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Japanese Invasion of China
A clash occurred between Chinese and Japanese troops near Peiping in North China because the Japanese thought that the chinese troops were firing at them at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. When this clash was followed by indications of intensified military activity on the part of Japan, Secretary of State Hull urged upon the Japanese Government a policy of self-restraint.
*http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/china_war.htm
*http://s960.photobucket.com/user/winowmak3r/media/1938-1939/Japanese -
German Blitzkrieg
Germany quickly overran much of Europe and was victorious for more than two years by relying on a new military tactic called the Blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons along a narrow front. These forces would drive a breach in enemy defenses, permitting armored tank divisions to penetrate rapidly and roam freely behind enemy lines, causing shock and disorganization among the enemy defenses. During the Blitz some two million houses were destroyed. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
The German-Soviet Pact of August 1939, which stated that Poland was to be partitioned between the two powers,enabled Germany to attack Poland without the fear of Soviet intervention. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. Poland remained under German occupation until January 1945.
*ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1939-1941/german-invasion-of-poland -
Operation Barbarossa
Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union: three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and 3000 tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea. By this point German combat effectiveness had reached its apogee; in training, doctrine, and fighting ability.*http://www.history.com/topics/...on-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded.*http://www.history.com/topics/.../pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
15 High-Ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss and cordinate the idea of what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." The aim of the Wannsee Conference was clear this problem: "to further the coordination of a policy aimed at the physicial annihilation of the European Jews."*http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005477 *http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/635490/Wannsee-Conference -
Bataan Death March
Tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers were surrendered to Japanese forces.They were marched for days in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles. Thousands died. Those who survived faced the hardships of a prisoner of war camp. Others were wounded or killed wThe Bataan Memorial Death March honors a special group of World War II heroes.
*http://www.bataanmarch.com/r09/history.htm
*http://www.bataansurvivor.com/content/the_bataan_death_march/1.php -
Battle of Midway
Video/Work CitedSix months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
works cited Between July 22 and September 12, 1942, the German authorities deported or murdered around 300,000 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto.In response to the deportations, on July 28, 1942, several Jewish underground organizations created an armed self-defense unit known as the Jewish Combat Organization. The Germans had planned to liquidate the Warsaw ghetto in three days, but the ghetto fighters held out for more than a month. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Video/Works Cited
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the U.S.S.R. during World War II. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. -
Operation Gomorrah
By night, British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day in its own "Blitz" week. Britain had suffered 167 Civilian deaths. More than 1,5000 German civilians were killed in that first British raid. To make matters worse for Germany, the U.S. Eighth Air Force began a bombing run of northern Germany. *http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched *http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/operation-gomorrah/ -
Allied Invasion of Italy
work citedBy the spring of 1943, opposition groups in Italy were uniting to overthrow Mussolini and make peace with the Allies, but a strong German military presence in Italy threatened to resist any such action.
*http://www.understandingitaly.com/profile-content/history.html -
D-Day Normandy Invasion
work cited The Battle of Normandy was fought during World War II in 1944, between the Allied nations and German forces occupying Western Europe. More than 60 years later, the Normandy Invasion, or D-Day, remains the largest seaborne invasion in history, involving nearly three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in occupied France.Twelve Allied nations provided fighting units that participated in the invasion.By June 11, more than 326,000 troops, 55,000 vehicles. -
Battle of the Bulge
work cited Thirty German divisions launched themselves at a quiet section of the American lines occupied by only three divisions. This major counter offensive was intended to drive all the way to Antwerp and split the Allied armies in two.The Germans attacked through the Losheim Gapin the Ardennes Forest of Belgium and Luxemburg.The German assault resulted in a large bulge in the lines which lead to the battle’s name *http://www.nationalww2museum.org/see-hear/collections/focus-on/battle-of-the-bulge.html# -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The capture of Iwo Jima was part of a three-point plan the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East.The Marines lost 6,891 men killed and 18,070 wounded. Out of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island, only 212 were taken prisoners. What the battle did show the Americans was how far the Japanese would go to defend their country – a decision that was to influence the use of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/mccarrollc/502/VirtualTour/iwojima.htm -
Battle of Okinawa
The capture of Okinawa was part of a three-point plan the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East. The resistanceby the Japanese stood firm but it was only into June that it became obvious that the Japanese had lost the fight of Okinawa. On July 2nd, Okinawa was declared secure by the Americans. *http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_okinawa.htm
*http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/6623568-113/japanese-marine-okinawa-naha -
VE Day
It marked the formal conclusion of Hitler's war. With it came the end of six years of misery, suffering, courage and endurance across the world.
*http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/ve_day -
Dropping of Atomic Bombs
Video
An American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world's first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout. -
V-J Day
works cited It was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II.Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victoryover Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.” The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Coming several months after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan’s capitulation in the Pacific brought six years of hostilities to a final. -
Operation Thunderclap
A soviet plan to destroy Berlin and mostly all of its inhabitant's. This plan was soon reconsidered and carried out to bomb Berlin, Dresden, Chemnitz and Leipzig so that German front lines would would be disrupted and so the Soviets have an advantage.
*"War Stories: Operation "Thunderclap" (1945)."War Stories: Operation "Thunderclap" (1945). N.p.,n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.*https://www.stormfront.org/forum/t679030/
