WW II
Timeline
September 1, 1939
The Allies warned Hitler that if he attacked Poland, it would mean war with the Allies. Hitler ignored this the threat. On September 1, 1939, German troops rushed into Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany.
December 7, 1941
Tojo and the other top Japnese generals decided to attack. On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes bombed the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Many people died and ships and planes were destroyed. The United States was suprised. Many people called for war so we entered the war.
Feb. 1942
If you looked like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor you, in some way, you must be helping the Japanese. So they sent Japanese people to internment camps because these people who had lived in America their whole life were seen as a threat. This is known as the Executive Order #9066.
1942
The U.S started the Mannahtan project which was a secret code name given in the effort to build an atomic bomb. Thousands of scientists went to work at top secret laboratories around the country. This was the Mannhatan project.
1942
The battle of Midway was a major turning point in th war against Japan. They chose to attack Midway Island, a small island located northwest of Hawaii. Japanese ships began to move east but code breakers cracked the Japanese codes and could tell what they were planning. This knowledge was very useful for the war.
One strategy Douglas MacArthur used was island hopping. The goal was to capture the most important islands from the Japanese. Islands farther out would be captured first and then these islands could be used as bases for attacks on islands located closer to Japan.
January 1943
The battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in World War II. After Staliingrad , the Soviet army started forcing the Germans to retreat.
Operation torch
Operation torch was a big part of WW II. Operation torch was when the Allies landed in Northern Africa and then landed in Italy to liberate these countries from the Axis powers.
June 1944
On June 5th, 1944 an invasion force sailed from Great Britin toward the coast of France. The date of the invasion or D-Day would be June 6th, 1944. It would be the largest invasion by sea.
August 6 and August 9, 1945
An Air Force bomber named Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb completely destroyed the city and killed more than 80,000 people. A few days later another atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki killing 60,000 people. Japan surrendered a few days later.
August 14, 1945
Japan surrendered!!! V- Day or victory in Japan. This was called this because the Allies had won the war against Japan. WW II is finally over.