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Invasion of Manchuria
Japan attacked Manchuria, China, in 1931. They did this become Japan was becoming overcrowded. Manchuria, already apart of the Japanese empire, offered lots of space for the overflowing population. The Japanese looked down upon the Chinese, and gave no thought to the Manchurian people. Japan also invaded because there were many natural resources in the area. The invasion led to the Japanese controlling China during WW2. The incident also marked a change in Japan's foreign policy. -
Tripartite Agreement
The Tripartite Agreement was an international monetary agreement by the US, France and Great Britain. The intention of the agreement was the stabilize currencies in their own countries and in the international exchange markets. They wanted to stabilize currencies between France, who still used gold standard, unlike the US and Great Britain who had stopped using it. The agreement stabilized exchange rates, ending the currency war. The agreement failed to help the recovery of world trade though. -
Rape of Nanjng
The Nanjing Massacre was an episode of mass murder and rape. This incident was committed by Japanese troops against people in Nanjing, China. It is estimated that approx. 50,000-300,000 Chinese dies during the Rape of Nanjing. It is also estimated that at least 20,000 women and girls were raped by the Japanese during this time. Most military records of the killings were destroyed, but many pictures have been recovered, yet some still deny the extremities of the massacre. -
Anschluss
Anschluss was the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany. Hitler did this because he wanted to unify all of the German people. Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg attempted to avoid the takeover by Hitler, but Hitler presented a set of demands. Schuschnigg agreed to these demands, mostly because he felt threatened. This event marks the end of independent Austria, as any official memory of Austrian existence was destroyed. The Nazis arrested many leaders of Austrian anti-Nazi parties & opponents. -
Munich Pact
Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier, British and French prime minister, signed the pact along with Nazi leader Hitler. The agreement gave Czechoslovakia away to German conquest. The conquest of Czechoslovakia was Hitler's next step into creating a "greater Germany". Britain and France agreed to this because they wanted to avert war. The pact revealed that Czechoslovakia's allies were not willing to help them. This led to Hitler later annexing the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939. -
Kristallnacht
Also referred to as "The Night of Broken Glass", Kristallnacht was an event in which Nazis vandalized Jewish property, homes and buildings, and torched synagogues. This incident also resulted in the deaths of almost 100 Jews. About 30,000 Jewish men were sent to Nazi concentration camps, where they would most likely be worked to death. This event marks where anti-semitism from the Nazis became very violent during WW2. After Kristallnacht, conditions for German Jews grew increasing worse. -
Non-Aggression Pact
Right before WW2 broke out, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, who were enemies, signed the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The pact agreed that neither country would take military action against each other for the next 10 years. The pact also included a secret agreement about how they would divide Eastern Europe. The pact fell apart in June 1941, when the Nazis invaded Russia. The pact made the two countries allies for the first third of the war. -
Invasion of Poland
German troops invaded Poland along its border with German-controlled territory. Polish naval forces were attacked by German warships and U-boats in the Baltic sea. The German "Luftwaffe", an aerial branch, bombed Polish airfields. Hitler claimed the invasion was defensive, but Britain and France were not convinced. This caused the two nations to declare war on Germany, triggering the start of WW2. -
Evacuation of Dunkirk
The Allied forces, overwhelmed with fighting German forces, retreated to the beaches of Dunkirk, where they were trapped by the Germans. Miraculously, Hitler told his forces to halt for three days, giving the Allies enough time to organize an evacuation. In the end, no full scale German attack was launched. 330,000 Allied troops were rescued because of the evacuation. At the time Winston Churchill called it "a miracle of deliverance". -
Lend Lease Act
The Lend Lease act proposed to provide United States military aid to foreign nations. It authorized the President to transfer arms or other defense materials. Under the law, Britain, the Soviet Union, China, Brazil, and many other nations received war equipment. Since the President was allowed to transfer materials to Britain, the act enabled Britain to fight for longer until America entered the war. The Lend Lease act brought the US closer to war though, since many Isolationists opposed it. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for the invasion of the Soviet Union from Germany. The German offensive was launched by three army groups. The invasion took the Soviet Union by surprise, as the Red Army was in a partially demobilized state. Because of the inability for Germany to beat the Soviet Union, the invasion marked a setback for Germany military effort. Hitler had failed to conquer the Soviet Union, forcing Germany into a two front war. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a US naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the base and destroyed/damaged about 20 American naval vessels and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 people died in the attack. The day after the incident, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, which they approved. The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a final push for America to join WW2. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a naval battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft. The Japanese wanted to seize Midway Island, but US intelligence interfered after breaking the Japanese naval code. The battle started shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, where the Japanese attacked an American naval base in Honolulu. The US destroyed the Japanese first line-carrier strength, along with most of the best naval pilots. The battle also helped to end the threat of Japanese invasion in the Pacific. -
D-Day Invasion
The Battle of Normandy resulted in allied liberation of Western Germany from Nazi Germany's control. The battle, also known as D-Day, began when American, Canadian and British forces landed on beaches along the coast of France's Normandy region. This was the invasion in which the Allied Powers finally defeated Germany. The invasion forced Germany to fight in a two front war as they did in WWI. The Germans could not handle war on both sides, though. -
Liberation of Paris
Paris was liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the US 4th Infantry Division after 4 years of Nazi occupancy. General Dietrich von Choltitz defied and order by Hitler to destroy Paris. Choltitz signed a formal surrender. The French became aware of the Allied presence in the liberation, and also acknowledged the American presence. It was an extremely exhilarating day for the Parisians, as they were finally free from the evil grasp of the Nazis. -
Battle of the Bulge
This battle was the last major German offensive campaign fought on the Western Front during WW2. It was launched through Luxembourg, Wallonia in eastern Belgium, and northeast France. It is estimated that 19,276 Americans were killed during the battle. The Battle of the Bulge most likely shortened the war as well because most forces sent to the west were wiped out. The battle ruined the German army because the Germans lost a significant amount of weapons, which they could not replenish. -
Hitler's Suicide
Adolf Hitler killed himself by gunshot in his Furherbunker in Berlin. His wife, Eva, killed herself along with him by taking cyanide. Days before, the Russians were on their way to take the chancellery. One of the Nazi principles was that death was better than dishonor, which may have been why he chose suicide rather than escaping. He may have also decided to stay in Berlin until his death to prove his ideals and be there for his people. -
Surrender of Germany
General Alfred Jodl, representing the German High Command, signs the unconditional surrender of all German forces. General Jodl attempted to limit the surrender only to the forces fighting the Western Allies, but General Eisenhower demanded complete surrender. If the Germans refused, Eisenhower was prepared to cut off the Western Front, leaving Germany in the hands of Soviet forces. Because of the surrender, the war in the West was over. Yet war in the East still went on for almost another day. -
The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States denoted two bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after getting consent from the United Kingdom. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were cities in Japan. Both bombings killed 129,000–226,000 people, mostly civilians. This action was taken to protect the Americans from Japanese invasion. 6 days after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced its surrender to the Allies. The dropping of the bombs signify the end of WW2, since the Japanese signed the instrument of surrender on September 2, 1945.