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Rape of Nanjing
An episode of mass murder and rape committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing during the second Sino-Japanese war. The massacre occurred over a six week period. During this period, soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army murdered Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants who numbered an estimated 40,000 to over 300,000, and perpetrated widespread looting and rape. Since most Japanese military records were either destroyed or kept secret, no one knows the real death toll. -
Lebensraum
Lebensraum is the territory that a state or nation believes is needed for its natural development. Hitler believed that he needed more lebensraum to house all the German speaking people. To achieve this he looked into attacked and taking over other countries. The first country, Austria, was annexed into Germany. Throughout the German campaign they took over many countries, and expanded their lebensraum. -
Anschluss
The annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany. There was strong support from many people, not just Nazis, to from this union. This controversy dominated Prusso-Austrian diplomacy and the politics of the German states in the mid 19th century. the Republic of German-Austria attempted to form a union with Germany, but the Treaty of Saint Germain and the Treaty of Versailles forbade the union and use of the name German-Austria and stripped Austria of some of its territories, such as the Sudetenland. -
Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is a method of warfare whereby an attacking force, spearheaded by a dense concentration of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations. With close air support, breaks through the opponent's line of defense by short, fast, powerful attacks. Then dislocates the defenders, using speed and surprise to encircle them with the help of air superiority. -
Dunkirk
The evacuation of the BEF and other Allied troops from the French port of Dunkirk. Naval ships and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the evacuation. About 198,000 British and 140,000 French and Belgian troops had been saved. About 82,000 total wounded and killed. -
Western Desert Campaign
The North African Campaign of the Second World War took place in North Africa from 6-10-1940 to 5-13-1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts. Fighting in Africa started on 6-10-1940 when Italy declared war. The casualties added up to over 80,000 between all sides. The war ended on 5-13-1943, and it lasted 2 years, 11 months, and 3 days. -
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese saw this as a preventative action to keep the US from interfering with their planned military actions in southeast Asia. The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time. -
Battle of Stalingrad
he Battle of Stalingrad was the largest confrontation of World War II, in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad. Fierce close quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids. Made it was the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare. After their defeat at Stalingrad, the German High Command had to withdraw vast military forces from the Western Front to replace their losses. The battle lasted a little over 5 months. -
D-Day
The Normandy landing operation was an allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The water landings were followed by extensive naval and air bombardments. The Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialized tanks. -
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
During the final stages of WWII the US dropped 2 bombs over the Japanese cities, after getting consent from the UK as required by the Quebec agreement. The two bombings killed 129,000–226,000 people, most of whom were civilians. There was an attempted coup in Japan with the intention of continuing the war. The coup attempt took place the night before Japan was to announce the surrender. 6 days after the bombing Japan announced its surrender.
