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Japan declares war on China
Japan officially declares war on China. -
Invasion of Nanking
The Japanese went into Nanking with the intent to to take control of the city and ensure fear. It is estimated that over 300,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians died during this invasion. There are no official numbers for the death toll of this invasion. -
Hitler took Austria and Czechoslovakia
The world did nothing to try to stop Hitler from taking over Czech. Europe was afraid of another world war, so they didn't get involved. Hitler signed an agreement to not go after any other lands after he had taken Czechoslovakia. -
Euthanasia Program
Hitler signed an order to ‘kill’ all children under 5 years old that showed signs of of a disability. The point of this program was to ‘cleanse’ the race to produce a productive society. It worked so well that it was expanded to teens and adults; it is estimated that over 200,000 died in this program. -
German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact was signed
Germany and Russia signed an agreement to split up Poland. Germany invaded first, then two weeks later Russia met the Polish army while they were retreating and Poland was lost. Hitler killed Jews and undesirables in Poland. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan's surprise attacked the US naval base Pearl Harbor. 2,403 Americans were killed in the attack, 180 aircrafts and 18 naval vessels sank. -
America declares war on Japan
President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan on the 8th of December; one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They enter the war on the 11th of December. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee conference was when 15 Nazi officials held a meeting to discuss a ‘Final Solution’, which were death camps. The officials agreed that the emigration of Jews was expensive but was necessary. -
War Production Board
American companies stopped making what they usually make to make war goods. There were organized national drives to collect scrap metal, paper, cloth or anything else that would help the war efforts. -
Executive Order 9066
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an order that forced all Japanese Americans into internment camps because they were seen as threats to national security. The camps were in the desert, they were dirty and had no running water. The people interned lost all of their previous belongings. -
Navajo Code Talkers
Marines used Navajo Code Talkers to create an unbreakable code using their native language. They sent important messages using this code which the Japanese could not break since their language is not easy to learn. -
War Labor Board
The war labor board was created to help keep people working by settling disputes. -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March forced the prisoners of war to walk 60 to 80 miles in 5 to 12 days to the POW camp. They were given hardly any food and water; if you fell behind or couldn’t keep going the soldiers would kill you. Around 10,000 to 13,000 Americans and Filipinos died during the march. -
Wartime Consumer
People made money from their jobs but had nothing to buy because things were being produced for the war. Americans would buy war bonds so they could lend money to the government to help with the war efforts. People would donate and hold drives to collect anything that would be useful for the war needs. -
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter was created to empower the women of the United States to get jobs in factories to help the men while they were at war. Soon women made up one third of all factory workers. -
Battle of Midway
This battle was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. Over 5,000 Japanese soldiers died, 4 aircraft ships sank and 322 planes were shot down. The Americans won this battle and inflicted devastating damage to the Japanese fleet. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was Germany’s second attempt to take Russia; they did not succeed because they were trapped by the winter and many soldiers died. Germany was undersupplied, it lasted too long and civilians fought back. Hitler wanted to take Germany so he could make it a living space for his perfect race. -
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was an armed rebellion, that lasted a few days, on German troops. The Germans were surprised by the strength of the rebellion. -
War Refugee Board
President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the War Refugee Board that would allow over 200,000 Jews into the United States in just a few months. It was made to aid the civilian victims of the Axis powers and the Nazis. -
D-Day
D-Day or Operation Overlord, was the invasion of the German occupied beaches of Normandy; the Allied powers won. It is and still is, the biggest land, sea and air take over ever. -
Battle of the Bulge
Germans tried to take the Belgian city, Antwerp. It was a surprise attack that took the Allied powers completely off guard. The battle was chaotic, and the Germans managed to mislead the Americans successfully. The Americans ‘won’ or tied, but lost 81,000 lives because of it. -
Yalta Conference
Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met to discuss splitting Germany. During the meeting they agreed to split Germany into four occupied zones and to allow free elections. Stalin broke his promise and forced Soviet rule. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima is a small island off of Japan; by the time Americans were able to secure the island, only 7,000 Americans died compared to the 200,000 Japanese deaths. When the Marines got to the island they were surprised by the amount of underground tunnels, bunkers and hidden artilleries the Japanese had. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the largest battle of the war, only 19,000 Americans died while 200,000 Japanese died. -
Hitler dies
Hitler killed himself and his wife so he wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of the atrocities he had committed -
Potsdam Declaration
Truman, Churchill and Stalin would only accept a surrender with certain conditions. They agreed that Japan would have to lose their army and allow a peaceful government to rule. If Japan did not surrender they would destroy them. -
Japan surrendered
Hirohito, the leader of Japan, officially surrendered from the war. -
Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials - November 1945
The Nuremberg Trials was a series of trials against an international court of high ranking Nazis officials. They were tried for the war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity that they had committed during the war.
