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Japan's Invasion of China
Japan used the Mukden Incident as a reason to invade China. Invaded Manchuria in 1931 & started a full invasion of the country and war by 1937. -
Germany Invades Poland
The Polish army fell easily to the control of the Germans due to this invasion, As a result Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
Battle of Britain
When the German air force, led by Hitler, attempted to invade Great Britain through bombings of British ports. The British held well due to their advanced technology at the time. -
Tripartite Pact
The alliance of Italy, Germany, and Japan, insuring that they would help each other if any of them went to war. -
Lend-Lease Act
The principal act of providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. -
German Blitzkrieg on Soviet Union
Also known as Operation Barbarossa; Hitler's attempt to capture the Soviet Union, but failed miserably due to his underestimation of Soviet industrial capacity. -
Germany takes Leningrad
Germany plans surprise invasion of Russian heartland, Leningrad & takes the city Seprember of 1941. -
Bombing Of Pearl Harbor
A surprise Japanese naval attack in Hawaii due to American & Japanese tensions. -
Formation of the U.N.
Day on which representatives of 26 nations at war met in Washington to sign & agree to not to making a separate peace. -
Wannsee Conference
Meeting of Nazi leaders in Berlin to put the "Final Solution" into order. -
Battle of Midway
The U.S used the strategy of moving to islands close to Japan for airial based attacks and they were succesful; Was the turning point of WWII. -
D-Day
The day the U.S army invaded Normandy, France. -
Yalta Conference
Meeting of Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss the re-build of the post-war Europe. -
Iwo Jima/Okinawa
The battle in which the U.S captured the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. -
Hitler’s suicide
Hitler commits suicide with a pistol in an air-raid shelter in Berlin due to his failure in invading the Soviet Union & due to the fact the russians were closing in. -
Marshall Plan
The U.S plan to rebuild Europe after the war & stop soviet expansion. -
VE Day
The day of Germany's unconditional surrender from WWII, which marked a victory for Allied powers in Europe. -
Potsdam Conference
An Allied conference held in Potsdam, Berlin to discuss european peace settlements & Germany's surrender in the war. Attendees were Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
The first bomb dropped in Hiroshima and the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki 3 days later. These bombings forced Japan to later surrender from WWII on August 15, 1945. -
VJ Day
The day the Japanese withdrew from World War II in surrender. -
Truman Doctrine
Policy set by U.S president Harry Truman, that declared economic & military support to Greece & Turkey to prevent soviet domination. -
NATO
In 1949, the U.S. created NATO, a military alliance to control Soviet aggression. -
Mao Zedong
Was the Chinese leader who led China's communist revolution. Took control of China on October,1949 and renamed it the People's Republic of China. -
Korean War
Korea was divided at the 38th parallel in 1948. June of 1950 North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel and captured Seoul. Both sides agreed to a cease-fire on July 1953. -
Stalin’s death; Khrushchev
When Stalin died on March 5th, 1953 there was a struggle of power between Nikita Khrushchev and Georgi Malenkov. Khrushchev eventually won & took power. -
Warsaw Pact
Was a mutually defensive pact inculding the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. -
Vietnam War
In attempt to support non-communist government in South Vietnam, the U.S. goes to war with communist Vietnam. It is ultimately a U.S. defeat. -
Sputnik
A series of Soviet artificial satellites that triggered the "space race". The first sputnik was launched on October 4th, 1957. -
Bay of Pigs
Failed attempt by the U.S to attack Cuba's communist government led by Fidel Castro.The attack only worsened relations between Cuba & the U.S. -
Berlin Wall
A wall lined with barbed wire to seperate East & West Germany. U.S. & Britain support to West and Soviet support to East. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Soviet deployed nuclear missiles to Cuba & targeted them at the U.S. Kennedy blockaded Cuba and demanded removal of the missiles. -
Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of the Soviet Union until it's collapse in 1991. He established many social and political reforms to strengthen the economy of Russia, but they failed. -
Soviet Union falls
Gorbachev's reforms caused a declining standard of living and food shortages. In 1991, conservatives wished to restore communism; regions of ethnic groups became independent. By December of 1991 the Soviet Union ceased to further exist.
