World War II History PDF
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Yale University
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Summary
This document provides a chronological overview of major events and key figures during World War II, encompassing both European and Pacific theaters of war. It covers key events during the war including the actions of the Nazi regime and the Japanese military, and the strategies and leaders of the Allied forces.
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Reichstag Fire (Feb 1933): Hitler blamed Communists, said he needed more power. Enabling Act: Gave Hitler the power to make laws without approval. Fuhrer: Means leader. Hitler’s empire = Third Reich. Nazi Ideology: Unite Germans, remove class and political divisions. Joseph Goebbels: Nazi propag...
Reichstag Fire (Feb 1933): Hitler blamed Communists, said he needed more power. Enabling Act: Gave Hitler the power to make laws without approval. Fuhrer: Means leader. Hitler’s empire = Third Reich. Nazi Ideology: Unite Germans, remove class and political divisions. Joseph Goebbels: Nazi propaganda minister. Hitler wanted land in Eastern Europe for Germans. Schutzstaffel (SS): Nazi protection squad. 1933: Jews banned from jobs, businesses marked with Star of David. 1935: Nuremberg Laws took away Jewish citizenship. 1938: Kristallnacht - Nazi mobs attacked Jews and their property. Euthanasia Programme (1939): Nazis killed disabled people in gas vans. Rhineland (1936): Hitler sent troops, breaking the Treaty of Versailles. Axis Powers: Germany allied with Italy and Japan. Anschluss: Austria joined Germany. Sudetenland: Hitler took this part of Czechoslovakia (fake promise) Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939): Hitler and Stalin agreed not to fight. Poland Invasion (Sept 1939): Started WW2; Britain and France declared war. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spring 1940: Hitler seized Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Northern France, Greece, and Yugoslavia. Dunkirk: 400,000 Allied soldiers trapped, rescued by Royal Navy. France’s Surrender: Three-fifths of France occupied by Germany (Vichy France). Hitler Turns to USSR: Focus shifted after gaining control in Europe. Jewish Ghettos: Jews in conquered cities forced into sealed-off areas. Einsatzgruppen: SS units killed 1.3 million Jews in the USSR by firing squad. Final Solution: At Wannsee Conference (Jan 1942), Nazis planned mass deportation of Jews to death camps. Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: Largest Jewish revolt, crushed by Nazis. Death Camps: Treblinka, Belzec, Chelmno, Sobibor for mass murder. Auschwitz and Majdanek used for slave labor. Pearl Harbor Attack (Dec 1941): Japan struck the US naval base, pushing the US into war. Japanese Brutality: POWs treated inhumanely, Japan claimed to liberate Asia but ruled harshly. Battle of Midway (June 1942): Halted Japanese expansion. Carpet Bombing: Allied strategy to crush morale by bombing cities. Enigma Code: Decoded by Alan Turing’s team. D-Day (June 1944): Allied soldiers landed on 5 beaches in Normandy, beginning the liberation of Europe. Hitler’s Suicide (30 April 1945): Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. Okinawa (June 1945): Last Japanese stronghold fell to the US. Atomic Bombs: USA dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (6 August); Japan surrendered on 2 September 1945.
