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The SS
The SS began to gain more and more power. They were responsible for the killing of 6 million Jews and 6 million undesirables in the concentration camps. These were death camps that started out as labor camps, however the Nazis soon figured it would be an easy way to get rid of all the people placed in them. -
Japan Attacks China
Japan & China are officially at war. Japan wants China’s resources and if they get them they will be prepared for war with the rest of the world. -
Euthanasia Program
Hitler signed a secret order for the Euthanasia Program, which was used to kill anyone under the age of 5 who had mental or physical disabilities. Sooner or later the program was brought on to teens and adults as well as children. -
Holocaust
The Holocaust was basically Hitler’s way of sysyematically killing 6 million Jews and 6 million undesirables. This was also state sponsored. This is where the concentration camps were used. -
Hitler Overtakes Austria Czechoslovakia
Hitler overtook Austria and Czechoslovakia. The rest of the world decides to go with appeasement. This means that Hitler’s power will grow and he will continue to take more countries. -
Hitler Attacked Poland
This was after he signed a treaty saying he would never take another country. It was at this time that France and England declared war on Germany. -
Tuskegee Flyers
They were the first all black WWII fighter pilots. Not only were they the first of their kind, but they actually went on to have the best record that is still held by them to this day, and that is not losing a single bomber plane. They were extremely discriminated against, yet were still the best at what they did. -
Hitler Invades Russia- 1941-1942
Hitler was trying to take over Russia for its resources, and the plan took longer than expected. Winter arrives and Hitler doesn’t give his soldiers the food and supplies they need, so they are dying off very fastly. In Moscow, civilians dug miles of traps for the Germans. One thing Russia had was an overwhelming amount of civilians that were ready to fight. Over the course of 8 weeks, 85,000 Germans died. -
Tuskegee Flyers
They were the first all black WWII fighter pilots. Not only were they the first of their kind, but they actually went on to have the best record that is still held by them to this day, and that is not losing a single bomber plane. They were extremely discriminated against, yet were still the best at what they did. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Today it is known as the day that will live in infamy. This is also when America decided to enter into the war and declares war on Germany and Italy. -
The Navajo Code Talkers
During the war, the Marines wanted to be able to send secret messages without the Japanese being able to decipher them. They decided to use the Navajo language to create an unbreakable code. The code was so successful that there were over 400 code talkers by the end of WWII. -
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter is an iconic WWII figure that served as a way of getting women in the work field during the war. Rosie showed women all over America that it was possible to be a good mother and wife while still working in factories, and doing jobs that normally a man would do. However, this backfired because once women got into the jobs, they decided they liked working and didn’t want to leave. -
War Production Board
This was created to help America get things together for the soldiers. They organized a lot of food drives and clothing drives and also accepted any scraps (such as metals, paper, cooking fat and cloth) from around the US that could be useful in making war goods. -
Wartime Consumers
During the war, everyone who could have a job did have a job. They were making a ton of money but they weren’t able to buy anything because all of the goods and supplies to buy were going overseas to help out the war. People also had to ration their food. Certain amounts of food were given to a family based on the size of the family. A lot of women took up gardening to save money and grow their own food. -
The Battle of Stalingrad 1942 & 1943
After Hitler’s first unsuccessful attempt at taking Germany, he decides to try again. They failed once again due to the harsh winters in Russia. They also had a difficult time with being undersupplied and the fact that they didn’t have enough time. Since Hitler was so focused on taking Russia, America had an easier time bringing down Germany. The whole reason for Hitler trying to take Russia was that he wanted to grow his perfect Aryan race and he needed living space for all of those people. -
Wannsee Conference
15 Nazi officials met up to go over what they called the “Jewish Question”, and that was how to get rid of them. They decided on a “Final Solution”, although the words death camp were never said. This shows that the Nazis were serious about their hatred of the Jews, and were going to give it their all in exterminating them. -
Executive Order 9066
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, all Japanese American people living in the United Sates were placed in internment camps, with the justification of protecting the nation during a national crisis. The camps were in deserts and had no running water. When the families went into a camp, they lost all of their belongings. -
Tokyo Air Raids
American soldiers used B-29s to bomb industrial, military and even civilian targets. The goal in doing this was to simply destroy the Japanese will to resist. We were trying to break them and get them to surrender. -
The Bataan Death March
A 5-12 day, 60 mile march to a Prisoner of War camp. About 10,000-30,000 Americans and Filipinos died during this march, as it was very brutal and gruesome. People were starved and beaten to death and were killed off like it was no big deal. -
Battle of Midway
This is considered the turning point in the war by many. More than 5,000 Japanese soldiers were killed. 4 of Japan's vital aircraft ships were sunken and roughly 322 of their planes were shot down. -
Korematsu v. United Sates
This was a famous court case in which a man of Japanese descent named Fred Korematsu was told he had to go to an internment camp. This obviously angered Fred and he refused. He was arrested and had a trial. The Supreme Court decided that is was okay to be discriminated against based on race alone during a national crisis. This is the only existing court case that has actually been overturned. -
Auschwitz Liberation
Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, where they discovered some 7,000 prisoners. Many camps were liberated by the Soviets, however the American and British also helped in liberating the camps. -
Yalta Conference
The Allied Powers got together to discuss what would happen to Germany now that they have been defeated. It was decided that they would split Germany into 4 pieces and each leader would take 1. Germany would also begin holding free elections. However, Stalin broke his promise and forced Soviet Rule. -
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was a small island off of the coast of Japan. It was a very hard fought battle but by the time American troops were able to get the island secured, over 200,000 Japanese lives had been lost, along with 5,000 Americans. -
The Month of April
German soldiers were met by Soviet and American troops. It was at this point that people could really see Germany almost giving up or surrendering. On April 30th, Hitler committed suicide. -
Okinawa
This was the bloodiest battle of the war. It was and is the largest amphibious attack ever. It was also the last large battle of the war. Over 200,000 Japanese died and 19,000 Americans. -
V-E Day
This was victory in Europe. They felt like Germany had been defeated and everyone all over the continent was celebrating. However, the SS tried to hide all of the atrocities they had committed throughout the war by straight up killing as many prisoners as possible. -
Potsdam Conference
This was an ultimatum delivered to the Japanese which stated that the Allied Powers would only accept an unconditional surrender. If they refused to cooperate, they would be totally and completely obliterated. -
The Atomic Bombs August 6 & 9
The world's first ever atomic bomb was dropped by America on Hiroshima and it killed around 80,000 people. 3 days later, the second bomb was dropped and it killed another 40,000. This is how America won the war and Japan was finally defeated.
