-
Aug 14, 945
VJ Day
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Known as “Victory over Japan Day”. Officially ended the war. -
Rape of Nanking
December 13, 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army marched into China's capital city of Nanking and proceeded to murder 300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers in the city. An estimated at least 20,000 women were raped by soldiers. This was the single worst atrocity during the World War II era in either the European or Pacific theaters of war. -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
An economic agreement, signed on August 19, 1939, stated that Germany would exchange manufactured goods for Soviet raw materials. Germany and the Soviet Union also signed a ten-year nonaggression pact in which each country promised not to attack the other. This allowed Germany to invade poland without Soviet intervention. -
German Blitzkrieg
First tested on September 1st 1939 the German Blitzkrieg is a military tactic, designed to create disorganization among enemy forces. German tried Blitzkrieg out in Poland in 1939, then successfully employed this tactic with the invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France in 1940. Blitzkrieg was never used in the title of German military manual or handbook. -
Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941
Japanese fighter planes attacked an American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. America declared war on Japan, Japan's allies Italy and Germany declared war on America, and America finally joined WW2. -
Wannsee Conference
January 20,1942: On January 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss and coordinate the implementation of what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." -
Battle of Midway
Jun 3, 1942 – Jun 7, 1942, Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in a naval battle. U.S. was able to intercept and predict Japan's plans, leading to a major victory. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
Operation Gomorrah
July 24, 1943, British forces bombed Hamburg, Germany by night while The United States bombed them during the day. When it was over, 17,000 bomber sorties dropped more than 9,000 tons of explosives, killing more than 30,000 people and destroying 280,000 buildings, including industrial and munitions plants. Germany soon took defeat. -
Allied invasion of Italy
September 3,1943: The allied forces were deciding their next step after the defeat of the Axis powers in North Africa and they decided the next step was to invade Italy. The plan was to remove Italy that way the Axis forces didn’t have power in the Mediterranean. Italy ended up surrendering. -
D-Day
June 6, 1944, the day the Allied powers crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, beginning the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control during World War II.This helped us gain a foothold to attack Germany. A turning point in the war for the liberating forces. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Soviet soldiers were the first to liberate concentration camps. On July 23, 1944, they entered Majdanek camp in Poland. January 27, 1945 the entered Auschwitz, they found hundreds of prisoners. Americans were responsible for liberating Buchenwald and Dachau. They liberated Buchenwald in April 1945, they liberate more than 20,000 prisoners. -
Fall of Paris
19-25 August 1944.
The Liberation of Paris was an attack that forced Germany to surrender the French Capital. It was a major win for the Allied forces. -
Battle of the Bulge
On December 16, 1944, three German armies (more than a quarter-million troops) launched the deadliest and most desperate battle of the war in the west in the poorly roaded, rugged, heavily forested Ardennes. Being the last German offensive attack, it was very deadly. -
Battle of Okinawa
April 1, 1945: The last and the biggest battle in the pacific, Japan lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the allies suffered more than 65,000 casualties. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. This was a big win because we gained an advantage to stop japanese invasions -
VE Day
May 8th, 1945, The day that America and Britain celebrated the end and the victory of WW2. This was the day that the last of the German troops laid down their arms and surrendered. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
August 6th, 1945. President Harry S. Truman ended the war against Japan while still avoiding American casualties, by dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima. America was responding to the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. The death toll at the end of 1945 accounted for 60,000 to 80,000 people in Nagasaki. The total deaths counted by the end of 1945 had risen to 90,000 to 120,000 people in Hiroshima.
