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Period: to
WWII
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Japan Invades Manchuria
Japan invades Manchuria for its resources. Also, Japan felt that Manchuria belonged to them. -
Invasion of Ethiopia
Italy invades Ethiopia to help make Italy an Imperial power. This was one event that was unpunished that helped pave the way to the start of the war. -
Rape of Nanking
The city Nanking was ordered to be destroyed, and this event was suppose to break the Chinese resistance. Not only was the city burned but the Japanese soldiers butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages, many of whom were mutilated or killed in the process. -
Start of WWII
On this day, Germany invades Poland. This is the official beginning of WWII. -
Britain and France Declare War
Birtain and France declares war on Germany because it invaded Poland. These would be the first two Allies. -
Invasion of France
Germany invades France through the Ardennes Forest, which catches them by surprise. France fell in less than 2 months. -
Battle of Dunkirk
This was an evacuation of French and British troop from France to Britain. 340,000 Allies escaped. -
Operation Barbarossa
This is when Hitler breaks the nonagression pact with the Soviet Union causing the Soviet Union to join the Allies. The Russian winter helped to ensure that the Nazis didn't get to far. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor destroying 20 warships and 200 aircraft. This destroyed U.S. isolationism. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
Japan attempted to invade New Guinea, but they were stopped by the Allies who decoded their message in time. This stopped Japan's advance on Australia. -
Battle of Midway
Japanese planed a two pronged attack on the Aleutian Islands & Midway Islands, but the Allies broke the Japanese code and knew the main attack was at Midway. It was a defensive victory for the Allies. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Last German offensive on the eastern front, and it was important Soviet city because of its location on the Volga River and proximity to Soviet oil fields. 250,000 Axis forces trapped (about 200,000 die, remainder surrender) -
Operation Torch
This was the name given to the Allied invasion of French North Africa. U.S. along with British troops invade under the direction of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. From North Africa, the plan was to invade Sicily and then on to mainland Italy and move up the so-called “soft underbelly” of Europe. -
D-Day
150,000 Allied troops carried across the Englih channel led by Omar Bradley. This would be a successful invasion and the beginning of the end. -
Battle of the Bulge
Germany launched the last major offensive of the war. It was an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. It was called this because the Germans created a “bulge” around the area of the Ardennes forest in pushing through the American defensive line. -
V-Day
This day was the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. -
Potsdam Conference
A meeting between Truman, Churchill, & Stalin after the war to continue the plans started at Yalta. Americans were concerned about the spread of communism and Stalin keeping his promises from Yalta -
Hiroshima
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city, Hiroshima. The plan that the bomd was dropped from was Enola Gray and 80,000 were killed. -
Nagasaki
This was where the second atomic bomb was dropped. Over 40,000 people were killed. -
Japan Surrenders
On this day, Japan's Minister and General signed the surrender agreement.
