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Germany invades Poland
German forces have invaded Poland and its planes have bombed Polish cities, including the capital, Warsaw.The attack comes without any warning or declaration of war. -
Stalin attacks Finland
Stalin attacks Finland with 26 divisions; the Finns muster only 9 divisions. The Soviets enjoy a huge advantage in what Stalin calls “machines” - tanks, artillery, and aircraft. -
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of Britain
Chamberlain formally lost the confidence of the House of Commons. Churchill, who was known for his military leadership ability, was appointed British prime minister in his place. He formed an all-party coalition and quickly won the popular support. On May 13, in his first speech before the House of Commons, Prime Minister Churchill declared that "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat" -
Germany attacks France
It resulted in the division of France. Gemany controlled the north and the south beacme Vichy, France. -
Battle of Britain
Hitler sent his Luftwaffe bombers to attack British ports.The city of London was heavily bombed. Hitler hoped to destroy the morale of the British people. Hitler began a series of nightly bombing raids on London.The RAF defended the skies and by October 31 the raids had ceased. -
Lend-Lease Act
Early in World War II the United States devised a plan, to assist the nations that were then fighting the Axis powers (Germany, Japan and Italy). -
Hitler takes over the Balkans
To expand the amount of area available for the invasion of the USSR. -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
The failure of the german forces because of The Soviet Unions weathe and landscape. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The Japanese were tired of negotiations with the United States. They wanted to continue their expansion within Asia but the United States had placed an extremely restrictive embargo on Japan in the hopes of curbing Japan's aggression. Negotiations to solve their differences hadn't been going well. Rather than giving in to U.S. demands, the Japanese decided to launch a surprise attack against the United States in an attempt to destroy the United States' naval power even before an official announ -
Holocaust
The mass murder of approximately six million Jews. -
Japanese internment camps
Life in Japanese Internment camps was not a pretty picture. When the United States of America decided to take all Japanese-Americans and put them in internment camps, people were taken away from the places, things, and people that they loved in life.The camps were fenced, and in each fenced camp there were block arrangements. -
Battle of Midway
US aircraft flying from USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown attacked and sunk four Japanese carriers, forcing Yamamoto to withdrawal. The Battle of Midway marked the turning point of World War II in the Pacific. -
Battle of El Alamein
The Battle of El Alamein, fought in the deserts of North Africa, is seen as one of the decisive victories of World War Two. The Battle of El Alamein was primarily fought between two of the outstanding commanders of World War Two.The Allied victory at El Alamein lead to the retreat of the Afrika Korps and the German surrender in North Africa in May 1943. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle for Stalingrad is considered by many historians to have been the turning point in World War Two in Europe. After the German defeat at Stalingrad the Germany Army was in full retreat. -
Guadalcanal
The first major allied offfensive attack on Japan. -
Tehran Conference
Agreeing to meet in Tehran, Iran on November 28, 1943, the three leaders planned to discuss D-Day, war strategy, and defeating Japan. -
D-Day
D-Day resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control.The battle began when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. -
Yalta Conference
World War II conference of the three chief Allied leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, met to plan the final defeat and occupation of Nazi Germany. -
FDR's death
Rosevelt was in Warm Springs, GA when he died. He was complaining to his friends about his head hurting. He died of a brain hemorrhage. The longest serving president who led the nation through the Great Depression and World War II was dead. -
Mussolini’s assassination
Benito Mussolini's life ended violently when he was captured while fleeing Italy and then shot. -
Hitler’s suicide
On this day in 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. -
Potsdam Conference
The chief participants were U.S. President Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Stalin.
The issues discussed were: Allied control of defeated Germany and Reparations. -
Atomic bomb on Hiroshima & Nagasaki
the United States used a massive, atomic weapon against Hiroshima, Japan. This atomic bomb, the equivalent of 20,000 tons of TNT, flattened the city, killing tens of thousands of civilians. While Japan was still trying to comprehend this devastation three days later, the United States struck again, this time, on Nagasaki. -
McArthur’s plan for Japan
General Douglas MacArthur became Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan was in charge of its ruling. He oversaw the rebuilding of the country and the formation of a democratic government, and helped to draft a new constitution. Under his guidance, Japan recovered from the war and was on its way to becoming a leading industrial world power. -
Formation of the U.N.
The formation of the U.N. was a difficult process particularly for the United States. It began as The League of Nations in 1919 after World War One and was a key component in the Treaty of Versailles. Although the intention of peacekeeping was present, the involved countries ultimately decided to eliminate the organization. -
Nuremburg Trials
When Military trials were held aganist 23 leaders of the third reich for a year inNuremburg city. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Palan was enacted by the U.S. as a way to help rebuid Europe after WW2. -
Cold War
The restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies. The Cold War was waged on political, economic, and propaganda fronts. Initially a dispute over the future of Europe, it grew to include confrontations around the world. -
Berlin Airlift
The Russians who wanted Berlin all for themselves closed all highways and railroads.This, they believed would make it impossible for the people who lived there to get food and would eventually drive Britain, France and the U.S. out of the city for good. Instead of retreating from Berlin the U.S. and its allies decided to supply their sectors of the city from the air. -
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was both the physical division between West Berlin and East Germany from 1961 to 1989 and the symbolic boundary between democracy and Communism during the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a 13-day political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. President Kennedy notified Americans about the presence of the missiles and explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba.
