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Japanese soldiers invade Nanjing and perform mass acts of execution and rape on soldiers and citizens.
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Germany invades Poland to claim land for itself. This is thought to be the catalyst of World War II.
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An air offensive on Britain ordered by Hitler in the hopes that it would knock Britain out of the war.
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An agreement between Germany, Japan, and Italy to support one another if any of them were attacked.
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A policy used by the US to send materials, weapons, food, and oil to the Allied Powers and other countries during WWII. This was the end of the US' supposed neutrality in the war.
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A German offensive against the Soviet Union to seize land and hopefully end its threat to Germany.
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The siege of Leningrad by Germany known for its length and destruction.
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Japan's unprecedented attack on the United States that brought the US into WWII.
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A meeting held between senior officers of the Nazis. It was held to establish cooperation with government leaders in the "final solution", or mass murder, of the Jewish population.
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A decisive naval battle between Japan and the US that greatly contributed to loss of Japanese control in the Pacific.
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The Allied Powers begin the invasion of German-occupied western Europe to break German power and gain victory over the Axis.
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The meeting of the heads of government of the US, the UK, and the Soviet Union to discuss reorganization in Europe after WWII.
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These two islands were crucial for any invasion of Japan, and so were fought for ny the US for 4 months.
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Hitler shoots himself in his bunker after the near-complete disintegration of his Third Reich.
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Germany finally surrenders after Hitler commits suicide, ending WWII in Europe.
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A conference held by Allied leaders to discuss peace settlements in Europe.
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Two atomic bombs are dropped onto japan by the U.S. in order to defeat Japan or cause them to surrender.
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The day that Japan surrendered, which, in effect, ended WWII.
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The UN is officially formed after 29 nations ratify into the charter.
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US President Harry Truman issues this doctrine as a policy for the US to oppose and stop Soviet expansion.
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An American initiative to give $17 billion to Europe as economic supprt.
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An organization that has anagreement of mutual defense between all 28 member states.
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Mao Zedong, head of the Chinese Communist party, founds the People's Republic of China which is partially modeled after Soviet and Russian ideas.
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A war between North Korea, backed by China and the Soviet Union, and South Korea, backed by the UN, sparked by Cold War tensions.
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An agreement of defense between multiple communist states, including Hungary and Poland.
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A civil war in which each side was backed by other countries: the North by China, the Soviet Union, and other communists countries an the South by the US and other anti-communist allies.
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Stalin dies and Nikita Khrushchev rises to power. He begins the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union.
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The first man-made satellite is launched into space by the Soviet Union.
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The failed invasion of Cuba by US-financed militia forces who opposed Fidel Castro.
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A confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union about Soviet missiles being deployed from Cuba against the US.
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A wall that cut off West Berlin and East Berlin entirely. It was intended to protect Germany and East Berlin from West Berlin's "fascists".
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Gorbachev is the last president of the Soviet Union and his policies led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
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The Soviet Union is extinguished, mainly throught the actions of Mikhail Gorbachev, and the states of the union return to their own sovereignty.
