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Japanese invasion of China
A clash occured between Chinese and Japanese troops near Peiping in North China. When this clash was followed by indications of intensified military activity on Japan's part, Secretary of State Hull urged upon the Japanese Government a policy of self-restraint. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Germans resented the fact that Poland had received the former German provinces under the treaty of Versailles after World War 1 and on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is military tactic designed to create a disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. German forces tried out the Blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before succesfully employing the tactic on Belgium, The Netherlands, and France in 1940. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan intended to attack Pearl Harbor as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories. With all eight battleships damaged, four sunken, 188 aircraft destroyed; 2,403 Americans killed and 1,178 wounded, the U.S declared war on Japan the next day -
Bataan Death March
After the U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Phillipine island of Luzon to the Japanese during the World War 2, the approximately 75,000 Fillipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to march an arduous 65-miles to prison camps. -
Battle of Midway
Just 6 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Army, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet that proved irreparable. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favour of the Allies. -
D-Day
Allied forces staged an enourmous assault on German positions on the beaches of Normandy, France. Over 450,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded, or went missing during this battle. -
Liberation of concentration camps
Soviet soldiers entered the Majdanek camp in Poland, and later overran several other killing centers. They were the first to liberate concentration camp prisoners in the final stages of the war. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo JIma was a major battle in which the U.S. Marines landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during the second World War. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was a series of battles fought in the Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and the largest amphibious battle in the Pacific War during World War 2. -
VE Day
The public holiday celebrated on May 8, 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War 2 of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
The world's first deployed bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, wiping out 90% of the Japanese city. When Japan did not surrender after the drop of the first bomb, three days later, the U.S. dropped another bomb on the city of Nagasaki, causing Japan to surrender. -
VJ Day
News of the surrender was announced to the world. This sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of World War 2.
