Washington, D.C. • December 18, 1944 On December 7 and 8, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched an unprovoked air and sea attack on U.S. military assets in the Central and Western Pacific Ocean, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the Philippines, respectively. On December 11, 1941, the U.S. Congress declared war on the aggressor nation. Seventy…
Berlin, Germany • December 18, 1940 On this date in 1940 in Berlin, one day before receiving the credentials of the new Soviet ambassador to Germany, Adolf Hitler signed Fuehrer Directive 21, Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa), thereby initiating the secret preparations and military operations that led to the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22,…
Berlin, Germany · December 18, 1940 On this date in 1940 in Berlin, one day before receiving the credentials of the new Soviet ambassador to Germany, Adolf Hitler signed Fuehrer Directive 21, Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa), thereby initiating the secret preparations and military operations that led to the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22,…