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Marco Polo Bridge incident begins a large scale war known as the Second Sino-Japanese War where millions of Chinese died duirng the course of the war. Events such as the Rape of najing occured during the course of the conflict.
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Germany crosses the border with Poland after delivering an ultimatum to acquire the Danzig (Gdansk) Corridor. The Germans unleash the first Blitzkrieg in the modern world complete with tanks, aircraft and directed by radio.
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Adolf Hitler decides that an air campaign would be necessary for the conquest of the United Kingdom via sea. The Initial results were great for Germany, however the Luftwaffe was ordered by Hitler to begin the bombing of major UK cities besides the Airfields.
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Japan joins the Axis between Germany and Italy to form the Tripartate Pact.
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After shifing his bomber's targets from the beleaguered airfields and RADAR stations, the RAF was able to organize a defense against the Luftwaffe, ending the Battle of Britain.
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The United States decides to support the Allies before entering the war with a system known as Lend-Lease. The Germans take this as direct intervention and therefore call for unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic.
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The Wehrmacht and SS began a large scale invasion of the USSR named Operation Barbarossa. The breakthrough was quick however the Russians began to stall the Germans through sending entire armies on suicidal missions to buy time for the rienforcements in Siberia.
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After Making a final push toward Moscow, the Germans and their respected allies lost the steam to go forward. The were stopped just mere kilometers out of moscow by the Russian general Georgi Zhukov.
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The Japanese Imperial Navy launched a series of surprise attacks on Pearl Harbour and many US dependancies in the Pacific. The fact that the attack began before a formal declaration of war led Admiral Yamamoto's fear to be realized, "we have awoken a sleeping giant".
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The SS and other German oficials meet at Wansee to decide what was to become the Final Solution for the many ethnic groups destined for the concentration camps.
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The IJN launched an attack on the US held island of Midway. The result was a crippled Japanese carrier force which allowed the US island hopping campaign to come to fruition. After Midway the IJN was forced to go on the defense for the rest of the war.
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The Wehrmacht, now fleeing the Soviet Union breaks the siege of Leningrad. Due to the Soviets being able to send supplies in winter over an "ice road" they were able to hold out in the longest battle of the war.
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A large fleet, led by the US and UK began a large scale landing which took years to plan after the Dieppe Disaster. Normandy became the landing site of a large deception plan which was meant to confues the Germans that the Allies were intending to attack at the Pas de Calais (the shorter route).
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Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin meet in Yalta in Crimea to discuss how to rebuild Europe after the war ended. A partition of Germany was decided as well as a territorial concession to Poland.
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One of the final battles of WWII in the Pacific. It was the only battle where USMC casualties exceeded Japanese. However, about 18,0000 Japanese casualties were deaths. A similar number were wounded on the US.
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After a long campaign the Islands of the Japanese homeland including Okinawa, one of the largest are won after grueling battles where the USMC and the Japanese lost many.
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Hitler commits suidide in the Reichsbunker as the Soviet Army siezes Berlin. He is reported dead on May 1st however he commited suicide on the 30th of April.
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The Surrender of Germany in World War II became celebrated everywhere as VE-Day. The Surrender was unconditional.
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A conference held between Truman, Stalin, and Churchill deciding the border of Poland, A territorial concession was given to the USSR near Konigsburg (Kaliningrad).
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The United States deployed the world's first Atomic Bomb in wartime on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The casualties numbered around 90,000-166,000.
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On 9th August the United States dropped the second Atomic Bomb, Fat Man, on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Casualties Numbered at 39-80 thousand.
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Japan surrenders to the United States after the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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The UN is formed with only a fraction of the member states currently involved due to many of said states being colonies of the major empires. Unlike the League of Nations this organization would see US involvement. Like the League of Nations, the UN was devoted toward a goal of World Peace.
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The Truman Doctrine, also known as the Domino Theory is the idea that if one country becomes communist all of the others around it would follow suit in essence turning it into a plague meant to be eradicated by any means necessary.
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A plan made to have the US supply Europe with goods in order to rebuild after WWII. This was made to directly support the Truman Doctrine
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In response to the growing threat of the Soviet Union and proto- Eastern Bloc, many western nations including the United States establish the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military coalition.
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Chairman Mao Zedong founds the People's Republic of China after a 4 years long civil war after World War II. This resulted in the flight of the Nationalist government to the island of Formosa (Taiwan).
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After North Korea invaded South Korea a stalemate was reached at the Pusan Perimeter where UN troops led by the US and South Korea were completely surrounded. US General MacArthur led an attack at Inchon which turned the war in the favor of the US until China intervened.
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Stalin dies leaving a power vacuum for the control of the USSR. The USSR was in interregnum for 5 years until Khruschev gained power.
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The Polar opposite of NATO. Warsaw pact was established as a military and economic cooperation agreement between the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkans(Except for Yugoslavia).
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The Soviet Union shocks the world by launching the worlds first satellite into space, beginning the Space Race,
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After a period of Interregnum lasting 5 years, It was decided that Nikita Khruschev be leader of USSR.
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A US led invasion of Cuba which was meant to be an attempted coup de etat of Fidel Castro in order to enforce the Truman Doctrine.
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One of the many hotspots of the Cold War between the US and USSR. After the Soviet Union sent missiles and the means to fire them to Cuba, the United States reacted by attempting to solve the issue diplomatically, Luckily, no missiles were launched and the world could rest easy.
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After the sending of US military advisors to South Vietnam, the Vietnam War began. The war cost the US about 58,000 deaths and around 300,000 other casualties.
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Gorbachev, the last Premier of the Societ Union, begins the steps to westernize the Soviet Union. After a failed war in Afghanistan against the US supported Mujahideen, the USSR and Eastern Bloc begin to crumble.
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The Mighty Berlin Wall, a symbol of the Iron Curtain falls. Families which had been divided for years could now become whole again as the city of Berlin united. Germany would unite soon after.
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After the fall of the Eastern Bloc, the Soviet Union followed suit and the mighty USSR was reduced to a collection of independant nations, the largest being Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
