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Japanese invasion of China
Sino-Japanese WarThe Japenese took over large areas of China in 1937. There was a stalemate. Japan’s defeat in that by the Allies in 1945 ended its occupation of China. -
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Rape of Nanking
Rape of NankingIn order to break Chinese spirit, Japanese General Matsui Iwane ordered that the city of Nanking be destroyed. Much of the city was burned. They butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women. -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
Ribbentrop/Molotov PactNazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. Joseph Stalin viewed the pact as a way to keep his nation on peaceful terms with Germany, while giving him time to build up the Soviet military. Adolf Hitler used the pact to make sure Germany was able to invade Poland unopposed. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Germany invades PolandGerman forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. The Germans defeated the Poles with their modern mechanized forces. -
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German Blitzkrieg
German BlitzkriegA German term for “lightning war,” blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create 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 successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. -
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Operation Barbarossa
Operation BarbarossaAdolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea, a distance of two thousand miles. Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl HarborJust 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 Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. -
Wannsee Conference
Wannsee ConferenceThe Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of Nazi Germany, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. The purpose was to ensure the cooperation of administrative leaders of various government departments. -
Bataan Death March
Bataan Death MarchAfter U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula, 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 and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. -
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Battle of Midway
Battle of MidwaySix months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan. This was an important turning point in the Pacific campaign. The victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of StalingradThe Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad in the U.S.S.R. during World War II. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. Casualties reached about 2 million. -
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Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto UprisingFrom April 19 to May 16, 1943, residents of the Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. The Warsaw ghetto uprising inspired other revolts in extermination camps and ghettos throughout German-occupied Eastern Europe. -
D-Day
D-day156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. -
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Liberation of concentration camps
LiberationThe Americans were responsible for liberating Buchenwald and Dachau, while British forces entered Bergen-Belsen.. Although the Germans had attempted to empty the camps of surviving prisoners and hide all evidence of their crimes, the Allied soldiers came upon thousands of dead bodies "stacked up like cordwood," according to one American soldier. The prisoners who were still alive were living skeletons. -
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Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the BulgeAdolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp.As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name. -
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Battle of Iwa Jima
Battle of Iwa JimaThe American amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. Following elaborate preparatory air and naval bombardment, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island in February 1945. U.S. wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting. -
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Battle of Okinawa
Battle of OkinawaThe Okinawa battle involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82-day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties—including 14,000 dead. -
VE Day
VE DayOn this day, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Dropping the atomic bombs
HiroshimaThe United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, many historians argue that it also ignited the Cold War. -
VJ Day
VJ DayOn August 15, 1945, news of Japan's surrender was announced to the world. This sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of World War II. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was held in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. At the time, President Truman declared September 2 to be VJ Day.
