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Japanese invasion of China
The japanese army murdered thousands of soldiers and civilians in Nanjing, China. This happened because the Japanese claimed that they were fired on by Chinese troops at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. 200,00 - 300,000 people died.
http://www.history.com/topics/nanjing-massacre
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/china_war.htm -
Rape of Nanking
Japanese general Matsui Iwane ordered the city of Nanking to be destroyed. The japanese butchered 150,000 war prisoners and killed an additional 50,000 men. They raped atleast 20,000 women and girls at any age were mutilated or killed.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-rape-of-nanking -
German blitzkrieg
Military tactic created to mess up enemy forces with the use of firepower. Germany tried it out first in Poland and then later on in 1940 used it to invade Belgium, The Netherlands, and france.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Germanys invasion of Poland
The german forces invaded Poland on land and in air. Adolf Hitler is seeking to regain territory and rule Poland. They bombed their air capacity, railroads, communication lines, and munitions dumps, followed by land invasion with overwhelming numbers of troops, tanks, and artillery. Hitler set up security forces and concentration camps for slave laborers.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-invades-poland -
Fall of Paris
Germany bombed Paris and killed 254 people. This was in hopes of destroying it's economy and military, reduce its population, and in short, cripple its morale as well as its ability to rally support for other occupied nations. This provoked them to complete terror and to collapse.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-bomb-paris/print -
Operation barbarossa
Hitler launched army in an invasion on the Soviet Union. three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. 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.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
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 almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee conference
Nazi officials meet to discuss the details of the “Final Solution” of the “Jewish question." To devise a plan that would render a “final solution to the Jewish question” in Europe. Months later, the “gas vans” in Chelmno, Poland, proved to be the “solution” they were looking for.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Bataan death march
U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II. 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps. They were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Battle of Stalingrad
The successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad in the U.S.S.R. during World War II. Historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. Stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union. This killed nearly 2 million civilians.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Warsaw ghetto uprising
The people in the Jewish ghetto Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. It led to other revolts in extermination camps and ghettos throughout German-occupied Eastern Europe.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising -
Operation Gomorrah
Operation Gomorrah was an aerial bombing campaign that occurred in the European Theater of Operations. Operation Gomorrah destroyed a significant percentage of the city of Hamburg, leaving over 1 million residents homeless and killing 40,000-50,000 civilians.
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/aerialcampaigns/p/gomorrah.htm -
D-Day
The Invasion of Normandy. American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima took place during World War II between the United States and Japan. The first major battle of World War II to take place on Japanese homeland. The Battle of Iwo Jima took place near the end of World War II. US Marines first landed on the island. it took over a month of furious fighting for the US to finally capture the island from the japanese.
http://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_ii/battle_of_iwo_jima.php -
Battle of Okinawa
This was also known as operation iceberg. It was the largest landing in the Pacific theater of World War II. Had the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 casualties for the Allies. -
VE day
The Allies celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Reich, formally recognising the end of the Second World War in Europe. After six years and millions of lives lost, the Nazi scourge was crushed and the war in Europe was finally over. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. It wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. A second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki -
VJ day
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.”
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Battle of the bulge
Germans launch the last major offensive of the war. This was an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. The battle raged for three weeks, resulting in a massive loss of American and civilian life. The United States also suffered its second-largest surrender of troops of the war.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-bulge
