Listing of World War II Events

Below is a list of many of the events that occurred up to and during World War II.  I obtained this information from "Christ and the Americas" by Anne Carroll.  You can research these events if you would like and use them to teach your children.

1)  1937 - U.S. Congress enacted the Neutrality Act:  Forbade selling of arms to any belligerant nation.

2)  Sept. 1, 1939 - Nazi blitzkrieg smashed into Poland and the world was once again plunged into total war.

3)  Sept. 3, 1939 - FDR said, "This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I can not ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well."

4)  Nov. 4, 1939 - Congress authorized the "Cash and Carry" arrangement:  Repeal of the arms embargo and allowed export of arms and munitions under a "cash and carry" arrangement that required the purchasing nation to pay cash and to carry the weapons in its own ships.

5)  Jan. 1940 - FDR's budget allowed $1,800,000,000 for National Defense

6)  May 1940 - FDR made an additional $1,300,000,000 toward National Defense

7)  June 1940 - FDR extended credit to British and released to them surplus arms, munitions, and aircraft.

8)  Summer 1940 - U.S. builds up own Armed Forces

9)  Sept. 1940 - U.S. transferred 50 destroyers to Britain, in exchange for 99-year leases on bases in British territory.

10)  Oct. 1940 - U.S. instituted its first-ever peacetime draft. 

11)  Dec. 1940 - FDR set up Office of Production Management to coordinate defense production and to send all possible aid "short of war" to Great Britain.

12)  Dec. 1940 - Fireside chat:  FDR called for maximum production to make the U.S. an "arsenal of Democracy."

13)  Jan. 6, 1941 - FDR's annual message recommended the Lend-Lease Act.  It was signed into law 3/11/41.  It enabled any country whose defense the President deemed vital to that of the U.S. to receive arms and other equipment and supplies by sale, transfer, exchange, or lease.

12)  March 1941 - Germany invaded Greece and Yugoslavia; Rommel rolled through North Africa; and British ships sank in the North Atlantic.

13)  May 1941 - FDR proclaimed an unlimited National Emergency

14)  June 1941 - U.S. broke off diplomatic relations w/ Germany and Italy.

15)  June 1941 - Hitler turned on Russia and the U.S. granted Lend-Lease Credit of $1 billion to Soviet Union.

16)  FDR and Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter (15 nations endorsed it, including the Soviet Union, which had broken, was breaking and would break almost every provision in it).

17)  Fall 1941 - U.S. and Germany were fighting an undeclared sea war.  In May, the U.S. helped British sink the German battleship the 'Bismarck.'

18)  Oct. 1941 - 3 U.S. destroyers were sunk.  FDR issued order to shoot on site.

19)  July 24, 1941 - Japan, which signed a mutual assistance pact with Germany and Italy, occupied French Indochina.

20)  FDR nationalized the Armed Forces of the Philippines, placing them under the command of General Douglas MacArthur.

21)  October 18, 1941 - General Hideki Tojo became Prime Minister, and Japan began preparing an all-out assault on Eastern Asia.

22)  November 20, 1941 - Discussions began in Washington between Secretary of State Cordell Hull and special Japanese envoy, Saburo Kurusu.  Each side made proposals unacceptable to the other, and talks dragged on.

23)  December 6, 1941 - FDR made a direct appeal to Emperor Hirohito, asking him to preserve the peace and withdraw from French Indochina.

24)  December 7, 1941 - DAY OF INFAMY:  Japanese attack Pearl Harbor

25)  December 7, 1941 - Japanese also bombed the U.S. base in the Philippines and took many islands and 11,500 POWs.

26)  December 8, 1941 - Congress declared war on Japan.  3 days later Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S., which then recognized a state of war with these nations as well.

27)  April 18, 1942 - FDR sends U.S. Air Raid on Tokyo

28)  May 7-8, 1942 - Battle of Naval Errors between U.S. and Japan (tactical draw)

29)  June 4-5, 1942 - Battle of Midway between U.S. and Japan.  In 6 months, the Day of Infamy had been avenged.  U.S. won and now could go on offensive.

