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Period: to
WWII
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Ribbentrop/ Molov Pact
Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was a non-aggression pact signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in Moscow on 23 August 1939. -
German's invation of Poland
1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, 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, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
German Blitzkrieg
A German term for “lightning war” blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create kaos among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and concentrated firepower.German forces tried out the blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. -
Fall of Paris
The fall of Paris was the German invasion of France. German forces defeated Allied forces in a series of mobile operations, eventually leading to the vitory of France, -
The Bombin of Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. -
Bataan Death March
U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese. The approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese. Thousands died in what became known as the Bataan Death March. -
Battle of Midway June 3 - June 7
In part to advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy.An important turning point in the Pacific campaign. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia, on the eastern boundary of Europe -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Apr.19 - May16
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the act of Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II. -
Allied invasion of Italy sept.3 - sept.16
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place during the early stages of the Italian Campaign of World War II. -
D-Day
160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. -
liberation of concentration camps july 23 - Jan.27,1945
Soviet soldiers were the first to liberate concentration camp prisoners in the final stages of the war. They entered the Majdanek camp in Poland, and later overran several other killing centers -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front -
Operation Thunderclap
The plan envisaged a massive attack on Berlin in the belief that would cause 220,000 casualties with 110,000 killed, many of them key German personnel, which would shatter German morale. -
Battle of Okinawa April.1 - June. 22
The Battle of Okinawa was a series of battles fought in the Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific -
VE-Day
Victory in Europe Day (VE-Day) to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces.
