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League of Nations
The League of Nations didn’t enforce power, stop aggression, and didn’t have major powers; like the U.S. It didn't stop Japan’s invasion of Manchuria, Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia, and didn't stop Hitler’s violations of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Treaty of Versailles
The treaty ended World War 1, but because of the harsh punishment of Germany, resentment grew within them.This fueled nationalism in Germany and led to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. -
Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany
Once Hitler went into power he quickly outlawed any opposing parties and started to violate the Treaty of Versailles. -
Remilitarization of the Rhineland
Germany violated the Treaty of Versailles even more by sending troops into the Rhineland. When they did this France and Britain didn’t intervene, which just provoked Hitler even more. -
Munich Agreement
This agreement allowed Hitler to take the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia without any resistance. This made Hitler more confident and encouraged further expansion. Later he took the rest of Czechoslovakia, which broke the agreement. This showed Britain and France that Hitler couldn’t be trusted. -
Germany’s invasion of Poland
On the morning of September 1st, 1939, The Germans pulled a surprise attack on Poland. Britain and France had promised to help Poland in the event of a German attack, so they both declared war on Germany on September 3rd. This event marked the beginning of World War 2. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan thought that if they bombed America it would impair the US navy and buy time in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. It happened at the naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii. This event brought the United States into the war. The U.S. started cutting ties with Japan before the attack, which is probably what motivated Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This was a battle fought between Germany and the Soviet Union. Germany wanted to take the city of Stalingrad because it was an industrial plant and good for trading and resources. The Soviet Union ended up defeating the Germans and the battle is now known as the “bloodiest battle.” -
Allied invasion of Italy
America wanted a big blow to knock out Nazi Germany, but the British thought that getting Italy out of the war would help other Allied objectives. The United States agreed with Britain and so they invaded through Sicily. It led to the fall of Mussolini and the surrender of the Italian government to the Allies. -
D-Day
This was the Allied invasion of Western Europe. On June 6th, the U.S., British, and Canadian forces simultaneously landed on five separate beachheads in Normandy, France. By the end of August, all of northern France was liberated. They then drove into Germany where they met with Soviet Union forces to end the Nazi Reich. -
Liberation of concentration camps
Allied forces moved through Nazi-Europe and the Soviet troops were the first to liberate a major camp, Majdanek in July, and then they liberated Auschwitz in January. American and British forces liberated many camps in the spring of 1945. The liberation revealed the full extent of the Nazi power, including mass murder, starvation, and inhumane conditions. -
Battle of Okinawa
In August, the United States started its “island hopping” strategy to retake control of the Pacific. The Japanese had bunkers with troops hidden within the hills of the island, but their kamikaze attacks weren’t enough to defeat the Americans. The Japanese generals ended up committing suicide to go out in a way of honor and not give up. -
VE Day
This is the day where Germany gave up its forces to the Allied army. This was known as the end of World War two in Europe. -
VJ Day
This was the day that marked the ally's victory over Japan. It occurred on August 14th, 1945, where the Japanese forces surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. -
Dropping of atomic bombs
The first atomic bomb was dropped by the USSR on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Soon after the first bombing, the USSR declared war on Japan. Japan was warned about the bomb and was told that if they didn’t surrender it would be dropped. Japan did realize these bombs could wipe out all of mankind, but it wasn't in their nature to quit. They didn’t listen and kept fighting, so Truman saw that dropping the atomic bomb was a way to end the war quickly and save an untold number of Allied lives.