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War Errupts in Europe
By 1938, Japan had taken over much of China. By the end of that year, both France and Great Britian were preparing for war with Germany. In 1939, Hitler broke the Munich Pact when he took all of Czechoslovakia under German control. Although the US was not involved in the war by this time, they would join in 1941. -
Hitler Begins to Invade European Countries
Before Germany began to invade European countries, Hitler and Stalin signed a nonaggression pact. On September 1st, 1939, Hitler blitzenkrieged Poland, and soon thereafter, Russia attacked Poland from the East. In the next year, on April ninth, Germany attacked Denmark and Norway, and on May tenth they invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg. In June, Germany ripped through France, making France fall within 35 days. -
Mirical at Dunkirk
As Germany's forces grew stronger, France prepared for them by constructing a series of forts known as the Maginot Line, which they thought would be able to prevent the Germans from coming into France. However, Hitler ordered his troops to go around it and through the Ardennes forest. From there they headed toward the English Channel. England evacuated its troops through Dunkirk, bringing every boat they could find to save the troops in France, a total of 338,000 troops. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7th, 1941, Japan attacked the US's main Pacific navy base. By doing this, they tried to prevent US from influencing the war effort in South East Asia. However, the attack only triggered another war with America. The Japanese came in two waves. The first wave was the main attack, using both ships and airfield to destroy as much as possible. The second wave's purpose was to finish off anything the first raid left behind. -
Battle of Coral Sea
At this time, Japan had planned to take New Guinea. The United States could easily attack Japan from there. In May of 1942, the US sent two aircraft carriers to fight against the Japanese in the Coral Sea. Although the ships never saw each other, the battle was difficult in the air. Neither country won the battle, but Japan decided to call off their planned attack on New Guinea. This shifted the momentum of the war to the US for the first time. -
Battle of Midway
By 1942, Japan had gained control of the Philippines, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong, Wake Island, Guam, and Burma. In the Pacific, the US had a naval base that was vital to the defense of Hawaii, and losing control of it would force troops back to California. Admiral Chester Nimitz found out that Japan planned to invade Midway on June fourth and he concentrated forces there. When the Japanese came, the US was well prepared for the battle ahead. US dealt Japan a decisive defeat. -
Battle of Stalingrad
In 1940, Germany attacked Russia. There were three different armies that went into Russia, one heading toward Leningrad, another toward Moscow, and yet another toward Stalingrad. Although the Germans killed and captured many Russians, they could not conquer the Soviet Union. In 1942, Hitler focused on Stalingrad and refused to let his army surrender. When the winter hit, the Germans were not prepared and the Soviets easily took over. This ended any realistic plans of Hitler’s domination. -
D-Day
US, British, and Soviet forces came together to invade France to move German troops back to Germany. They created a deception plan which included fake headquarters and armies, using cardboard and wood tanks. Their plan was to invade five different beaches in Normandy, France. Their codenames were Utah, Juno, Omaha, Gold, and Sword. By the end of the day, the Allies had a foothold in France. This was a huge step in the direction of gaining control of Berlin and taking over the Nazi's. -
Battle of the Bulge
This was Hitler's counter attack to the Invasion of Normandy. Allied troops were betwwen the English Channel and the Alps, so the German's went through the Ardennes Forrest. They disguised their English-speaking troops as American soldiers to cut telephone lines, change road signs, and spread confusion. Then the rest of the German troops came and surprised the Allies, creating a bulge in the line. However, Germany was held where they were while the Allies came and bombed the German troops. -
The Manhattan Project
After the defeat of Germany in Europe, the US turned their attention to the Pacific. American troops took control of Iwo-Jima and Okinawa, which were vital to the invasion of Japan. However, invading Japan would have cost 1 million US lives. President Harry S. Truman wanted to aviod losing as many lives as possible. Because of this, he diecided to use the newly-found atomic bomb on Japan. The bomb was created in many different cities in the US and was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 8/6/45.
