany by getting rid of the minorities. They opened up concentration camps all over Germany and killed and harmed millions of people. -
Japan Invades China
In the late 1930s, Japan decided it was going to become a superpower, so they decided to invade two major countries. They invaded Russia and China. They were surprisingly successful in both of these invasions and caused major issues in both the countries. The success in these two invasions lead to their overconfidence, which lead to Pearl Harbor in 1941. -
Munich Conference
Adolf Hitler met with representives from France, Britain and Italy to discus the Czechoslovakia situation. Germany had already annexed Austria and were trying to take the Czech regions aswell. Representives from Europe believed that Germany could be becoming an issue and wanted to come to a compromise to stop another World War. (Obviously did not work) -
Non Aggression Pact
The Non Aggression Pact was an aggreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. They decided that they would not attack each other in the situation of a war. Germany did this to avoid being attacked by Russia when they invaded Poland. Russia agreed to this because they were promised a portion of Poland when they attacked. -
Germany Invades Poland
Again, Germany commits the first act of war and invades another country. Germany had just created the non aggression pact, so they could invade Poland withouth Russian interference. They invaded and took Poland over, which was over the line according to the Allies and this act started World War 2. -
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Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is German for "lightning war". It was a tactic used in the Poland invasion and in early WW2 battles for Germans. They would move as quickly as possible with tanks and aircraft and use the element of surprise. Blitzkrieg was very effective while it was used. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the British name given to the Luftschlaft um Englad, or Air battle for England. It was a series of air attacks on England in the summer and fall of 1940. This was the second series of air attacks from Germany on Britain in an attempt to get England to surrender over to Germany. -
Land Lease Act
The Land Leae Act was created so that Americans could provide support to the Allies during World War 2. It stated that America would provide help as long as they could pay it back somehow after World War 2. They did this by promising land being leased to America after the war. -
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Operation Barbossa
Operation Barbossa officially ended the Non Aggression Pact between Germany and Russia. Germany decided to storm into Russian and try to take them like they did Poland. Unfortunately for them, this did not work as well for them as they had hoped and they ran into one of the worst winters ever. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes flew over the Pearl Harbor Navy Base in Hawaii. They dropped bombed and destroyed many warships and planes. 2718 Navy men lost their lives and hundreds of other men lost their lives on that day. The attack began at 7:55 on Sunday morning and was the immediate reason for US involvement in WW2. -
Wansee Conference
The Wansee conference was a meeting of high powered Nazi officials. They were trying to decide the "final solution" for the Jew "problem". Obviously, their decision was not very ethical to today's standards and many Jews and other minorities were killed. The Holocaust had already begun, but this conference escalated it greatly. -
Batan Death March
The Batan Death March was a very tragic event for many US Soldiers. Captured soldiers were forced to march to POW Camps by Japanese soldiers. Many of the US Soldiers died in the terrible conditions that existed on the way to the camps. This event did create opportunity for lots of propaganda during WW2. -
Battle of Midway
6 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the battle of Midway happened. It happened around at Atoll 1300 miles away from Hawai'i. The Midway Islands are halfway between Japan and Hawaii, so it showed how quickly the American Army was moving and advancing on Japan. It also was primarily a Naval battle. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Many people believe that the Battle of Stalingrad is the turning point of World War 2. After this battle, the German Army was officially in retreat in the Russian Front. The Russian Army, for the first time in the war, had defeated the German Army during an invasion. After this point, the Russians were on the attack and Operation Barbossa had officially failed. -
D Day
On D Day. Americans stormed Normandy Beach to liberate France. American soldiers took amored boats and stormed the beach. Many soldiers were lost, but eventually D Day was successful and the liberation of France had begun. Paratroopers also came in after that to help out the initial soldiers that stormed the beach. -
Battle of the Bulge
This was the largest battle fought by American Soldiers during World War II. Hitler's plan was to disband the alliance between France, England and The US. Also, he wanted to take the port that lots of supplies were coming in from for the allies. On Christmas Eve, this battle saw the first jet attack in history, aswell. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was part of a three point plan by the Americans to win the war in the Far East. This was also known as Operation Detatchment. Iwo Jima is 575 miles from the Japanese Mainland and American victory was very important. The famous picture of three Americans holding up an American flag came from this battle. -
Battle of Okinowa
The Battle of Okinowa was the last major campaign during World War 2. It took place on islands closer to Japan than Hawai'i and consisted of mainly close quarters fighting between American and Japanese soldiers. After this battle. fighting stopped, then after the atom bombs, Japan surrendered. -
VE Day
VE Day marks the day of Allied Victory in Europe. Russia had invaded Berlin and Americans began liberating concentration camps. VE Day is now celebrated in in Europe as a holiday. Many people celebrated the end of the second Great War. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagaski
The United States dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities and killed thousands upon of civillians. The dropping of the atomic bombs was very destructive and many people disagreed with it. Both of the cities were destroyed and are still uninhabitable, and the main justification was because Japan bombed America at Pearl Harbor. -
VJ Day
On this day, Japan officially surrendered. The bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had devastated Japan and the Japanese people to the point of surrender. After America had caused so much damage, they put efforts in to help rebuild Japan, but Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still uninhabitable to this day. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty among the eight communist nations during the Cold War Era. They were all nations in Eastern and Western Europe. This was essentially the "Anti-NATO" and was an enemy of the United States. The Soviet Union was the main leader of this, and it really added to the tension.