30)  Aug. 7, 1942 - Nov. 1942:  Battle of Guadalcanal:  Japanese win at night while U.S. wins in the day.  The U.S. Air Force was superior in the day.

31)  Fall of 1942 - May 13, 1943 - Operation Torch:  U.S. and British troops drove the Germans out of North Africa.

32)  July 10 - Aug. 17, 1943 - Americans took Sicily off coast of Italy with "The Man Who Never Was."

33)  Sept. 3 - Sept. 8, 1943 - Italy Surrenders.  Italy's new leadership opened secret negotiations with Allies.

34)  End of 1943 - Germans take control of Northern Italy and many U.S. and Brits died in the hills of Italy.

35)  Jan. 14, 1943 - ALLIED SOLDIERS VS. ALLIED POLITICIANS:  FDR and Churchill meet in Casablanca and made 3 agreements (1 good, 2 bad).
                                      a)  Invasion of Sicily
                                      b)  Unconditional Surrender
                                      c)  Terror Bombing

36)  Late November 1943 - Another conference in Tehran with FDR, Churchill, and first time with Stalin.  FDR and Churchill endorsed the Soviet absorption of Eastern Poland, which Communists seized in early days of war.  FDR tried to appease and charm Stalin who could no longer be trusted.

37)  Early 1944 - Bloody battle for Italy continued.  Allies bogged down in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Cassino.  4th Cassino on May 23 the Germans were in full retreat to "Adolf Hitler Line", which he quickly changed the name to "Dora Line."

38)  June 6, 1944 - Operation Overlord - Invasion of Normandy, France:  Largest amphibious operation in History.  Only a matter of time now to invade Germany.  End of June the D-Day objectives met.

39)  Germans request for surrender on Western front ignored.  Allies adhered to Unconditional Surrender.

40)  After D-Day, Allies slowly travel through France
                      a)  Aug. 25, 1944 - Paris liberated
                      b)  Sept 4, 1944 - Brussels liberated
                      c)  Holland - Bogged down
                      d)  Operation Market Garden failed and Allies go long way around
                     d1) October 21, 1944 - Allies take first German city of Aachen
                       e) Germans made 1 last counter attack at Ardennes
                       f)  Dec. 16, 1944 - Germans advanced 50 miles:  Battle of Bulge
                       g)  Jan. 20, 1945 - Germans pushed back to start position

41)  1944 - U.S. in the Pacific still fighting Japanese.  Jun 19-20 U.S. won Battle of Philippine Sea and Oct. 20 U.S. won Battle of Leyte Gulf

42)  End of 1944:  Stalin's goal of extending Communist power became obvious.
              a) Oct. 1944 - Stalin to Churchill: Polish Communist Comm. will have a majority in Polish govt.

43)  Dec. 1944 - Stalin recognized a Communist regime (controlled from Moscow) as the official government of Poland. (FDR and Churchill did not try to stop this.)

44)  Next, the Soviets had Bulgaria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia

45)  Feb. 4, 1945 - Yalta Conference:  meeting with FDR, Churchill, and Stalin / United Nations begins.(More appeasing Stalin).

46)  Early 1945 - From West Allies drove to Berlin / From East Soviets.  Dresden was worst senseless destruction.

47)  Mar. 7 - Americans crossed Rhine River and Mar. 24 had control of West bank.

48)  Apr. 6 - Offensive against Berlin

49)  Apr. 30 - Hitler commits suicide

50)  May 2 - Berlin fell and German forces surrendered in Italy.

51)  May 8, 1945 - V-E Day:  Victory in Europe / End of War (Nazi ended but Communism waved over Eastern Europe.)

52)  Operation Keelhaul - FDR, Churchill, and Stalin agreed that all citizens of an Allied country who were liberated by another Allied country would be sent back to their homeland.

