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a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union, which marked the beginning of World War II. -
Great Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany on September 3, 1939, two days after Germany invaded Poland, fulfilling their defense pact with Poland and officially starting World War II. -
The invasion of Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France, known as Case Yellow (Fall Gelb), began on May 10, 1940, as part of World War II, where Nazi Germany used swift Blitzkrieg tactics to bypass France's Maginot Line by attacking through the neutral Low Countries. -
a pivotal World War II operation where over 338,000 Allied troops, trapped by advancing German forces, were evacuated from the beaches of France to Britain. Known as "Operation Dynamo." -
a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. -
the first U.S. peacetime draft, requiring men (initially 21-36) to register for potential military service, establishing the Selective Service System (SSS) to prepare for World War II. -
authorized the U.S. President to sell, transfer, exchange, or lease defense articles to any nation deemed "vital to the defense of the United States". -
The Empire of Japan launched a surprise military strike on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the time, the U.S. was a neutral country in World War II. -
The United States formally entered World War II on December 8, 1941, one day after Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Following President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "infamy" speech, Congress declared war on Japan, with Germany and Italy subsequently declaring war on the U.S. on December 11, 1941. -
Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941, just days after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, bringing the U.S. fully into World War II against the entire Axis alliance. -
A major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. -
a decisive U.S. naval victory over Japan in World War II, turning the tide in the Pacific by crippling Japan's carrier fleet with the sinking of four Japanese carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu) while losing only one U.S. carrier (Yorktown). -
Operation Torch was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during World War II. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to begin their fight against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on a limited scale. -
a crucial World War II campaign that opened the "soft underbelly of Europe," leading to the downfall of Mussolini, the Italian surrender, and paving the way for the Italian mainland invasion, which began shortly after with attacks on the toe of Italy (Calabria) and other key ports. -
the massive Allied amphibious invasion of Normandy, France (Operation Overlord), the largest seaborne assault in history, launching the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany by landing over 150,000 troops. -
Nazi concentration camps were discovered by Allied forces—Soviet troops in the East and American/British forces in the West—beginning in summer 1944 and culminating in spring 1945. -
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during the Second World War, taking place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. -
The Yalta Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. -
V-E (Victory in Europe) Day, celebrated on May 8, 1945, marks the formal unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied forces, ending World War II in Europe. -
The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, was named "Little Boy," a uranium-based, gun-type fission bomb detonated from a U.S. B-29 bomber called the Enola Gay, causing immense destruction and an estimated 90,000 to 166,000 deaths by the end of that year. -
On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. The aerial bombings killed 150,000 to 246,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only uses of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict. -
V-J (Victory over Japan) Day marks the end of World War II, celebrating Japan's surrender in 1945.