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Period: to
World War II
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Neutrality Acts Passed
Series of laws in the 1930s aimed at promoting U.S. isolationism and non-involvement in response to growing turmoil in Europe and Asia that would eventually led to WWII -
Quarantine Speech
iven by FDR; called for international effort to stop the expansion of aggressor nations -
Munich Conference
Meeting between British, French, German, and Italian leaders in which Germany was given control of the Sudetenland in exchange for Hitler's promise to make no more claims on European territory -
Kristallnacht
"Night of Broken Glass" when Nazi destroyed many Jewish buildings -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Agreement between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin not to attach one another and to divide Poland -
German Invasion of Poland
This was the event that started the war. The Allies and Commonwealth coutries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland by Germany, since Britain had earlier made a treaty with Poland to back them up if their independence was ever threatened forcefully. -
Battle of The Atlantic
WWII Naval Campaign fought between German U-Boats and allied naval and air forces. The Germans were trying to starve England out and so they would travel the Atlantic in their U-Boats awaighting the arrival of a merchant ship so they could sink it. -
The Battle of Britain
The battle started on July 10th 1940 when the Luftwaffe attempted to gain control of the Straits of Dover. The aim of the Luftwaffe was to tempt the RAF out for a full-scale battle. By the end of July, the RAF had lost 150 aircraft while the Luftwaffe had lost 268. -
Atlantic Charter
Pledge signed by FDR and Winston Churchill not to acquire new territory as a result of WWII and to work for peace after the war. -
The Battle of Moscow
The reason behind this battle is that Hitler believed that if he were to destroy the heart (Moscow) the entire nation of Russia will crumble. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. -
The Fall of Singapore
The fall of Singapore to the Japanese Army on February 15th 1942 is considered one of the greatest defeats in the history of the British Army and probably Britain’s worst defeat in World War Two. The fall of Singapore in 1942 clearly illustrated the way Japan was to fight in the Far East, a combination of speed and savagery that only ended with the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945. -
Bataan Death March
Brutal forced march of American and Filipino prisoners during WWII; more than 10,000 died. -
The Battle of Coral Sea
The Battle of Coral Sea took place in May 1942. If the Japanese had succeeded at Coral Sea, the way would have been open for the Japanese to have captured New Guinea and leave Australia isolated from Allied help and more open to a Japanese attack. The Battle of Coral Sea was fought entirely by aircraft, no ship on either side made any visual contact with any enemy ship. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway, fought in June 1942, must be considered one of the most decisive battles of World War Two. The Battle of Midway effectively destroyed Japan’s naval strength when the Americans destroyed four of its aircraft carriers. Japan’s navy never recovered from its mauling at Midway and it was on the defensive after this battle. -
Manhattan Project
Secret U.S. project begun in 1942 to develop the atomic bomb -
Stalingrad
Major industrial city on the Volga River in the USSR; last German offensive on the Eastern Front; Allied victory. -
The Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk took place in July 1943. Kursk was to be the biggest tank battle of World War Two and the battle resulted in a severe crisis for Nazi Germany’s war machine in Russia. -
D-Day
Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
The Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. -
The Battle of Brittany
The Battle for Brittany took place between August and October 1944. After breaking out of the Normandy beach head in June 1944, Brittany was targeted because of its naval bases at Lorient, St. Nazaire and Brest. U-boats and surface raiders had used these bases, despite a bombing campaign by the RAF, and the Germans had launched 'Operation Cerberus' from Brest in 1942. -
Leyte Gulf
Last, largest, and most decisive naval engagement in the Pacific; afterward, the Japanese fleet no longer seriously threatened the Allies; recapturing of Philippines by Allied forces. -
Battle of The Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, fought over the winter months of 1944 – 1945, was the last major Nazi offensive against the Allies in World War Two. The battle was a last ditch attempt by Hitler to split the Allies in two in their drive towards Germany and destroy their ability to supply themselves. -
Yalta Conference
Meeting of FDR, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin to plan for the postwar world. -
The battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima, or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire -
The Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa started in April 1945. The capture of Okinawa was part of a three-point plan the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East. Okinawa was to prove a bloody battle even by the standards of the war in the Far East but it was to be one of the major battles of World War Two. -
The Battle of Berlin
The Battle for Berlin all but marked the end of World War Two in Europe. The Battle for Berlin, along with the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic and D-Day, was of vital importance in the European sector. It was fought between April and May 1945, and the Russian victory saw the end of Hitler's Third Reich and the occupation of the city by the Red Army before it was divided into four as a result of the wartime meetings between the Allies. -
V-E Day
This was the day that Europe remembers as the day of their victory. VE Day officially announced the end of World War Two in Europe. On Monday May 7th, German General Jodl signed the unconditional surrender document that formally ended war in Europe. Winston Churchill did not find out until the next day when he announced it to the people. -
Potsdam Conference
Meeting of Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin after Germany's surrender in WWII; resulted in the division of Germany into four zones of occupation -
Hiroshima
site where the US dropped the first Atomic Bomb in order to get the Japanese to surrender. The Japanese, despite the mazzive bomb, did not surrender. -
Nagasaki
The place the US dropped the second Atomic bomb trying to get the Japanese to surrender. This time, it worked. -
Surrender of Japan
In the morning of 2 September 1945, more that two weeks after acceping the Allies terms, Japan formally surrendered. The ceremonies, less than half an hour long, took place on board the battleship USS Missouri, anchored with other United States' and British ships in Tokyo Bay.
