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Pearl Harbor
Dec. 7, 1941, it was an attempt by the Japanese to try and knock the Pacific fleet out of the war and allow Japanese forces to expand the Japanaese sphere of influence in the Pacific. -
U.S. and Britain join forces
Prime minister Churchill arrived at the White House and spent the next three weeks discussing war plans with President Roosevelt. -
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The Battle of the Atlantic
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler ordered submarine raids against ships along America's east coast. In the late spring of 1943, the United States launched a crash shipbuilding program. By mid-1943, the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic had turned. Churchill reported that June was the best month at sea. -
Doolittle's Raid
Spring of Apirl 18, 1942, when Lt. Col. James led 16 bombers to attack Tokyo. -
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Battle of the Coral Sea
May 1942, Americans and Australians succeeded in stopping the Japanese drive toward Australia in the five-day Batte of the Coral Sea. -
The Battle of Midway
June 3, 1942, Americans sent torpedo planes and dive bombers to attack the Japanese fleet. -
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The Battle of Stalingrad
The Germans attacked Stalingrad in August and by September controlled nine-tenths of the city. The Soviets lost a total of 1,100,000 soldiers in defending Stalingrad. -
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North African Front
In November 1942, 107,000 troops landed in Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers in North Africa. They went eastward chasing the Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel. The last of the Afrika Korps surrendered in May 1943. -
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The Italian Campaign
It started with the capture of Sicily. Because of the capture of Sicily, the Italian government forced Benito Mussolini to resign. One of the hardest battle fought was "Bloody Anzio." It lasted four months and left 25,000 casualties for the Allied and 30,000 for the Axis. The effort to free Italy did not suceed until 1945. -
D-Day
The Allies gathered 3 million troops. They parachuted down behind German lines. They were followd by thousands of other troops. By September they had freed France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. -
Liberation of the Death Camps
The Soviets came upon one of the death camps in July. The Germans tried to hide all of the evidence. The Soviets found 800,000 shoes. -
The Battle of the Bulge
In October, the Americans captured their first German town. The battle lasted a month long. The Germans had lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks and guns, and 1,600 planes. -
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Yalta Conference
Feb. 4-11, 1945 Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at the Black Sea resort city in the Soviet Union to discuss the fate of Germany and the postwar world. Roosevelt also wanted support from Stalin for a new peace keeping organization, that would be called the United Nations. -
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Iwo Jima
Feb. 19 - Mar. 26,1945, about 70,000 marines converged on the small, Japanese-controlled island of Iwo Jima. They evenutally captured Mt. Suribachi four days later, but the battle would last on for four more weeks. -
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The Battle for Okinawa
April 1 - June 21, 1945, Marines invaded Okinawa, Japanese unleashed more than 1,900 kamikaze attacks on the Allies; sinking 30 ships, damaging more than 300 more, and killing almost 5,000 seamen. When it was over, more than 7,600 Americans had died and 110,000 Japanese had died. -
Roosevelt's Death
On April 12, 1945, the president, while posing for a photo on Warm Springs, Georgia, had a stroke and died. -
Unconditional surrendered
The Soviets had stormed Berlin. On April 29, Hitler married his longtime companion Eva Braun. -
The Manhatten Project
July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was developed by Gen. Leslie Groves and American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer in an empty desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico. -
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Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Aug. 6-9, 1945, a B-29 named Enola Gray, codename Little Boy, bombed Hiroshima. Three days later, Nagasaki was bombed by, codename, Fat man. -
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The Occupation of Japan
Aug. 1945 - Apr. 1952, Japan was occupied by U.S. forces under command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. During the long period of the occupation, MacArthur reshaped Japan's economy by introducin free-market practices that led to an economic recovery. -
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Nuremberg Trials
Nov. 20, 1945 - Oct. 1, 1946, discovery of Hitler's death camps led Allies to put 24 surviving Nazi leaders on trial for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes against the peace. Trials were obviously held in Nuremberg.