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Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler demanded autonomy for the ethnic Germans of Sudetenland, the region west of Czechoslovakia. He threatened to use force if the Czechoslovacks denied him. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler with Sudetenland in exchange that Germany would stop territorial expansion.
The annexation finished on October 10, 1938.
Article: https://www.britannica.com/place/Sudetenland
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-sByElE9a4 -
Pearl Harbor was a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, was attacked suddenly by Japanese forces just before 8:00 am that Sunday morning. Those forces destroyed/damaged nearly 20 American naval vessels, including 8 battle ships, and over 300 airplanes, 2,400 Americans died, including civilians, and another 1,00 people were injured.
Article: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNV8enpVwok -
The attack of Pearl Harbor was the beginning of the Island hopping strategy during World War II. The tactic was to go from one island to another to set up a base of operations. America soon after started to retaliate the same way. It lasted until the end of the war.
Article: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/pacific-strategy-1941-1944
Video: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/events-programs/educational-travel/victory-pacific/spring-2022 -
The Battle of Guadalcanal was a series of land and sea clashes between Allied and Japanese forces on/around Guadalcanal during World War II. It marked a turning point in the Allies favor during the Pacific War. The battle ended in February 1943.
Article: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Guadalcanal
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VzCTvSQ4JY -
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066 which prevented espionage on American shores. Military zones were created in states with large populations of Japanese-Americans and removed them from their homes and arrested for suspicions of spying on American military.
Article: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/japanese-american-relocation
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKpkByeeUdQ -
The battle was an epic clash between U.S. Naval forces and the Japanese Navy that happened six months after the attack in Pearl Harbor. It was the decisive victory and was a successful defense of the major base, dashing Japan's hope of neutralizing America's naval power. The battle ended June 6, 1942.
Article: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-au50GxIXw -
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of Stalingrad, U.S.S.R. during World War II. It stopped the German Advance into the Soviet Union, which then marked the turning of the war tide in favor of the Allies. The battle ended February 2, 1943.
Article: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Stalingrad
Video: https://www.britannica.com/video/180233/Overview-Battle-of-Stalingrad -
It was code-named Operation Overlord. 156,000 Allied forces invaded the Norway region of France, but faced heavy German resistance. There were 2,000 American casualties alone. Ended in August of 1944.
Article: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day
Video: https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1942-1945/d-day -
The Yalta Conference was a meeting of the three major Allied nations, the U.S. (Franklin D. Roosevelt), Great Britain (Winston Churchill), and the Soviet Union (Joseph Stalin). They discussed the post-war fate of Germany and the rest of Europe and the terms of Soviet entry into the Pacific War.
Article: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/yalta-conference
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybnzMnFEWJY -
After four years of fighting, Soviet forces finally launched an attack on Berlin. A close total of 1.5 million Soviet troops surrounded and attacked the capital. It was the last major offensive of the war in Europe. The city surrendered May 2nd, but kept fighting until May 8th, the official end to the war.
Article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52572544)
Video: https://www.britannica.com/video/180245/Soviet-troops-Adolf-Hitler-Berlin-suicide-April-1945 -
During the Battle of Stalingrad, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Afterwards, German forces surrendered, and the European War was over.
Article: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/adolf-hitler-commits-suicide
Video: https://watch.historyvault.com/shows/hunting-hitler -
Los Alamos was the testing site for the Manhattan Project, also known as the atomic bombs. J. Robert Oppenheimer was the scientific director that chose the location.
Article: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Los-Alamos-National-Laboratory
Video: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/hans-courant-los-alamos -
The conference was a conversation about the substance and procedure for peace settlements in Europe, but no peace treaties were made. The biggest concerns were the administration of defeat from Germany, the definition of Soviet Union's role in eastern Europe, and further persecution of the war against Japan.
Article: https://www.britannica.com/event/Potsdam-Conference
Video: https://www.britannica.com/video/180248/Overview-Potsdam-Conference -
An American B-29 bomber dropped the first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion immediately killed 80,000 people, and tens of thousands more later died of radiation exposure.
Article: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wxWNAM8Cso -
The Philippines was where Japanese forces took their prisoners of war to torture and kill them for four long years. The Philippines was where 15 million soldiers and 45 million civilians were killed, and 25 million were wounded.
Article: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/liberation-of-philippines-cecilia-gaerlan
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwKwPFgclo0