Anne+Burgess

=Turning Points Project= = =

Timeline
1. Munich Agreement—September 29, 1938 2. Germany invades Poland—September 1, 1939 3. Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact—August 23, 1939 4. Battle of Britain- July- October 1940 5. Lend-Lease Act- March 1941 6. Operation Barbarossa- June 22, 1941- December 5, 1941 7. Pearl Harbor- December 7, 1941 8. Midway- June 4-7, 1942 9. Stalingrad- July 1942- February 1943 10. El Alamein-July 1942 11. D-Day—June 6, 1944 12. VE Day—May 8, 1945 13. Hiroshima—August 6, 1945 14. Nagasaki—August 9, 1945 15. VJ Day—August 15, 1945

The Munich Agreement:
The Munich Agreement was a pact made between Italy, Great Britain, France, and Germany. It allowed Germany to annex Czechoslovakia, who did not even have a say in the conference. It was signed in the very early hours of September 30, 1938, but it is dated as being signed on September 29, 1939. Great Britain and the other Western European powers were not looking for another war, so they believed that if they let Germany have Czechoslovakia, then they would be content and stay quiet for a while. The meeting was held in Munich, hence the name of the agreement.

My primary source was the Munich Agreement or Pact, and it was surprisingly short, I was expecting it to be a lot longer than it was. The Western European countries do not seem to be getting anything out of this agreement, and this will prove to be even truer when Hitler completely ignores the agreement and takes over the rest of Czechoslovakia. This proved to the Western powers that Hitler was not trustworthy, and that they need to watch Germany carefully and be on their toes. The Munich Agreement was a catalyst that opened the door for Germany to start another war and have the chance to gain power again.



[[image:file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/aburgess/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.png]][[image:file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/aburgess/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-3.png]]Pearl Harbor:
The United States had a naval base located in Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese used their air crafts to launch an aerial attack on this American naval base. The final losses included around two thousand people dead and another one thousand wounded. The Japanese destroyed an immense number of American ships and air crafts, potentially crippling the American chances in the war, but the United States prevailed in the end. One thing that was considered lucky for the United States was that their three air craft carriers were out at sea and were not at the base, saving them from a good number of casualties. Japan's reasoning for attacking Oahu instead of other islands in the Pacific is because the naval base could be such a threat to them, and they knew that the United States would react violently to any violation of American territory.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor in my eyes is probably one of the most influential turning points of the war, it is what made the Americans take a more active position in the war, which will eventually lead to the bombing of Hiroshima, and then eventually to Japans' surrender. Without the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the path of the rest of the war would have been a mystery and who knows who would have come out on top. The primary source that I found is the military commands and plans that the Japanese had for Pearl Harbor, so looking at them was very interesting, getting a new perspective on things. The Japanese put a lot of planning into this attack and did a very good job of keeping it quiet because the U.S. was completely surprised when they were bombed, they had no idea what had hit them.

Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The city was devastated, killing around one hundred thousand people immediately, and ten thousand would die slowly in the years to come from radiation poisoning and other radiation related deformities and diseases. Three days later the United States dropped another atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, where around eighty thousand people were killed. The power of the atomic bomb could burn right through clothing if it did not kill you, and it left burn scars from the pattern of the clothing.

Six days after the bombing of Hiroshima, on August 15, 1945, the Japanese surrendered to the Allied Powers, clearly due to the bombing of two of their major cities. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is considered by most people the event that ended the war. The primary document that I used is a statement issued by Harry S. Truman to the people of the United States describing what he had ordered done to the people of Japan. I found it interesting that the President seemed to realize the true power of the atomic bomb now, and he wants to help constrict the use of nuclear and radioactive materials.

Bibliography:
Robinson, Bruce. "BBC - History - World Wars: World War Two: Summary Outline of Key Events." //BBC - Homepage//. BBC, 11 May 2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

"Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Wikipedia. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

"Munich Agreement -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Wikipedia. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. 

"The Avalon Project : Munich Pact 9/29/38." //Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy//. Yale Law School. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

//Hitler Signs the Munich Agreement//. Photograph. //Hitler Signs the Munich Agreement//. Germany History. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .

"Attack on Pearl Harbor -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Wikipedia. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

//Ibiblio.org - our newest linux distributions//. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

"Pearl Harbor Images." //Naval History and Heritage Command//. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

"Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Wikipedia. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

Truman, Harry S. "American Experience | Truman | Primary Sources." //PBS//. PBS. Web. 01 Mar. 2010. .

US ARMY SOLDIER. //Atomic cloud over Hiroshima//. Digital image. //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Wkipedia. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .

//Second World War Map of Europe//. Digital image. //Second World War Map of Europe//. Maps of World. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. 