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Invasion of Manchuria
Mukden Incident was the seizure of the Manchurian city of Mukden by Japanese troops in 1931. This incident led to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the establishment of the Japanese dominated state of Manchukuo. Most people believe the incident was created by the Japanese army, without the authorization of the Japanese government. It contributed to the international isolation of Japan and is seen as a crucial event that led to the outbreak of World War II. -
Rape of Nanjing
Nanjing Massacre was a mass killing and ravaging of Chinese citizens by soldiers after their seizure of Nanjing during the Sino-Japanese War that followed World War II. The number of Chinese killed in the massacre estimates ranging from 100,000 to more than 300,000. -
Anschluss
The Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg agreed to a greater Nazi presence within Austria. He appointed the Nazi police and announced an amnesty for all Nazi prisoners. Schuschnigg hoped that agreeing to Hitler’s demands would prevent a German invasion. But Hitler insisted on greater German influence on the internal affairs of Austria-even placing German army troops within Austria–and Schu. -
Munich Pact
Munich Agreement was a settlement reached by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland, in western Czechoslovakia. It became known in May 1938 that Hitler and his generals were drawing up a plan for the occupation of Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovaks were relying on military assistance from France. The Soviet Union also had a treaty with Czechoslovakia, and it indicated willingness to cooperate with France and Great Britain. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also called Night of Broken Glass. The night of November 9–10, 1938, when German Nazis attacked Jewish people and property. The name Kristallnacht refers to the litter of broken glass left in the streets. The violence continued during the day of November 10, and in some places acts of violence continued for several more days. -
Invasion of Poland
1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its border with the German-controlled territory. The German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
Evacuation of Dunkirk
The Dunkirk evacuation in World War II was the evacuation of the British Force and other Allied troops from the French seaport of Dunkirk to England. Naval vessels and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the evacuation, which began on May 26. About 198,000 British and 140,000 French and Belgian troops had been saved. -
Lend Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act helped provide the U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. The act allowed the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials. Britain, the Soviet Union, China, Brazil, and many other countries received weapons from this law. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa, during World War II was the code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The failure of German troops to defeat Soviet forces in the campaign signaled a turning point in the war. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor attack was the surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base by the Japanese that helped the United States into World War II. The strike started a time of worsening relations between the United States and Japan. The American foreign policy in the Pacific would bring Japan into conflict with the United States. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a World War II naval battle that was fought almost entirely with aircraft, and the United States destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. The Battle of Guadalcanal and the Battle of Midway ended the threat of further Japanese invasion in the Pacific. The Japanese had continued with plans to seize Midway Island and bases in the Aleutians. Seeking a naval showdown with the more powerful U.S. Pacific Fleet. -
D-Day Invasion
D-Day invasion, also known as Normandy Invasion, during World War II, the Allied invasion of western Europe, which was launched on June 6, 1944. With the landing of U.S., British, and Canadian forces on five separate beachheads in Normandy, France. By the end of August 1944, all of northern France was liberated, and the invading forces reorganized to go to Germany, where they would eventually meet with Soviet forces advancing from the east to bring an end to the Nazi Reich. -
Liberation of Paris
The liberation began when the French Forces staged a revolt against the German upon the approach of the US Third Army. On August 24th the French gained control and overtook headquarters. -
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge, also called Battle of the Ardennes was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War II. It was an unsuccessful attempt to push the Allies back from German home territory. The name Battle of the Bulge was founded from Winston Churchill’s description in May 1940 of the resistance that he mistakenly supposed was being offered to the Germans’ breakthrough in that area. -
Hitler's Suicide
Hitler shot and killed himself through the mouth but some say he was poisoned. In the years immediately after the war, the Soviets maintained that Hitler was not dead, but had fled and was being shielded by the previous Western Allies. -
Surrender of Germany
Germany officially surrendered to the Allies, bringing an end to the European conflict in World War II. General Alfred Jodl, representing the German High Command, signed the surrender of both east and west forces in Reims, France. It took effect the following day. -
Hiroshima/ Nagasaki
In 1939 the United States had learned of experiments in Germany demonstrating the possibility of nuclear division. Some of them thought that the energy which would be released might be harnessed in an explosive weapon of power and destructiveness. Albert Einstein wrote to Roosevelt, warning him of the dangers that might result were Nazi Germany to develop such a weapon before other nations did. -
Non-Aggression Pact
pact between Germany and the Soviet Union that was concluded only a few days before the beginning of World War II and divided eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.