53)  April 12, 1945 - FDR died and Harry Truman became president taking on the Manhattan Project or Atomic Bomb.  U.S. had unconditional surrender with Japan too.

Peaceful Reform Movements

I took the opportunity to read Newt's book "Real Change" now that he is a GOP candidate.  There is no doubt that this man is a great historian.  I thought I would share with you how he lays out previous peaceful reform movements in our country that may also give us hope for a brighter future.  This is also pertinent to the history class I am teaching for my daughter.  Therefore, you may teach you kids this too.  They are as follows (except for Revolutionary War and Civil War):

1)  The founding fathers led an eight year revolution (1775-1783) changing the structure of government from the British Imperial model to a loose Confederation of Independant States.



2)  The Federalists decided that the Articles of Confederation were not working and launched a campaign for a stronger government by:

     o  Calling a Constitutional Convention

     o  Wrote the Constitution over a four month period

     o  Developed a nationwide campaign to adopt it (the Federalist Papers)

     o  Ran the new federal government for its first twelve years



3)  Thomas Jefferson and his allies decided that their vision of America was very different from the Federalists.  They favored:

     o  Smaller government

     o  Less spending

     o  Popular authority to limit the power of judges

     o  Limited the authority of the bureaucracy

     o  Created the Democratic-Republican Party-now simply the Democratic Party (my how things change!)

     o  Won control in 1800 and gradually became so popular that the Federalist Party disappeared

*  The Jeffersonians won a peaceful revolution that transformed the power structure of America.



4)  In 1824 Andrew Jackson and his supporters started a Populist rebellion of the frontier against the Eastern establishment.  They:

     o  Established the "spoils system" of giving government jobs to political supporters

     o  Remained a dominant force in American politics and government for a generation

     o  Spirit of domestic populism and foreign policy assertiveness has shaped America to this day



5)  Emergance of Republican Party as the new alternative party (slavery crisis led to collapse of Whig Party).  Lincoln Republicans:

     o  Fought a Civil War

     o  Radically strengthened the national government

     o  Shifted focus of American polical philosophy from Constitution back to Declaration of Independence

     o  Encouraged the growth of modern America by a combination of: 
               a)  the Homestead Act
               b)  the Land Grant Colleges
               c)  the transcontinental railroad

*  Power of Lincoln Republican majority is seen with the fact that they held the White House for 44 of the next 52 years (only Grover Cleveland won presidency as Democrat between 1860 and 1912).



6)  The Progressive Movement was a 20 year period from 1896 to 1916 (reform ended by WWI) of bipartisan efforts of change to stop corruption of big-city political machines combined with the cynical lobbying power of large corporations.  There was a general consensus that the emerging technical revolution (electric lights, telephones, electric trolleys, automobiles, motion pictures) called for a parallel modernization of government.  Examples of reform efforts include:

     o  The Referendum

     o  the Initiative

*  President Theodore Roosevelt (Republican) and Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) came to personify the reform mood of the era.



7)  The Great Depression led to a consolidation of federal power under the leadership of FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and the New Deal Democrats.  Their formula was:

     o  Tax
     o  Spend
     o  Elect

*  Formula was so powerful that the Dems controlled the US House of Representatives for 60 years (except for 4 years, after elections of 1946 and 1952).



8)  1980 President Ronald Reagan brought the last great transformation representing a fundamental break with:

     o  the liberal model of high taxes

     o  bureaucratic government

     o  a welfare state that didn't work

     o  a foreign policy of appeasement that resulted in humiliation

*  Government had deteriorated from FDR's New Deal to Lyndon Johnson's Great Society to the manifest failures of President Jimmy Carter.  Reagan stood for:

     o  deep tax cuts to encourage investment in jobs and new companies

     o  deregulation to liberate America's entrepreneurs

     o  sound endorsement of American civic culture

     o  a firm policy of defeating the Soviet Union and ending the Cold War with a victory for freedom