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Japanese Aggression
When Japan nationalists and army leaders felt that Japan needed to be equal in size and power to western powers, to satisfy this need they took control of Manchuria in 1931.
despite the anger displayed by the United Nations they continued to be aggressive. Later, in 1937, Japan overran much of Eastern China. -
Nazi Genocide
In Germany Hitler spread many ideas. One was to kill all Jews because he decreed them "racially inferior". The Jews were sent to ghettos and concention camps. Hitler murdered millions of Jews during WWII. -
Austrian Annexation
Austria was Hitler's birth country. It was also the first country that Hitler annexed. He had the idea that all German speaking people should be united under one flag. -
Munich Conference
The Munich Agreement was an agreement letting Nazi Germany annex Czechoslovakia's areas along the country's bordered by German speakers. The conference was held in Germany without the presence of Czechoslovakia. This was a failed attempt of appeasement. -
The Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle Of The Atlantic was very important to both sides. The Americans would send supplies to Britain and be attacked in the middle of the Atlantic. The Germans did this because they thought they could starve out Britain. This would basically give them free reign to do whatever they pleased in Europe. The reason they survived the onslaught was, they developed planes that could attack the U-Boats when they saw the chance. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
This guarenteed that the Soviets and Russians would not attack one another. The Soviets were awarded with land from the Poles and Baltics. The German's failed to keep up their end of the deal by attacking the Soviets less than two years later on June 22, 1941. -
The "Phony War"
The Phony War lasted through the first winter of the war. It is called the Phony War because nothing really happened in terms of battles or fighting, but Germaany did take over some territory. -
The Fall of France
France fell because of the speed and strength of the German attack. Combined with the mismanagement of French forces, the Germans had years to prepare, while the French army was not as well trained or led. France was outgunned by the German army. -
The Miracle At Dunkirk
The French, and British had suffered a great defeat. They managed to evacuate tons of people during this time period. Over 350,000 soldiers were evacuated on this day. This is why it is called a Miracle. -
Battle Of Britain
Britain stood in the Western Front alone. Hitler was sure that the British would be searching for peace. This was not so because Winston Churchill, had other plans for the war. The British continued to fight. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Babarossa is the invasion of Russia by 3 million German troops. This violated the Nazi-Soviet Pact. -
Attakc of Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese planes attacked the naval base in Hawaii. This was meant to be a preventive measure but really just brought the United States into the United States. 2,420 Americans were killed in this devastating attack. -
The United Nations
The United Nations was built to replace the League of Nations. The United Nations is the most powerful international organization. At its founding there were 51 members. As of 2011 there are 193, the UN is still increasing in power and size. -
The Battle of Midway
American planes based on land and on carriers decisively defeated a Japanese fleet on its way to invade the Midway Islands. -
The Battle of El Alamein
There were two battles of El Alamein in World War II, both fought in 1942.The Battles occurred in Egypt in and around an area named after a railway stop called El Alamein -
The Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major and decisive battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad. The soldiers did not care for civilian life and did not try to protect them. This is one of the bloodiest battles of all-time. Some say there were nearly 2 million casualties. -
Invasion Of Italy
THe Allies had gained control of the Mediterranean and went into Italy. In July 1943 a British and American army landed first in Sicily and then into Southern Italy. They defeated Italy in about a month. -
D-Day
D-Day is the invasion of normandy, France. Surprise was achieved thanks to inclement weather and a comprehensive deception plan implemented in the months before the landings, Operation Bodyguard, to distract German attention from the possibility of landings in Normandy. A key success was to convince Adolf Hitler that the landings would actually occur to the north. -
The Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg,[3] was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II.[4][5] The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only a few hundred miles away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland. -
The Battle of Berlin
This was the last amjor offensive for the Europeans during WWII. The Soviets attacked t he Germans on all fronts. Stalin unleashed the brutal power of 20 armies, 6,300 tanks and 8,500 aircraft with the objective of crushing German resistance and capturing Berlin. -
Nazis Defeated
The Nazis were finally defeated in 1945 after six years of war. But after the Hitler had commited suicide, the Japanese were still in the war effort and still fighting strong. The Americans dropped two atomic bombs on them before they surrendered. -
Use of Atomic Weapons
In the War we dropped two atomic bombs. One on Hiroshima to show Japan the devastation we could cause. After the first bomb Japan did not surrender still. So we dropped another bomb on a larger city. After this bomb however, Japan surrendered. -
The Surrender of Japan
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Later, we would drop another bomb on a larger city of Nagasaki hoping to get the Japanese to surrender. This worked and the Japanese soon surrendered.