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Japanese invasion of China (1937)
During the height of the Sino-Japanese War China and Japan were at each others throats and sides began to be chosen. First, the KMT and the CCP, two Chinese military groups, decided to join forces and fight together against Japan. Stalin saw the Japanese as a threat on their Eastern border and encourages communists to help the Chinese forces. Japanese invaded using brutal tactics burning everything they overtook not only killing directly but by side effects too. In total 10 to 20 million died. -
Period: to
World War II
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Germany's invasion of Poland (1939)
Under Hitler's rule, on September 3rd, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and defeated them within weeks of invasion. They did this to gain land and assets attempting to become as strong as possible under Hitler's ruling. The polish army didn't stand a chance against the mass amounts of artillery and battle strategies that the Germans used. The Germans saw this opportunity because of the German-Soviet Pact that said Poland should partition the two meaning Germany could invade without Russian threat. -
German Blitzkrieg (1939-1940)
Germany employed many different fighting tactics in WWII. One of the most destructive was a Blitzkrieg style of combat that included having a strong central force and pushing outwards invading surrounding countries and destroying everything. When the Germans did this it affected Poland, France, Hungary, the Soviet Union, and many others. This style not only kills enemies but creates a state of dismay and continues to cause internal issues for years to come. -
Fall of Paris (1940)
The German invasion of France in WWII is also known as the fall of Paris. Because the German forces were well operated and had a large size, they were able to push back the Allies to the sea. This trapped the allies and forced them to either flee France and give Paris to the Germans, or die. This was a huge accomplishment for the Germans since they overtook one of the largest enemies capitals. -
Operation Barbarossa (1941)
Operation Barbarossa was a mission executed by the Germans where, under Hitler's ruling, pushes troops East and invaded the Soviet Union. Over three million German troops were separated into three army groups. They used 3,000 tanks as well as the large military force to push into the Soviet Union. It covered two thousand miles. The German army was at its peak but still was unable to defeat the immensely large size of the Russian army. This defeat caused Germany to fight a two-front war and lose. -
Pearl Harbor (1941)
At the time the attack happened the United States wasn't involved in WWII, however, this attack sparked us to join forces overseas. Pearl Harbor is a very famous attack on the United States executed by the Japanese. The Japanese forces flew planes in two waves at pearl harbor destroying 8 battleships, 188 destroyed planes, and 2,403 people dead. Roughly a day after Japan attacked the United States again, this time on American facilities in the Philippines. This sparked us to want to go to war. -
Wannsee Conference (1942)
The German government, along with the Nazi party, were looking for a final solution to what they called the "Jewish Question." They devised what they called the Final Solution, a plan to mass murder all European-Jews. At an undisclosed time, Hitler would give the go ahead on mass extermination of all Jewish people as well as the right to destroy all meaningful artifacts that were created by Jewish people. Jewish mass murder wasn't a new thing at the time but this large of a scale was introduced -
Battle of Stalingrad (1942)
The Battle of Stalingrad was a defensive mission for the Russian forces. This battle is often considered the greatest of the entire conflict. It was also one of the bloodiest with 2 million total casualties. Russian were successful in this mission and managed to fend of enemy forces and continue to occupy Stalingrad freely. It also wiped out many enemy forces causing another attack like it very unlikely at least for a little while. -
Bataan Death March (1942)
The Bataan death march was a forced transfer of prisoners of war on a march and later on a box train. The condition were horrible and many died on the journey. It is similar to many other death marches executed. Prisoners didn't have access to usual materials and had to make their own ways to carry goods and other necessary things. -
Battle of Midway (1942)
Six months after Pearl Harbor we, the allies, defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles in military history. We intercepted a plan they had to attack us so we were able to countermand and stop their plan while also attacking them when they didn't expect it. Because of this they weren't adequately prepared for a defensive strategy. This allowed the allies to move to an offensive position in the war. -
Operation Gomorrah (1943)
Operation Gomorrah was a plan executed by the British when they sent bombers to raid Hamburg, Germany at night while the United States bomb it during the day called "Blitz Week." The British did this as retaliation for the 167 civilian deaths they suffered from German bombing raids in July. The British dropped 2,300 tons of incendiary bombs on Hamburg in just a few hours. Britain managed to only lost 12 aircraft's out of the 791 that flew in the raids. The main reason is radar jamming. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion -1944)
D-Day is one of the most well known war images in American History. This event created some foreshadowing to the end of Hitler's reign of terror. D-Day was the largest land, air, and sea invasion ever executed at the time. It included 5,000 ships, 11,000 airplanes, and 150,000 men. It was years in the making and each and every soldier was highly trained, which for a number this large was almost unheard of. Although they suffered 10,000 casualties, the mission was successful and they breached it. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap was the name for a plan that never was executed. The plan devised a massive attack on Berlin in the hope that would cause 220,000 casualties with 110,000 killed, hopefully including key German officials, which would shatter German morale. Later on it was decided though that it was unlikely to work and was never executed. However, later they revamped the plan to work with the Soviet Union and rather than one large attack it consisted of several small ones. -
Battle of Iwo Jima (1945)
One of the most identifiable and morale boosting war pictures that is used in propaganda was made at the Battle of Iwo Jima. It involves a groups of American soldiers raising an American flag showing victory. The Battle of Iwo Jima was a plan when the American forces invaded Iwo Jima because they needed a base near the Japanese border. Facing nearly 23,000 defending forces, the Americans managed to overtake Iwo Jima even through confusing terrain including tunnels and caves. -
Battle of Okinawa (1945)
The Battle of Okinawa has often been called the largest land-sea-air battle in history. The battle involved a naval stoppage of all leaving the island of Okinawa as airplanes bomb the island and land troops push in to try and surround and defeat Japanese forces. Japanese lose over quadruple what we did in the battle and although we suffered many casualties, we won the battle. -
VE Day (1945)
VE Day is also know as victory day and was a public holiday celebrated on May 8th, 1945. This was a celebration of German surrender to the Allies. The day was full of cheerfulness for all allied forces and many soldiers were brought home. Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered on this day and news spread quickly sparking the holiday. -
Potsdam Declaration (1945)
The Potsdam Declaration was a treaty signed during the Potsdam Conference that foreclosed what Japan would have to do during surrender and laid out the actions that were necessary for the Japanese. It also stated that if Japan didn't agree to this treaty then it would face utter and imminent destruction. It entitled the allies to points of land in Japan as well as limiting Japanese military. It said we did not want Japan enslaved as a race but did do certain over-controlling things to them. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs (1945)
The only time an atomic bomb has ever been dropped was when we attacked Hiroshima with two atomic bombs forcing them to surrender. This sparked many countries to develop their own atomic bombs however none have ever been used since. The destruction can still be seen in certain places and killed immediately 80,000 but the nuclear effects on survivors were almost worse. When we did it many people knew it was wrong but it was seen necessary to save American citizens. -
VJ Day (1945)
VJ day was the day that Japan surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces fully ending WWII. VJ day stands for Victory of Japan Day. This brought six years of fighting to a long awaited close. This surrender didn't occur until months after Germany's however. All allies were overjoyed we had won and even some communists were just glad the war was over. -
Battle of the Bulge (1945)
Battle of the Bulge was the result of a plan Hitler had to split the allied forces by a blitzkrieg attack through the Ardennes to Antwerp. The Allies were caught of guard and fought vigorously to hold of the German Forces in rough weather and terrain. It got its name when the allied forces created a line that appeared to be a bulge. Despite heavy casualties the allies managed to hold of the Germans.
