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Invasion of Manchuria
This caused many blames by the League of Nations. Japan had invested vast sums of money into the economy of Manchuria. This proved to be one of the causes of World Wa II. -
Rape of Nanjing
20,000 women and girls of all ages were raped. Many of whom were mutilated or killed in the process. Shortly after the end of World War II, Matsui was found guilty of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and executed. -
Anschluss
The Anschluss of World War II refers to the forced union of Austria with the German Reich. After the assassination of Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss in 1934, the new Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg tried to appease Hitler to avoid a Nazi invasion. -
Munich Pact
Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier of France and Mussolini of Italy met in Munich and agreed that Hitler should have the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Czechs were forced to surrender the Sudetenland to Germany. -
Kristallnacht
Hitler and the Nazis implemented their so-called “Final Solution” to what they referred to as the “Jewish problem." 6 million European Jews were murdered. Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jews. Leading up to the holocaust. -
Non-Aggression Pact
A little before World War II (1939-45) broke out in Europe, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. The pact meant that the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. -
Invasion of Poland
Germans invade Poland. Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. They declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
Evacuation of Dunkirk
The British commander-in-chief, General Gort, had been forced to retreat to the coast at Dunkirk. In World War II, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and other Allied troops from the French seaport of Dunkirk to England. -
Tripartite Agreement
Tripartite Pact, the agreement concluded by Germany, Italy, and Japan one year after the start of World War II. t created a defense alliance between the countries and was largely intended to deter the United States from entering the conflict. -
Lend Lease Act
The Lend-Lease brought the United States one step closer to entry into the war. the Lend-Lease Act was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. -
Operation Barbarossa
The Operation Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II. Its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese airplanes made a surprise attack on the US Navy in Pearl Harbor. They destroyed many ships and killed many soldiers. It was this attack that forced the United States to enter World War II. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. The victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
D-Day Invastions
It forced the Germans to fight a two-front war. Yet again the Germans could not handle war on both sides of them. By the end of June 1944, about a million Allied troops had reached France. -
Liberation of Paris
The French capital of Paris was liberated from the Germans. It was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. -
Germany launched its final defensive through the Ardennes region of Belgium. However, they were beaten back by the allies.
Germany launched its final defensive through the Ardennes region of Belgium. However, they were beaten back by the allies. The Battle of the Bulge, so-called because the Germans created a “bulge” around the area of the Ardennes forest in pushing through the American defensive line, was the largest fought on the Western front. -
Hitler's Suicide
Hitler committed suicide in his bombproof shelter together with his mistress, Eva Braun, who he had married at the last minute. 8 days later May 8, 1945, the German forces issued an unconditional surrender, leaving Germany to be carved up by the four Allied powers. -
Surrender of Germany
Germany officially surrendered to the Allies, bringing an end to the European conflict in World War II. May 8 was declared Victory in Europe Day, a holiday still celebrated by many European countries. -
Hiroshima/ Nagasaki
The Japanese generals refused to surrender. The US dropped an atomic bomb on the island of Hiroshima. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.”
