World War Two People and Events Flashcards
Mussolini Invades Ethiopia
1935
Japan Invades China and Manchuria
1937
Spanish Civil War Breaks out
1936
Hitler Occupies Rhineland
1936
Munich Conference
1938, Hitler is granted Sudetenland by British, French, and Italian leaders
Germany Invades Poland
Sept. 1st 1939. Britain and France declare war on Germany
Winter War
Winter 1939 Soviet Attack on Finland lasts for 4 months with no decisive Victory, Soviet Army shows weakness
Germans take Denmark and Invade Norway
Springtime 1940
Germans Swarm Belgium and Netherlands on way to France
May 10th 1940
Hitler bombs Rotterdam
May 14th, 1940
Hitler bombed city in Denmark, paved the way for bombing of civilian targets that would become prevalent on all sides later in the war
British Evacuation of Dunkirk
June 1940 British evacuates 300,000 British and French troops from Northern France
French Government Surrenders
June 22nd 1940
Battle of Britain
German bombing of Britain and aerial battles between Germans and RAF lasted from July 1940 to June 1941
British Sea-Lanes become safe from U-Boats
1942
British drive Italians from Ethiopia
1941
Joint forces defeat Erwin Rommel’s forcing in African Desert War
1942, French North African colonies were also liberated from Nazi/Vichy rule. Americans played big part
Pearl Harbor
December 7th, 1941. Peal Harbor bombed by Japanese. Americans under FDR subsequently declares war
Japanese Dominate Pacific
1942 British Singapore falls to Japanese
Americans stem Japanese victories in Pacific
1942 Battles of Midway and Coral Sea. 1943 Japanese victories end
By Summer 1941 entire European Continent is under German control except the countries of
Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland
Operation Barbarossa
June 22nd 1941 Germans break non-aggression pact and invade Soviet Union
First Nuclear Reactor Built
in America, group of American and European physicists (some of whom were refugees) led by Enrico Fermi create first nuclear reactor 1942
A-Bomb tested successfully
July 1945 Americans led by J. Robert Oppenheimer, successfully test the A-Bomb in New Mexico
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Japanese Surrender
August 6th, 9th, 14th
Battle of Stalingrad
November 1942 Russian forces encircle German troops at Stalingrad, fighting lasts until February 1943 until German commander breaks orders and surrenders to Soviet Army
Russian Army clears Germany entirely from Soviet Territory
1944
Soviet Army attacks Germany propr
January 1945
Italy’s Government deposes Mussolini and surrenders
1943
D-Day
June 6th 1944 American and Allied forces storm beach at Normandy establishing Allied foothold in Western Europe
Allies liberate Paris, push toward Belgium
August 1944
Battle of the Bulge
1944, Successful German attack on surging allied forces
Allies push across the Rhine and overwhelm German forces
April 1945
Soviet forces take Berlin
April 1945, Official on May 2nd.
German Surrender by High Command
May 7th 1945
Hitler commits suicide in bunker beneath Berlin
April 30th, 1945
By year _____ Americans had taken most of Japanese holdings in Pacific
1944
China, America, and Britain call on Japan to surrender
July 26th 1945
Harry Truman becomes American President
April 1945
Casablanca Conference
1943 Plan Italian Campaign, plan cross-Channel invasion, demand “unconditional surrender” by Axis, encourage unity of French authorities in London and Algiers
Tehran Conference
1943 First meeting of the Big 3, plan the final strategy for the war against Nazi Germany and its allies, set date for Operation Overlord
Yalta Conference
1945Final plans for defeat of Germany, postwar Europe plans, set date for United Nations Conference, conditions for the Soviet Union’s entry in war against Japan
Potsdam Conference
1945 Potsdam Declaration demanding unconditional surrender of Japan, Potsdam Agreement on policy for Germany
