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Annexation of Sudetenland
Sudetenland is a section of land that is inbetween Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and is near the Sudeten mountain range. The Czechoslovakia population had become mostly German so Germany wanted that land to control. In 1938 at the Munich Conference, transferred power over the land to Hitler. Video:https://youtu.be/7-sByElE9a4 -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a naval base off the coast of Hawaii. The Japanese damaged many battleships and planes and destroyed even more. Thousands of Americans were killed and now the USS Arizona is a memorial for this tragic day. Video:https://youtu.be/iilp6Bl2XKE -
The Philippines
The Japanese attacked the Philippines on December 8, 1941, the day after they attacked Pearl Harbor. The Japanese bombed them from the air and after that they sent troops in from the north and south sides of Manila. US General Douglas MacArthur commanded both the US troops and the Philippine troops although the Japanese managed to push the troops to the Bataan Peninsula. Video:https://youtu.be/uedqtph-OZY -
Japanese Interment Camps
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered that citizens with Japanese decent were to be put into internment camps. These camps were set up in California, Oregon, and Washington. Following America, Canada and Mexico later did similar things sending their Japanese citizens west. Video:https://youtu.be/hI4NoVWq87M -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was fought between the US Navy and the Japanese Navy. The US had started deciphering Japanese code and managed to trick the Japanese into thinking the US was weak. The Japanese were hoping to hurt the US even more after the attack on Pearl Harbor but were defeated. Video: https://youtu.be/N-au50GxIXw -
Guadalcanal
The Battle of Guadalcanal took place in the Pacific and was a major victory for the Allies. The Japanese were forced to leave Guadalcanal after their troops and ships had taken significant damage. The Japanese lost two-thirds of their troops while the US had lost only 2,000 out of the 60,000 there. Video:https://youtu.be/4VzCTvSQ4JY -
Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was fought between the Soviet Union and German and Axis forces. This battle is known to be one of the bloodiest in modern warfare history with over two million casualties. Hitler chose Stalingrad instead of the Soviet capital of Moscow because of Stalingrad being a major city of industry, it being on the coast of the Volga River, and it bearing Stalin's name. Video: https://youtu.be/gHkELWFqGKQ -
Island Hopping
The US used a strategy called "Island Hopping" to get closer to Japan. The US was able to get B-29 bombers close enough to Japan to hurt them and was able to cut off Japanese supplies. The Navajo were used to speak in their native language so that the Japanese could not decipher what the US was going to do next. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/visit/exhibits/road-tokyo/island-hopping
https://americanindian.si.edu/education/codetalkers/html/chapter4.html -
Meeting at Yalta
The Yalta Conference was attended by President Franklin D Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin. They decided on how Germany would be split up after their surrender. They also discussed other issues such as Poland's territory, the United Nations, and the Soviet Union joining the Allies. Video:https://youtu.be/1onjIjDD_1M -
Fall of Berlin
The Fall of Berlin started when Soviet forces attacked Berlin and severely wounded the already hurting German troops. The other Allied powers agreed to stay back and let the Soviets attack first. The Allies went through the city fighting Nazi soldiers and making their way to Hitler's chancellery. Video: https://youtu.be/VNCiHGcJzFg -
Death of Hitler
On April 30, 1945, during the fall of Berlin, Hitler married his wife Eva. Him and his wife then retired to their room in the underground bunker below the chancellery where he later poisoned her and shot himself in the head. Video:https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/adolf-hitler-video -
D-Day
During Germany's control over France, the Allies attacked the french beach of Normandy. Prior to the attack, the Allied forces tricked the Germans into thinking they were going to attack Pas-de-Calais in between France and Great Britain. The battle resulted in Germany leaving northwest France and the liberation of Paris. Video:https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day-allied-invasion-at-normandy-video -
Los Alamos
Los Alamos is a laboratory built to design and build the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project was built and designed here and the first atomic bomb was detonated just 200 miles away. The bombs Little Boy and Fat Man were built here and were later detonated on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Video:https://youtu.be/axkQ4UjTc8M -
Meeting at Potsdam
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting between the Allied leaders. The meeting established a Council of Foreign Ministers and an administration for Germany. The meeting also established how Germany was going to be punished. Video:https://youtu.be/laJzTL_lGbs -
Hiroshima
On August 8, 1945, a US bomber dropped the atomic bombs Little Boy and Fat Man on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs killed thousands of people and affected more later in life. A few days after the bombings, the Japanese emperor was forced into an unconditional surrender to the Allies over a radio address. Video:https://youtu.be/3wxWNAM8Cso
