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Japan invades Manchuria
Manchuria was an eastern seaboard in China. Japan needed more land to expand their military force and dominance. Manchuria had nearly 200,000 square kilometers and the Japanese believe it was rich in natural resources. According to the document, Japan established a "puppet government" and a few weeks later, the United States had yet to recognize the problem. This showed how little power or influence the Leagues of Nation had.
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/manchuria.htm -
Anti-Comintern Pact
Germany and Japan agreed to "mutually keep each other informed concerning the activities of the Communistic International." If the Soviet Union was to attack either nation, they would find a measure to safeguard their interest. Germany would also recognize Manchuria and Japan would not political treaties with the Soviet Union. This explained how involved Japan was and caused the Soviet Union to fight against both nations.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/tri1.asp -
German-Soviet Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. Britain and France wanted to form a pact with the Soviet Union but were unsuccessful. This caused the Soviet Union to be neutral thus losing a powerful European ally for Britain and France.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/nonagres.asp -
Germany invades Poland
Hitler claimed to have invaded Poland to increase the living space for the German people. In the document, Hitler was aware of the Mutual Assistance Treaty between Britain and Poland so he delayed his attack on Poland. After the attack, this caused Britain to wage war against Germany, soon starting world war two.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/gp2.asp -
Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
France and Britain entered to world war two against Germany. Troops were being established and the now European nations would be effected by this war. This meant that other parts of the world like the western hemisphere and Asia would be effected by the war.
mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/ww2.htm -
Neutrality act of 1939
This act allowed for the arms trade between belligerent nations (Great Britain and France) as long as they used their own ships and paid in cash immediately. The tension between Germany and the United States increase since the United States was neutral and it seemed to be favoring the allies.
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/neutrality.htm -
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.
The Axis powers are formed. Japan is the new order of East Asia while Germany and Italy are the new order of Europe. The nations would help each other if one of them was attacked politically, economically and militarily by any other nations not already involved in the war. Thus, any enemy of Germany and Italy would be an enemy of Japan and vise versa.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/triparti.asp -
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
Japan sent out hundreds of fighter planes to attack the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels. As a result of this, the American people had a stronger reason to unite and defend their country because of patriotism. This allowed for some western intervene in the old world, making this war involve the whole world.
http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1941PEARL.html -
The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II.
After the attack of Pearl Harbor, the United States withdrew neutrality from the war and sided with the allies. According to Franklin Roosevelt, the United States was at peace with isolated Japan until Japan afflicted Pearl Harbor. "A state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire" and so this meant that United States would finally be involved in a global war.
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/EastWind/Infamy.html -
Executive Order 9066
Franklin D. Roosevelt allowed for the removal of people from military areas “as deemed necessary or desirable.” Many of these people were of Japanese ancestry or had Japanese citizenship. They had to live in poverty-stricken locations and endure the horrible treatment from their military guards. Not only did this war involved the new world, it involved people who may have had little to no part in the war.
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=74# -
End of the North African campaign.
The Axis powers wanted to deprive the Allies from the Middle Eastern oil, gain access of the oil, and cut off the supply of natural resources of British empires in Africa. However, the Allies defeated all Axis empires established in North Africa. This allowed for Africa to be somewhat free from the war where it had no control of deciding who to fight for.
https://www.geni.com/projects/World-War-II-North-African-Campaign/documents/8552 -
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Allies land on Sicily
About 150,000 troops, 3,000 ships and 4,000 aircraft were involved during the landing in Sicily. The German and Italian armies were weakened after the loss in North Africa. This showed how the Allies were close to achieving a complete win in the war and how the Axis powers were slowly falling apart. http://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/second-world-war/allies-invade-sicily/658235500001 -
Allied troops liberate Rome.
American bombers could hit targets in eastern Germany for the first time. The people of Rome cheered for the victorious Allied troops that freed them from the German power. The German trooped withdrew, making it a complete victory for the United States. This showed how not all Italians supported the Axis power an explained how innocent people did not want to take part in the war.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_fi.php?ModuleId=0&MediaId=2052 -
D-Day
This was a turning point in the war since it signified a huge victory for the Allies. More than one million American, British, and Canadian soldiers were commanded by Eisenhower to across the Normandy channel. This allowed for the liberation of Paris in August and caused the most of the Germans to retreat out of France and Belgium.
https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/d-day.html -
Paris is liberated
Patton's army arrives and takes city and soon the Germans retreat over Seine River. This pointed out all signs to the German that defeat was coming soon. It also displays a victory (or boost in hope) for the Allies to defeat the Axis completely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig8diRZX2Sw -
Atomic bomb is released on the city of Hiroshima.
The bomb called "little boy" was dropped at Hiroshima. About 80,000 people were killed from the blast, and another 35,000 were injured. The bomb was the second to last step for Japan to accept unconditional surrender to the Allies.
https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1945-08-06&documentid=59&studycollectionid=abomb&pagenumber=1 -
Soviet War Declaration on Japan
This would increase the tension between Asia and Russia since they both seek for more territory.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/s4.asp -
A second bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
The bomb called "Fat man" was dropped on Nagasaki. It created a horrible side effect to exposed people that would last years from the ionizing radiation. This caused a debate on whether such a powerful weapon should have been unleashed before knowing long term side effects. After this bomb, Japan accepted unconditional surrender since so many citizens were devastated.
http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/
