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Mikhail Gorbachev was the last President of the Soviet Union from 1990-1991. He attempted to restructure the economy and allow more freedom.
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Japan first invaded Manchuria and established a puppet government there. The full-scale invasion began at the Marco Polo Bridge in Beijing, which started an undeclared war.
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Hitler annexed Poland, which proved the appeasing policy to be a failure. France and Britain declared war on Germany and began WWII.
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The most powerful invasion force in history launched a surprise attack on the USSR but failed because of lack of preparation for winter and the massive Soviet resistance.
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The Battle of Britain was between Germany and Britain and lasted for two months. Germany's air force attempted to defeat the Royal Air Force but failed, which prevented Germany from invading Britain.
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Japan, Italy, and Germany signed a ten-year military and economic pact that created the Axis powers.
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The U.S. lended weapons to the British in exchange for renting naval bases. This act ended U.S. neutrality.
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The Siege of Leningrad was one of the longest sieges in history. It was a target during Operation Barbarossa.
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Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to prevent the U.S. from interfering with Japanese conquest in the Pacific. As a result, the U.S. declared war on Japan and entered WWII. FDR noted the Pearl Harbor bombing as "a date which will live in infamy."
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The Wannsee Conference disucssed the final solution to exterminate all Jews in Europe.
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Turning point in the Pacific war was at Midway (last U.S.-controlled island). Used code-breaking called Magic to discover plan and sank Japanese carriers.
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Bitish and U.S. soldiers landed on the French coast of Normandy and defeated the Germans. The operation began with a decoy attack that successfully deceived Hitler.
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The Yalta Conference was the second of three post-WWII conferences. The Big Three (U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill) met in Yalta, Crimea, to discuss post-war plans for Europe.
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The U.S. was island-hopping and attempted to conquer Iwo Jima and Okinawa as bases to attack Japan.
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After hearing news of defeat, Hitler shot himself in the head and his wife committed suicide with him. He did not live to see the Soviet flag flying over Germany's parliament building.
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After the surrender of Germany, Victory in Europe Day was celebrated across the world.
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The "Big Three" (U.S. President Harry Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin) met in Potsdam, Germany to decide on war reparations and Japan's "unconditional surrender."
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To prevent an invasion of Japan, Truman approved the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered as a result.
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Japan surrendered after the atomic bombings, which marked the end of WWII.
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Twenty-six countries met during WWII to pledge an alliance against the Axis powers. It was mainly organized by the "The Four Policemen" (Britain, U.S., Soviet Union, China). In San Francisco, fifty countries signed the official United Nations Charter.
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President Harry Truman declared that as part of its foreign policy, the U.S. would assist any countries that were in danger of falling into Communism. The Truman Doctrine aided Greece and Turkey, both of which later joined NATO, and started the Cold War.
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The European Recovery Program rebuilt Europe through cooperation and provided $13 billion to block communist influence.
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization created by the U.S. to counterattack Soviets. Warsaw Pact was created by USSR in response.
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The communist People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 when Mao Zedong named himself head of state.
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The Korean War was between North Korea (supported by PRC and USSR) and South Korea (supported by US). It has created the boundaries of both countries today (the 38th Parallel).
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Stalin ruled the USSR until his death. Khrushchev was President during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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The Warsaw Pact was formed by USSR in response to NATO, the military agreement formed by the US.
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War between North Vietnam (Communist) and South Vietnam (anti-Communist). US intervened but withdrew and left Vietnam to unite as a communist nation.
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Sputnik was the first artificial earth satellite, created by the Soviet Union. Its launch began the Space Race, in which the USSR and US competed for technological advancements in space.
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JFK approved the invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro. The Central Intelligence Agency trained Cubans to rebel against him, but the operation was a failure.
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The USSR built the Berlin Wall to prevent refugees from escaping to Western Germany.
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The USSR deployed missiles in Cuba to reach targets in the US. Although there was no conflict, this was the closest moment in which the Cold War could have turned into a nuclear war.
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Gorbachev resigned from his office and the USSR fell, ending the Cold War. The satellite nations formed individual countries.
