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Japan invades Manchuria
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 started Japanese aggression against China & Indochina. The US response to Japanese aggression, limited by isolationist policies, was limited to imposing trade restrictions, such as embargoes on gas and iron. -
Munich Pact
The Munich Pact was an agreement between Britain and Germany in 1938, under which Germany was allowed to extend its territory into parts of Czechoslovakia where German-speaking people lived. -
Kristallnacht
The Kristallnacht or in other words the " night of broken glass, Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jews. Which of course German authorities looked on/looked past it without intervening. -
Germany invades Poland
Germany's invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939 led to France and Britain declaring war on Germany. Germany utilized the strategy of blitzkrieg/lightning war then quickly invaded France and launched devastating air raids on Britain. -
Neutrality Acts of 1939
The Neutrality Acts were a series of acts passed by the United States Congress in the 1930s in response to the growing threats and wars that led to World War II.Cash and Carry (Neutrality Acts of 1939) allowed nations at war to buy goods from the US if they paid cash up front and carried the merchandise on their own ships -
Exec Order 8022
The Executive Order was an order that was issued by FDR, which was prohibiting ethnic or racial discrimination in the nation's defense industry. Franklin D. Roosevelt helped to eliminate racial discrimination in the U.S. defense industry and this order was an important step toward ending it in federal government employment practices overall. -
Atlantic Charter
FDR & British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter, which was a broad statement of US and British war aims. It endorsed self determination and an international system of general security. It showed FDR’s commitment to opposing German and Japanese aggression. -
Atlantic Conference Churchill & FDR
Alliance strengthened between US & Great Britain by signing the Atlantic Charter, it established an agenda of preventing global war through free trade, mutual disarmament, increased sovereignty among colonial nations, the reduction of imperial aggression. -
Lend Lease Act
This was an act built to promote the defense of the United States, Congress authorizes Roosevelt to “sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend or otherwise dispose of to any such government and defense article” which he thought it was “necessary in the interest of the defense of the United States” -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack launched by Japanese against Pearl Harbor naval base, as well as nearby airfields Japan attack in response to US embargoes and because it saw the US Pacific fleet as threat to its growing empire. There were 2400 Americans killed, 1300 wounded and 19 US ships sunk or damaged. -
Exec Order 9066
FDR issued Executive Order 9066 which authorized the internment of Americans of Japanese descent and resident aliens from Japan. But Korematsu argued that Executive Order 9066 was unconstitutional and that it violated the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Victory at Midway stopped the Japanese advance and put them on the defensive. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was an invasion of North Africa that was launched to free the Mediterranean Sea from German control and protect the oil fields in the Middle East. The French colonies in the area were dominated by the French, formally aligned with Germany but of mixed loyalties. -
D-Day
The invasion of Normandy on D-Day finally provided the long-awaited western front, Germany was now engaged on 3 fronts & had to divert resources to a western front. and The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. -
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge was the last German offensive and the beginning of the end for the Nazis, Hitler's aim was to split the Allies in their drive toward Germany. As the Germans drove into the Ardennes, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle's name. -
Korematsu v. United States
Fred Korematsu was a Japanese American who refused to leave his home per the Exec. Order (9066) issued in regards to Japanese Americans and resident aliens. He took his case to the Supreme Court, arguing that internment violated his Constitutional rights.
Korematsu lost & the Supreme Court upheld Japanese internment as Constitutional. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, also known as the Crimea Conference and code-named Argonaut, held February 4–11, 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States. Churchill, FDR, Stalin - Final plans for the defeat of Europe & began discussion of post war European Plans. -
Bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
President Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima (Aug 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (Aug 9. 1945) to prevent the necessity for landing and fighting on the Japanese home islands which resulted in too many American lives lost. Japanese surrendered unconditionally, and no invasion was necessary after the bombs were dropped. -
United Nations is created
The United Nations were an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international cooperation and to create and maintain international order, the idea based in the League of nations originally proposed by Woodrow Wilson.US played a key role in helping to organize and start the United Nations. -
Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials established the precedent that individuals are responsible for their own actions for future trials on war crimes.
