WWII and the Early Cold War Years: Valeria Rojas by Valeria Rojas Cuan

Hitler Appointed German Leader: 1930

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Upon achieving power, Hitler smashed the nation’s democratic institutions and transformed Germany into a war state intent on conquering Europe.

Hitler invades Poland: 1939

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German troops invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, triggering World War II. In response to German aggression, Great Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany.

France falls to the Nazis: 1940

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Germany launched its offensive against the Low Countries and France. It took just six weeks for them to overwhelm the Allied defence.

Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor: 1941

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Japan launched a surprise air attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. They hoped for a short war, seeking to quickly weaken US naval strength and capture strategically vital oil supplies.

Battle of Midway: 1942

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World War II naval battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft, in which the United States destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots.

America joins the war in North Africa: 1942

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The United States officially entered the WWII in December 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942.

Allies invade Sicily (Italy): 1943

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The conquest of Sicily by the allies took a little more than a month and it led directly to the fall of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and the surrender of the Italian government.

Tehran Conference: 1943

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The "Big Three" Allied leaders met for the first time at Tehran, Iran. Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill strategized and organized plans on opening up a second front in France to direct German pressure away from the Russian Eastern Front.

D Day: 1944

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It was the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. More than 150,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. D-Day put the Allies on a decisive path toward victory.

Battle of the Bulge: 1945

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It was a major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg.

Germany surrenders (V-E Day): 1945

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Germany unconditionally surrendered its military forces to the Allies. It marked the official end of World War II in Europe in the Eastern Front. (May 8, 1945)

Potsdam conference: 1945

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The Big three (Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Harry Truman) met at Potsdam, Germany, in the summer of 1945 to discuss the fate of the world after World War II.

US drops Atomic Bombs/ Japan Surrenders: 1945

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It was the deployment of a new and terrible weapon, the atomic bomb, which forced the Japanese into a surrender that they had vowed never to accept.

Truman Doctrine: 1947

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President Harry Truman established that the US would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

Marshall Plan: 1948

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George Marshall proposed economic aid to all European nations rebuilding their economies. Western Europe began to recover and weakened the “appeal” of Communism.

Berlin Airlift: 1948/49

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When Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. The US and UK responded by airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied airbases in western Germany.

NATO: 1949

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The U.S. formed a military alliance with Western Europe(Allies): North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO members agreed to aid any member that was attacked.

Korean War: 1950/53

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It was a war fought between North Korea and South Korea, at the end of WWII Korea was divided along the 38th parallel. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea.

Sputnik: 1957

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Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 .

NASA Established: 1958

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President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, creating NASA. Created to lead America's civilian space program in response to Soviet advances in space exploration.