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Japanese invasion of China
Japan wanted to cease Manchuria through expansion and invasion. and the allies were against it but did nothing. Japan began a brutal attack on China on July 7th, 1937 By 1938, the Japanese controlled the wealthier areas of China and nearly half the population. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/world-war-ii-in-the-pacific -
German Blitzkrieg
Germany started using a new tactic of quick, flexible, surprising war that was fast moving having a high concentration of offensive weapons along a narrow front. This was from 1939 to 1940. This is when famous Dunkirk took place. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ -
Germany's invasion of Poland
After Germany and the Soviet Union were Neutral, Germany invaded Poland on September 1st of 1939. This initiated Britain and France to declare war on Germany only two days later. This ended in Poland losing to Germany and the Soviet Union, then splitting it between them both. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/world-war-ii-in-europe -
Fall of Paris
The fall of France was when Germany invaded France and low countries. This was one of the places Hitler won because of the Nazi skill in the air. While they took over France, they only took the north, while the south was under the leader of France. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/fall_france_01.shtml -
Operation Barbarossa
When Hitler became neutral with the Soviet Union, he had no intention of keeping that promise. On June 22, 1941, Hitler sent his troops East to invade the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa was the turning point in World War II. Germany then had to split their army into 2 fronts, hurting their lightning tactic. Germans were also very underprepared and surprised at what they would encounter. This was a big hit on Nazi
Germany. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
A surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii at 8 am from Japanese fighter planes damaged 20 US vessels, 300 airplanes, while 24,000 were killed in the attack. Japan did this to try to knock down the U.S, and wouldn't have to worry about them intervening invasions. This only railed up Americans to declare war on Japan. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Battle of Stalingrad
This battle was between Russia and Nazi Germany and the Axis powers. The year-long battle was brought on because Nazi Germany had been claiming Russian land. The conflict resulted in the allied powers gaining the upper hand in WWII. Around 2 million people had either died or were injured in the battle where many thousands were Russians. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Wannsee Conference
This was a conference where Nazi German officials have a meeting in which plans are discussed as far as the "Final Solution" dealing with Jews, and what materials, measures, and logistics it will take to carry out. Also, in the first place, how to even do it. There were multiple proposed solutions, and t first would only send around "gas vans" killing Jews, but decided that was too slow. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Battle of Midway
The battle of Midway was a battle between the U.S and Japan. A while after Pearl Harbor, Japan was going to attack the U.S again. The U.S learned about their plan, and intervened by first attacking Japan. 4 fleet carriers, 322 aircraft, a heavy cruiser, and over 5 thousand sailors were lost from the Japanese navy. America lost 147 aircraft and 300 sailors. -
Operation Gomorrah
One instance of civilians being harmed was Operation Gomorrah or the bombing of Hamburg. During the day, American bombers, and by night, British bombers. This went very well for Britians, as they had very little, only 12 aircraft losses when nearly 800 flew because they figured out how to disrupt German radar signals. 9,000 tons of explosives killed 30,000 and destroyed 280,000 buildings. Humiliating German loss. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
Allied invasion of Italy
The Allied Powers landed on mainland Italy. Allies began their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, off mainland Italy. There was little resistance from the people of Sicily so they were able to easily surround the island on the coasts. 150,000 were ashore. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ff6_italy.shtml -
D-Day
On the Shores of Normandy France, The US, Britain, and Canada attacked across 5 separate beaches. The plan was operation overload. Show up with 6 thousand ships, 50 thousand vehicles, and 11 thousand planes. The allies showing up with 156,000 soldiers, had 10 thousand casualties, and 4 to 9 thousand German casualties. D-day was when the campaign started to liberate north-western Europe from Germany. https://www.history.com/d-day-operation-overlord-timeline-map/index.html -
Battle of the Bulge
This was Hitlers last offensive attack. It was initiated after identifying it as the Allies' weak point, poorly defended. This was extremely difficult in cold December and January. This was along a stretch of an 80-mile front in Ardennes. It ended up failing for the Germans, as an attempt to combat the allies and push them away from German home territory. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/battle_bulge_01.shtml -
Operation Thunderclap
The operation was proposed in 1944. It never happened but was a plan to strategically bomb Berlin. While this plan never happened, they instead bombed Dresden, in a similar way to Operation Thunderclap. This killed 135 thousand civilian people. This is considered the most destructive bombing because Germany was already going to surrender, unlike Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Many thousands were killed for maybe no reason looking back. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/firebombing-of-dresden -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle started when the U.S. Marines invaded a Japanese island. It occurred because the Japanese were falling and the U.S. saw the chance to get inland and start attacking there. There were around 21,000 casualties on the Japanese side while America lost around 7,000 soldiers. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest battles fought and one of the last battles of WWII. The war in Europe was ending while the Pacific front was contributing but the U.S. was defeating the Japanese. The battle happened because this was the final struggle to try and overtake and suppress the Ryukyu Islands. The Americans lost 36 ships, 763 aircraft, and 4900 men. 4800 men were injured and 368 ships damaged. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
VE Day
This day marked the day of victory of the allied powers in Europe. The attack to end the war, in Europe, took place because past bombings in Germany opened up an opportunity to attack so the Russians did. The outcome was the celebration of the Allies' victory in the war. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ff7_veday.shtml -
Liberation of concentration camps
This was the ultimate win over Nazi, Germany. Soviet soldiers liberated concentration camps toward the end of the war. First, the Majdanek camp in Poland was liberated. This event happened because, as the allied powers took back land from Nazi, Germany, there were able to uncover the concentration camps. This resulted in the saving of millions of lives. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/liberation_camps_01.shtml -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
The U.S dropped two atomic bombs, one on Hiroshima, and when they still refused to surrender, another on Nagasaki, all after they warned Japan to surrender or else. They combined killed110,000 civilians. After, Japan Finally surrendered, and the war was declared over. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nuclear_01.shtml -
VJ Day
VJ Day was when Japan officially surrendered in World War 2. This occurred due to the bombings of the U.S. and the fact that this technological development would make it impossible for Japan to win. They had to accept that if they didn't surrender, they would have no other choice than letting all of Japan be reduced to char.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
