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Attack of Manchuria
Japanese buisnesses invested in Manchuria so the Japanese decided to invade it. However Parliament did not approve. The attack was the first test of the League of Nations. The League could not do anything about it, but Japan eventually withdrew from the League in 1933. -
Nuremberg Laws
These laws stripped Jews of all of their freedoms. They could no longer have German citizenship, jobs, or or property. Also they had to wear a yellow Star of David everywhere. -
Alliance with Italy and Germany
Hitler's success made Mussolini want to form an alliance. The treaty was called the Rome-Berlin Axis. Soon Japan joined them and together they became the Axis Powers. -
Kristallnacht
After a Jewish boy shot a German Embassy employee the Nazis launched an attack on the Jews in Germany. They raided synogues, Jewish buisnesses, and even Jewish homes. Smashing Window after window and murdering over 100 Jews. This night later became known as "Kristallnacht" or "Night of broken glass." -
Invasion of Poland
The Nonagression Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union prevented Hitler from attacking there so he turned to Poland. He used the surprise attack on Poland as the first test of his new strategy, blitzkrieg. Poland fell to Hitler before Britain or France was able to help them. -
Soviet Union invaded E. Poland
The Soviets invaded Estonia, Lithuania, and Lativia who quickly surrendered, but their attack on Finland was a little different. The outnumbered Finns would not back down they defended their country through the harsh Finnish winter. However only to surrender by March 1940. -
France surrenders
Italy joined the war on June 10 and by June 14 Paris had fallen. The French government changed its leader on June 16 but it did not help because France fell 5 days later. The Germans then occupied the northern half but left the southern peice to the crippled new government. -
Lend Lease Act
The United States did not want to get dragged into the war but they knew that if the Allies fell they would have to fight. So President Roosevelt got Congress to pass the Lend Lease Act. This allowed him to lend arms and supplies to any vital countries. -
German invasion of Soviet Union
Hitler ignored the Nonaggression Pact he signed with the Soviet Union and attack them using "Operation Barbarossa." He cut off Leningrad from the rest of the world cutting off all of their food and over 1 million died, but the city never fell. Then Hitler went for the Capital, Moscow, but using the Scorched Earth tactic they Soviets beat Hitler at the cost of over 500,000 German soldiers. -
Atlantic Charter
The President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain met on a battleship in the middle of the ocean and signed the Atlantic Charter. The charter said that all countries could freely trade with all other countries. Also it allowed the people to choose their own government. -
Pearl Harbor
To prevent the US from harming their attempt at an empire Japan decided to attack them. They decided to attack Pearl Harbor, a US Naval base in Hawaii. The attack dragged the US into WWII. -
Japanese internment (in US)
After Pearl Harbor, the Americans became scared of another Japanese attack. The military imprisoned 31,275 Japanese from 1941 to 1946. They put them in relocation camps away from the coast where the US military believed they could not participate in an attack. -
Battle of Midway
The Japanese wanted to finish the US Pacific Fleet so they attacked Midway island. However the Americans were prepared. The US won and turned the war against Japan. -
Allied Invasion of Italy
The Allies landed and recaptured Sicily on July 10 and soon after Mussolini was kicked out of power in Italy. Germans seized control of northern Italy not to be forced out until May 1945. -
D-Day
The greatest land and sea attack of all time is known as D-Day. The British, Americans, French, and Canaadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy in France. After reinforcements were sent the Allies were victorious on August 25 and by September had liberated France, Belguim, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. -
German surrender
After the Allies had tied up the Germans and Hitler and his wife had killed themselves General Eisenhower accepted Germany's surrender. Then one day later on May 8, 1945 the surrender was official. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
The US warned Japan to back down but they refused. So, they dropped on atomic bomb on Hiroshima and killed 73,000 people. -
Bombing of Nagasaki
The second bombing of Japan killed over 37,500 people. It lead to the surrender of Japan. -
Japanese Surrender
Japan surrendered on the US battleship the "Missouri." This ended the war and now the two countries had to rebuild.