The precedents set by Nuremberg Trials and the conviction of Nazis has not however, brought an end to genocide throughout the world. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine (March 12, 1947) pledged to contain communism in Europe and was first applied when the United States supplied military and financial aid to Greece and Turkey to resist the communist-backed rebel forces there. President Harry S. Truman pledged that the United States would help any nation resist communism in order to prevent its spread. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative passed in 1948 for foreign aid to Western Europe, The US offered financial aid [Marshall Plan] to promote economic rebuilding and prevent the fall of European countries to communism. The Marshall Plan (April 3, 1948), or Economic Recovery Plan of 1948, was proposed by Sec. of State George Marshall. -
Israel is established
Israel is established (May 14, 1948) , US supported the self-determination of the Jewish people with the creation of the Jewish state of Israel, US promptly recognized & supported Israel demonstrates the impact of German war crimes on the conscience of the US & the world. -
Berlin Airlift
Berlin Airlift, The US supplied the people of Berlin with food, water and other supplies via air drops. The first test of US policy by the Soviet Union came when the Soviets blockaded Berlin. The US won this first Cold War confrontation with the Berlin Airlift . -
US establishes NATO
[North Atlantic Treaty Organization], established a military alliance aimed at the Soviet Union In 1955, the Soviet Union organized the Warsaw Pact. a military alliance of Eastern European nations against the NATO. This was created to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. NATO was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere. -
Soviet Union tests Atomic Bomb
Soviet Union tested an atomic bomb, this led the United States to accelerate the development of the hydrogen bomb and began a nuclear arms race. the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test, code-named 'RDS-1', at the Semipalatinsk test site in modern-day Kazakhstan. -
Korean Conflict (War)
In 1950, communist North Korea invaded South Korea, The United Nations voted unanimously to demand a ceasefire and support ‘police action’ to defend South Korea. Majority of troops & financial support for the Korean War came from the United States. The Truman administration believed this invasion had been orchestrated by the Soviet Union and urged the United Nations to take action. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
President Eisenhower intervened in Suez Crisis in 1956 and extended containment to the Middle East, Eisenhower Doctrine, a Middle Eastern country could request American economic assistance or aid from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression. Suez Crisis: Israeli troops push into Egypt towards Suez Canal after Egypt nationalized it. -
National Defense Education Act
This act was passed by Congress to promote math & science skills, so that the U.S. could compete with the Soviet Union in scientific and technical fields. and counteract the fear that consumerism had made Americans less competitive and less likely to win the arms race. The Bill was passed as an act in the year 1958 so that the American Schools got aids and higher education can be encouraged in the interest of national security. -
Rise of the Berlin Wall
Germany was divided after World War II into East (Soviet zone) and West (Allied zones). The US, Great Britain, and the French controlled West Berlin. The city was eventually physically divided by the Berlin Wall, which became a symbol of the Cold War to separate East & West Germany and keep people of the eastern bloc from escaping to freedom in the west through Berlin. -
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on Dec 24 1979 to prop up friendly government, As midnight approached, the Soviets organized a massive military airlift into Kabul, involving an estimated 280 transport aircraft and three divisions of almost 8,500 men each. -
Soviet Union launched Sputnik
The Soviet Union launched the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I. The successful launch came as a shock to experts and citizens in the United States, who had hoped that the United States would accomplish this scientific advancement first. Sputnik 1 was the first human-made object to orbit the Earth. Designed and launched by the Soviets in 1957, Sputnik sparked the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Fall of Berlin Wall in 1989 considered to be end of Cold War, The wall came down partly because of a bureaucratic accident but it fell amid a wave of revolutions that left the Soviet-led communist bloc teetering on the brink of collapse and helped define a new world order.
