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The Holocaust
The holocaust was the killing of millions of jewish people, by an evil dictator named Adolf Hitler. The Holocaust was a time of horrific violence. This is when Hitler blamed the jewish for Germany's loss of World War I, and saw them as the "inferior race". He made riots against them, and many Jewish places of worship and residences were destroyed in a fire. -
Japan invades China
Japan wanted China's resources. Since Japan had an outrage in China, the U.S.decided to cut off exports of oil to Japan. That was really an act of war, because without the oil, Japan would be out of business. So that's when the Japanese decided to seize the oil fields in the Dutch East Indies,which is now part of Indonesia. They first sank the American fleet at Pearl Harbor just to be sure. -
Munich Conference
Munich Conference was an agreement signed by Germany, Italy, France, and Great Britain on September 30, 1938. It gave Germany the right to take over the Sudetenland, which was a strip of Checkoslovakia that bordered on Germany and had a large German population. Hitler knew that the powers that opposed him; France, Germany, and the Soviet Union, were so opposed to war that they would help to anything he did. -
Non-Aggression Pact
Its a treaty of non-aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union. the pact was signed in Moscow in the early hours of August 24, 1939. This agreement rejected warfare between the two countries and also pledged neutrality.It also included a secret protocol in which they would divide Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. This opened the door for the Soviet Union to conquer most of Eastern Europe. -
Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg, also know as a quick destruction or lightning war. Was a transformation and expansion of operational tactics made during the last year of the First World War, it was modified to take advantage of technological developments in tanks and aircraft. It forces a breakthrough into the enemy's line of defense through a series of fast and powerful attacks. -
Germany Invades Poland
This is when Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. In 1939, German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air. The German invasion of Poland was the beginning of Hitler intending to start a war. This was was also the extensive bombing early on to destroy the enemy's railroads, communication lines, followed by a massive land invasion with overwhelming numbers of troops, and tanks. -
Battle of Britain
Not only did this battle save the UK, but also the world from an era of darkness, in which Hitler seemed to have won this war. The British seemed surrounded and cornered, with no real allies. Since the Spanish, French, Turkish and US Generals were ready to cut a deal with Hitler after the defeat and surrender of the British airforce, though, it did no happen. As for Germany trying to bomb Great Britain, it was unsuccesful because for G.B were more advance in terms of planes etc. -
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act provided the U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. It also allowed the transfer of supplies to Britain, China and other countries. This act permitted the US to support its war interests without going too far in battle. The countries; Britain, the Soviet Union, China, Brazil, and many others received weapons under this law. -
Operation Barbarossa
Also known as a code name for invasion into Soviet territory. Barbarossa was the crisis in World War II, for its failure forcing Germany to fight a two-front war against an alliance possessing advanced resources. The Germans had serious flaws. They severely underestimated their opponent; their preparations were very poor for this campaign. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. They managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, which included battleships and over 200 airplanes.The next day, FDR asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration without anyone disagreeing. -
Wannsee Conference
Was a meeting in which they would plan the final decision to the "Jewish question", or the complete wipeout of the Jewish race. The Final soultion to the Jewish problem in Nazi Germany. -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March, later reported as a Japanese war crime. It was an 82-mile march from the Bataan peninsula to prison camps; which was part of the Battle of the Philippines during WWII. This march involved the transfer of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese. 54,000 of the 72,000 prisoners reached the prison camps. -
Battle of Midway
This battle was an early turning point in WWII between Japan and the US. It was was of the most important naval battles of WWII and it was fought in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. One of Japan’s main goals during WWII was to get rid of the US as a Pacific power in order to gain more territory in East Asia. Japan hoped to defeat the US Pacific Fleet and use Midway as a base to attack Pearl Harbor, securing power in the region. It was a turning point in the Pacific. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
It was Nazi Germany's first major defeat in WWII. The German was completely wiped out with over 300,000 casualties. Not only was the battle of Stalingrad the biggest battle of WWII, but it was also the biggest battle in human history (in casualties). -
D-Day
Also called the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944. This day resulted in the Allied release of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. This battle began when British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches, 50-mile stretch of the coast of France’s Normandy region.This invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history and required long planning. -
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Battle of the Bulge
It was the last major German offensive of the war. Hitler's intention was to split the American and British armies, and capture Antwerp. Meaning, cutting off the British from supplies and reinforcements. -
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Battle if Iwo Jima
Iwo JIma is a small island close to Japan, there was a naval war that lasted several days. Thousands of US marines landed and fought for weeks to take the island from the Japanese. The US suffered grievous casualties and virtually the entire Japanese soldiers were killed. -
Battle of Okinawa
Involved the 287,000 troops of the US and the 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. This battle lasted 82 days from early April until June, 1945. It also had one of the highest number of casualties of any WWII combat. The Japanese lost over 100,000 troops, and the Allies lost over more than 50,000 casualties, and over 12,000 KIA. -
V-E Day
Also known as victory in Europe Day. On those days, Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies. It was important because signified an end of WWII in Europe. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki
It was a war crime. Many Americans believed that it was necessary to invade Japan to get them to surrender. A US invasion of Japan would have been a disastrous waste of lives on either side. During this time period, the atomic bombs were seen as the best choice to end the war without an invasion. The reason to why, was because Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. So America dropped an atomic bomb. They did not surrender then, so they dropped a second one on Nagasaki. To try to make Japan surrender. -
V-J Day
Means victory over Japan, it was chosen for the day on which Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers. Japan’s formal surrender was in the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a union between the communist countries of Eastern Europe and the USSR. The mutual defense treaty between several communist countries during the Cold War. Some members of the Warsaw Pact were; the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Albania.
