KRISTALLNACHT
NOVEMBER 10, 1938 KRISTALLNACHT WAS THE FIRST LARGE SCALE ATTACK ON JEWISH GERMANS BY THE NAZIS. KRISTALLNACHT MEANS THE “NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS,” AS MANY JEWISH PROPERTIES WERE BROKEN. IT MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE MARKING OF JEWISH GERMANS HAVING TO WEAR YELLOW STARS ON THEIR CLOTHING. (on right: broken windows of a Jewish-owned store) WORLD WAR II BEGINS
SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 PEOPLE GENERALLY CONSIDER THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR ONE AS THE DAY THAT GERMANY INVADED POLAND, AS BRITAIN AND FRANCE HAD PROMISED TO "PROTECT THE INTEGRITY" OF THE POLISH STATE, AND THEREFORE DECLARED WAR ON GERMANY. BATTLE OF MIDWAY
JUNE 4-7, 1942 THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY WAS A TURNING POINT IN THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC. AMERICAN TROOPS, THOUGH OUTNUMBERED, SURPRISE ATTACKED JAPANESE SHIPS, DESTROYING MANY OF THEIR AIRCRAFT FLEET. IT MARKED THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES OF WINS FOR THE ALLIES IN THE PACIFIC. V-E Day
MAY 8, 1945 VICTORY IN EUROPE DAY (V-E DAY), WAS THE DAY THAT THE ALLIES ACCEPTED THE GERMAN SURRENDER, AND WON WORLD WAR II. HITLER COMMITS SUICIDE
APRIL 30, 1945 ADOLF HITLER, IN ORDER TO ESCAPE ARREST AND THEREFORE BEING PUT TO TRIAL FOR "CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY," SHOT HIMSELF IN AN UNDERGROUND BUNKER ON THE 30TH OF APRIL. |
ANSCHLUSS
1938 ANSCHLUSS WAS THE ANNEXATION OF AUSTRIA INTO GERMANY. IT HIGHLIGHTED THE START OF HITLER’S EXPANSIONIST REGIME, AND WAS A PRECEDENT FOR THE ANNEXATION OF THE SUDETENLAND FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA, AND THE INVASION OF POLAND (on left: Austrian Children welcoming Nazi Germany into Austria) KRISTALLNACHT
NOVEMBER 10, 1938 KRISTALLNACHT WAS THE FIRST LARGE SCALE ATTACK ON JEWISH GERMANS BY THE NAZIS. KRISTALLNACHT MEANS THE “NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS,” AS MANY JEWISH PROPERTIES WERE BROKEN. IT MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE MARKING OF JEWISH GERMANS HAVING TO WEAR YELLOW STARS ON THEIR CLOTHING. (on right: broken windows of a Jewish-owned store) PEARL HARBOR
DECEMBER 7, 1941 PEARL HARBOR WAS THE JAPANESE ATTACK ON THE AMERICAN NAVAL BASE IN HAWAII, THAT MADE AMERICA DECLARE WAR AGAINST THE AXIS POWERS. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES OF BATTLES IN THE PACIFIC, AS WELL AS THE END OF AMERICA'S "ISOLATION" POLICY. D-DAY
JUNE 6, 1944 D-DAY, OR THE NORMANDY LANDINGS, WERE THE LANDING OPERATIONS OF THE ALLIED FORCES INTO NORMANDY DURING WORLD WAR II. IT WAS THE FIRST SERIES OF BATTLES THAT PUSHED THE GERMANS BACK TOWARDS GERMANY, AND ULTIMATELY RESULTED IN THE ALLIES VICTORY. V-J DAY
SEPTEMBER 2, 1945 VICTORY OVER JAPAN DAY (V-J DAY), WAS WHEN WORLD WAR II OFFICIALLY ENDED, AS THE JAPANESE SURRENDERED TO THE ALLIED FORCES. |