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Japanese Invasion of China
Invasion of ChinaJapan wanted all of the natural resources to be found in China. This fighting sparked a full-blown conflict, Japanese quickly captured all key chinese ports and industrial centers. Japanese slaughtered an estimate 300,000 civilians & raped 80,000 women -
Rape Of Nanking
Rape Of NankingThe Rape of Nanking was a six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanking, the former capital of the Republic of China. During this period, hundreds of thousands of civilians were murdered and 20,000–80,000 women were raped. The act was a means by the Japanese to demoralize the Chinese and to reduce the number of rataliatory attacks from them as well. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
Poland1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced.On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
German Blitzkreig
German BitzkreigGermany's strategy was to defeat its opponents in short campaigns. Germany quickly overran much of Europe and was victorious for more than two years by relying on a new military tactic called the "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war). Blitzkrieg tactics required offensive weapons,planes, tanks, and artillery. Germany successfully used the Blitzkrieg tatic against Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France,Yugoslavia,Greece. -
Fall Of Paris
Fall Of ParisOn 11 November 1918, the French and British allies accepted Germany’s surrender and signed the armistice that ended the First World War. The signing took place in a railway carriage in the middle of the picturesque woods of Compiègne, fifty miles north-east of Paris. The event ran deep into the psyche of Germany, and none more so than in Adolf Hitler, at the time a corporal in the Imperial German Army. -
Operation Barbarossa
[Operation Barbarossa](http://.http://www.historyinanhour.com/2011/06/22/operation-barbarossa-summary/)Hitler’s intention was always to invade the Soviet Union. It was with the destruction of the Jews. He stated his intentions clearly enough in his semi-autobiographical Mein Kampf, published in 1925. This was meant to be a war of obliteration, and despite Russian territory and manpower, Hitler anticipated a quick victory -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl HarborThe first wave of Imperial Japanese Navy deapart by 6am on that Sunday. Their attack is made up of 423 aircraft and converges on the Hawaii islands. They attacked them because conquering in the sphere could provide a diplomatic advantage in the near future. Over 2400 people were killed in this attack, and 1178 were wounded. Because of this attack the United States, along with Britian eventually declare war on the empireof Japan. Germany and Italy side with Japan and declare war on the U.S. -
Wannsee Conference
Wannsee ConferenceOn January, 20, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's second in command of the SS, convened the Wannsee Conference in Berlin with 15 top Nazi bureaucrats to coordinate the Final Solution in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe, an estimated 11 million persons. -
Bataan Death March
Bataan Death MarchAfter the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II, approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat. Thousands died in this march. -
Battle Of Midway
Battle Of Midwayhe Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive U.S. victories against Japan during World War II–begins. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
WarsawOn April 19, 1943, the Warsaw ghetto uprising began after German troops and police entered the ghetto to deport its surviving inhabitants. Seven hundred and fifty fighters fought the heavily armed and well-trained Germans. The ghetto fighters were able to hold out for nearly a month, but on May 16, 1943, the revolt ended. The Germans had slowly crushed the resistance. Of the more than 56,000 Jews captured, about 7,000 were shot, and the remainder were deported to camps. -
D-Day Normady Invasion
D-DayOn June 6, 1944 the Allied Forces of Britain, America, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the coast of Normandy, France. With a force over 150,000 soldiers, the Allies attacked and gained a victory that became the turning point for World War II in Europe. At the end of D-Day over 150,000 troops had landed in Normandy.They then began to push germans out of france. -
Batle of the Buldge
BuldgeIn December 1944,Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Not ready, American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and Bastogne. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
[Concentration Camps](http:// http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131)As Allied troops moved across Europe in a series of offensives against Nazi Germany, they began to find thousands of concentration camp prisoners. Many of the prisoners had survived marches into the interior of Germany camps in Poland. These prisoners suffered from starvation and disease -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation ThunderclapOperation Thunderclap was a code name for a plan by the Soviets to bomb Berlin. When the Allies converged at the Yalta convention they decided to target Dresden instead of Berlin. The attacked the railway yards near the central hub of the city, and this spot was no stranger to bombs. It has estimated to have caused 25,000-35,000 deaths. -
Battle Of Iwo Jima
Iwo JimaThe American amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. Following preparatory air and naval bombardment, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island in February 1945. Iwo Jima was defended by 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, fought from an sneaky network of caves,and tunnel. -
Battle Of Okinawa
Battle Of OkinawaThe Battle of Okinawa, also known as Operation Iceberg, formed a part of the Pacific War during World War II. Fought in the spring of 1945, it was the biggest amphibious assault in that theater. The battle resulted in victory for the Allies, with huge casualties being inflicted on the Japanese army despite substantial losses for the Americans as well. This proved to be almost the last serious defense of Japanese territory before the end of the war in August. -
VE Day
[VE Day](http://.http://www.historynet.com/v-e-day-1945-the-c)For just over five years and eight months a war had been raging in Europe. That began with Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. By the summer of 1941, the military of Germany’s dictator Adolf Hitler had conquered virtually all of Europe from Spain’s eastern border to the western border of the Soviet Union. Italy, under the control V-E Day celebrates the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allied forces in 1945, ending World War II in Europe. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
Atomic BombsAt approximately 8.15am on 6 August 1945 a US B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, instantly killing around 80,000 people. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, causing the deaths of 40,000 more. The dropping of the bombs, which occurred by executive order of US President Harry Truman, remains the only nuclear attack in history. In the months following the attack, roughly 100,000 more people died slow, horrendous deaths as a result of radiation -
VJ Day
VJ DayOn August 14, 1945, it was told that Japan had surrendered to the Allies, 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.
