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Manchuria was taken over as part of Japan's conquest for expansion during the process of imperialsim. Taking Manchuria gave Japan some territory on continental Asia which would come in good use as Japan continued to expand. This act was seen as the beginning of World War II.
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The Nuremburg Laws were laws that took the right of German citizenship, jobs and property from the Jewish people. Also, in order to identify the Jews from "regular people" they were forced to wear a bright yellow star on their clothing.
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The Axis Powers included the countries of Japan, Italy and German. They became allies to help secure their individual interests in expansion. Even though these three countires were great, powerful countires, they were defeated by the Allies at the end of World War II.
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Early in November a Jewish youth shot a German diplomat living in Paris in order to avenge his father's deportation. When Nazi leaders heard the news, they launched a violent attack on the Jews. On November 9, Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues across Germany and killed nearly 100 Jews. This marked a major step-up in the Nazi policy of Jewish persecution.
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At dawn on September 1st 1939, Hitler unleashed a suprise attack on Poland. Germany led by hitler used a new method of fighting called blitzkrieg. This method involved fast moving planes and tanks followed by a large infantry force. Poland crumbled under the assault while the shocked wolrd looked on; this would be the beginning of World War II.
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Before this event, Joseph Stalin had had a secret agreement with Adolf Hitler. Finally on September 17th 1939, Joseph Stalin sent Soviet troops to take over and occupy the eastern half of Poland.
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After Germany forces entered France and had trapped many people on the beaches of Dunkirk, France seemed doomed to defeat. Because the French were so vulnerable, Italy led by Mussolini declared war on Great Britain and France. Italy then attacked France from the south and important French cities began to fall. Soon after on June 22nd 1940, France surrenderd and was taken over by Germany in the north and a puppet government was set up in the south.
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After France was taken over, Hitler focused on invading Great Britain with a plan of knocking out the Royal Air Force first. The RAF was greatly outnumbered by they fought back hard against Hitler and the German forces. The battle went on for many more months; Hitler was stunned by the British
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The United States wanted to be neutral in World War II, but they knew if the allies fell, they would be forced into the War. So President Roosevelt persuaded Congress to allow the allies to buy American arms. The Lend-Lease Act said the president could lend or lease arms and other supplies to any country vital to the United States.
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Germany attacked The Sovit Union by their successful blitzkreig tactics. The Soviet Red Army was the biggest in the world but it was not the most well-trained army in the world, so eventually the Germans isolated Leningrad and more than one million people died in one winter, but the Soviet Union did not give up. The Germans had no choice, but to retreat the next winter because general Zhukov attacked back and the cold winter did not work well with their summer uniforms.
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The United States had still not joined the war but on August 9th Roosevelt and Churchill met and issued a joint declaration called The Atlantic Charter which upheld free trade among nations and the right of people to choose their own government. This charter would later serve as the peace plan of the Allies at the end of World War II.
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On the morning of December 7th 1941, the Japanese unleased a suprise attack in Pearl Harbor. They did this because the US fleet in Hawaii was dangerous to the Japanese. During this attack, many ships were sunk and thousand of Americans were killed or wounded. This event caused the United States to join World War II.
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President Theodore Roosevelt began the Japanese internement with Executive Order 9066 after fear that some of the Japanse living in America could be spies for Japan. So he contained them all in internement camps. Even though most of the Japanese-Americans were all contained most did not pose a threat as they considered themselves Americans and were loyal to America.
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Japans next target was Midway Isladn which was to the west of Hawaii. The Americans were prepared for an attack after intercepting a Japanese code and they came up with a strategy to hide and allow Japan to launch the first strike and then fight back. This strategy worked and even though the American side was outnumbered 4:1, they one the battle and turned the tide of war in the Pacific against the Japanese.
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The Allies invaded Sicily and were able to recapture the city from the Germans. This casued Mussolini to fall and Italy eventually surrendered to the Allies. The Germans returned and recaputered northern Italy, putting Mussolini back in charge. Fighting continued until Germany fell and Mussolini was killed.
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D-Day was the invasion into Normadny, France by Allied troops in order to drive the Germans out and liberate France. The troops had to fight there way through 60 miles of beach in Normandy while the Germans attacked them with different types of weapons. There were heavy casualties but the Allies were able to punch a hole in the German defense and were able to send the Germans retreating. By September, the Allies had liberated France, Belgium, Luxeembourg and most of the Netherlands.
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After the Battle of the Bulge, the war in Europe drew to a close very rapidly. While Soviet shells burst over Berlin, Hitler prepared for his end in an underground headquarters beneath Berlin, he would soon commit suicide. On May 7, 1945, General Eisenhower accepted the surrender of the
Third Reich from the German military and on On May 9, the surrender was officially signed in Berlin. The United States and other Allied powers celebrated V-E Day. -
President Truman sent a warning the Japanese and telling them to surrender. If they didn't they could expect a
He told them that unless they surrendered, they could expect a “rain of ruin from the air.” The Japanese did not reply, and on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a Japanese city of nearly
350,000 people. Between 70,000 and 80,000 people died in the attack. -
Three days after the boming of Hiroshima, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, a city of 270,000. More than 70,000 people were killed immediately. Radiation from the two
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Japan surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur on September 2. The ceremony took place aboard the UnitedStates battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. This marked the end of the war and the beginning of a rebuilding period.
