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Gorbachev
Gorbachev was born in 1931. He served as both the general secretary of the Communist Party and the president of the Soviet Union in his poilitcal career. His democratic efforts led to the fall of the Soviet Union , and he won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. He is currently 84 years old. -
Japan's Invasion of China
Having a strong prescence in Manchuria sicne the Mukden Incident on September 18th, 1931, and withdrawing from the League of Nations to pursue conquest of Manchuria and China, Japanese soldiers fought Chinese troops on the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. Japan had also interfered with China prior to this incident, but it had to resolve domestic disputed beofre launching strong attacks on China. -
Germany Invades Poland
Even though Germany had signed a ten year non-aggression pact with Poland in 1934, Hitler invaded Poland soon after signing a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. Russia and Germany had plans to split up Poland once it was conquered, and Britain and France gave armed support to Poland by declaring war on Germany two days after the invasion. -
Battle of Britain
In this battle, Germany launched an air attack against Britain, but Britain succeeded in defending itself with stronger equipment than the Germans. This battle set the stage for the war's prolongation and the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany. -
Tripartite Pact
Japan, Italy, and Germany signed an agreement to assist one another if a force not yet at war with them attacked. This pact was intended for defense against the United States. It also recognized Japan as the main military power of Asia. -
Lend-Lease Act
FDR declared that the president can help any nation whose defense he believes to be vital to th U.S., and that he can accept repayment in property or any other direct or indirect means. -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
In the summer of 1941, Germany launched an attack on the Soviet Union that they expected to assure a quick victory on. The plan ultimately failed, as the fight continually dragged on and resulted in German defeat. -
Leningrad Blockade
Germany laid siege to Leningrad until January 27th, 1944, during which time only meager supplies reached the city and its inhabitants barely remained alive. In 1944, Soviet forces finally removed the Germans and ended the siege. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
After Japan joined the Axis Powers, the United States restricted trade exports to Japan. Japan attempted to negotiate then began to plan an attack on the US. The attack was expected, but the aerial strike on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii caught the US by surprise. They soon declared war on Japan, and Italy and Germany declared war on the US soon after. -
Wannsee Conference
This conference was a meeting of Nazi elites to determine what to do with the Jews. They abandoned the plan of deporting them to Madagascar in favor of moving them to labor camps where many would die of natural causes. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway helped preclude further Pacific expansion by the Japanese. It was fought mostly by aircraft, and the battle stopped Japan from taking the island of Midway. -
D-Day
This was the first day of the Allied invasion of Normandy, which led to the liberation of northern France. -
Yalta Conference
This conference was the meeting of FDR, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin in Crimea to discuss the plan to defeat Germany once and for all. They also discussed what to do with Germany and the territory it had conquered after the war. -
Iwo Jima/Okinawa
The US wanted Iwo Jima as a base for big bombers, so they launched an attack on the strong Japanese defense that cost them 6000 Marines. Soon after the US attacked Okinawa, fighting kamikaze pilots and suicidal Japanese missions to eventually take the island at the cost of 12,000 American lives. -
Hitler's Suicide
After years of attempts on his life and eventuall acceptance of his defeat, Hitler shot himself in his suite, just after marrying Eva Braun and appointing Admiral Karl Dönitz as head of the state and Josef Goebbels as chancellor in Germany. -
VE Day
Known as Victory in Europe Day, this is the day when Germain soldiers surrendered to the Allies. This was recognized as a final cease-fire, but small skirmishes still occured for a short time afterward. -
Potsdam Conference
Potsdam was the location of the last meeting of the Allied Powers in WWII. In this meeting, leaders of the Soviet Union, the United states, and Great Britain discussed operations against Japan and a peace settlement. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The atomic bomb was developed through the Manhattan Project beginnning in 1941. On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hirshima, and 3 days later a second one was dropped on Nagasaki. -
VJ Day
VJ Day stands for Victory over Japan Day. It refers to the day Japan surrendered to the Allies at the end of WWII. -
Formation of the UN
After disagreement by the 3 major Allied powers on the particulars of the United Nations, the organization was finally formed in 1945. Its goals are to protect human rights and achieve worldwide cooperation in resolving international issues. -
Truman Doctrine
Truman declared the the U.S. would help Turkey and Greece to prevent them from falling into Communist hands. -
Marshall Plan
Also known as the European Recovery Program, this plan was set into effect by the US in order to help the western European economies recover. The US feared that financial instability would give rise to Communism in western Europe, so they launched this largely successful plan. -
NATO
After WWII, western Europe was fragmented and weak, while the Soviet Union was a strong, dominating force. To balance the power scale, western Europe formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The goal was to consolidate the military strength of North America and western Europe. -
Mao Zedong and People’s Republic of China
Mao Zedong rose within the Chinese Communist party and took control of China in 1949 using an ideology based on the Soviet Union. Mao believed in the ability of the Chinese peasants, and he declared China to be the People's Republic of China. -
Korean War
After gaining its freedom from Japan at the end of WWII, Korea was temporarily divided between the Soviet Union and the United states at the 38th parallel. In 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea, leading to a war that resulted in a stalemate. Fighting stopped in 1953, but no final agreement was reached, and the front line provides a boundary between the two enemies. -
Stalin’s death; Khrushchev
Joseph Stalin died so suddenly on May 5th, 1953, that some suspected foul play was involved. After Stalin died, Nikita S. Khrushchev denounced him in a closed session of the Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on February 25, 1956. The speech promoted de-Stalinization and idealized a Lenninist model. -
Vietnam War
After Vietnam was split along the 17th parallel, North Vietnam and South Vietnam fought over the unification of Vietnam under a single Commnist government by the North. The Soviet Union and China assisted the North while the United States assisted the South. In 1973 the US could no longer hold its ground and pulled out, leaving South Vietnam to fall to the North. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was originally made between the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, and it gave the Soviets military influence over the rest of the countries in the Pact. It was finally rejected on July 1, 1991. -
Sputnik
Sputnik are 10 flights into space launched by the Soviet Union beginning in 1957. They began with Sputnik 1, the first flight into space, and Sputnik 2, the first flight to carry an animal into space. -
Bay of Pigs
In 1961, 1500 Cubans exiles who hated Fidel Castro invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. The US both finacned and directed this operation. The invasion failed, and the US ended up playing 53 million dollars in food and medicine for the return of captured invaders. -
Berelin Wall
The Berlin Walll was constructed to serve as barrier betweeen East and West Germany so inhabitants of the East couldn't flee to the West. The wall represented the divisions in Germany and Europe caused by the Cold War. On November 9th, 1989, the border between East and West Germany was finally opened again. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet Union installed missiles in Cuba to fulfill a promise to pretect them from attack. These missiles could easily hit the US withing minutes of launch. When the US discovered this, President Kennedy placed a blockade on Cuba to prevent the USSR from shipping more missiles to Cuba. Tension escalated, but at the end of October the USSR withdrew ther weapons. -
Soviet Union Falls
After an attemped coup on Gorbachev's presidency, several areas of the USSR seceded to avoid further conflict. Eventually, Russia, Ukraine, and Belorussia (Belarus) declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed.
