-
Japanese Invasion of China
Also called the Second Sino-Japan War it was one of the starting events of WWII. Skirmishing between Chinese and Japanese troops called the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, started full blown war between Japan and China. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland, considered the start of WII, lasted only until September 27 when the Poles surrendered in Warsaw. Germany invaded from 3 fronts: from East Prussia, Northern Germany, and Silesia and Slovakia in the South. The Soviet Union invaded Eastern Poland on September 17.Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3 -
German Blitzkrieg
Also called lightning war relied on mobility to prevent deadlocks in battles and war. First used on Poland in 1939 and it quickly crushed the nation. Used a year against the Soviet Union, it pushed all the way to Moscow in six months. An elaborate war method that quickly crushed nations and forces in its path. -
Fall of Paris
On May 15 Germany had captured the Netherlands and started to move to take France. The Allies launched counter attacks against Germany that usually failed with many losses as the Germans pushed on. France, fighting from north and south fronts, and were quickly being pushed back to the sea. An evacuation plan known as ‘Operation Dynamo’ was made to evacuate civilians across the Channel. Hitler halted his troops for 9 days, then on June 5, French resistance collapsed and took the French capital J -
Operation Barbarossa
The date Adolf Hitler launched a huge invasion of the Soviet Union. Three million German soldier, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks pushed into Soviet territory.The front of the invasion covered around 2,000 miles. This invasion is the turning point of the war as now Germany would have to fight on two fronts rather than just one, splitting the number of his troops in half. -
Pearl Harbor
-Just before 8am at an American naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, hundreds of Japanese planes attacked. The attack on lasted 2 hours but had crushing effects. The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels,and nearly 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans died and about 1,000 more where injured. This was the largest attack on American soil since the War of 1812. The US declared war on Japan the next day. -
Wannsee Conference
-The conference was held at a villa owned by the SS-Nordhav Foundation in Wannsee. SS-Lieutenant General Reinhard Heydrich the Chief of the Security Police and Security Service called 14 men in governmental and military positions to discuss the ‘Final Solution’ for the Jews. His main intention was to make sure that they all understood what duties and responsibilities they had to fill in their positions. -
The Battle of Midway
-In May Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto looked to push the war in the Pacific toward the Japanese. They proposed to take the island of Midway which would allow the Japanese to easily attack Hawaii. By decrypting Japanese radio messages, Admiral Chester Nimitz was able to counter this attack. On June 4, 1942, US aircraft flying from USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown attacked and sank four Japanese carriers, forcing the Japanese forces to retreat. This was the turning point for the w -
The Battle of Stalingrad
This battle was the successful defense of Stalingrad in USSR. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle in their Great Patriotic War. It stopped the German advance into USSR and helped turn the tide of the war for the Allies. It was one of the bloodiest battles in history with civilian casualties of nearly 2 million -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Began when German troops came in to depart Jews to death camps.The attack was by the ZOB, Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa(Jewish Fighting Organization). 750 fighters fought off the German using weapons they had smuggled in. They set up many bunkers and secret holes and even forced the Germans to retreat. Finally after about a month of fighting the Germans captured the main bunker of the ZOB. When it had ended more than 56,000 Jews were captured, 7,00 had been killed, and the rest were sent of to de -
Allied Invasion of Italy
The allies began by landing on the island of Sicily, they encountered little resistance. Field Marshal Bernard l. Montgomery and the British 8th Army landed on the southeast part of the island while General George S. Patton and the US 7th Army landed on the south coast. On August 17th they had captured Sicily. Marshal Pietro Badoglio took control of the Italian Government on July 23 after Mussolini fled to northern Italy.They began invasion of Italy on September 3 and the Italian Government agr -
Operation Gomorrah
This attack was launched to turn the tables against German bombers. After 167 British civilians died they wanted payback. In their first raid they dropped 2,300 tons of incendiary bombs on Hamburg killing more than 1,500 German civilians. The British only lost 12 aircrafts in this raid by using a device called ‘Window’. It consisted of of aluminum foil which confused German radar. The US Eighth Air force then began more to raid more of Northern Germany with two raids in Hamburg during the day. -
D-Day(Battle of Normandy)
Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944,when 156,000 American,British,and Canadian forces landed on five beaches across a 50 mile span of the heavily fortified beaches of Normandy.The beaches were codenamed:Utah,Omaha,Juno,Sword, and Gold. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in war history. Before the invasion the Allies made a large scale deception campaign to mislead the Germans of where the Allies would invade France from. -
The Battle of the Bugle
Three German armies launched one of the deadliest and most desperate battle of the war in Europe.The Germans broke through Allied lines and pushed West as far as 50 miles.General George S. Patton turned the Third Army 90 degrees from Lorraine to relieve the conquered town of Bastogne was a major part in stopping the German offensive. The US suffered over 100,000 casualties -
Operation Thunderclap
The bombing raid of Dresden,Chemnitz,and Leipzig. Planes were dispatched in two separate waves and dropped 1,478 tons of high explosives and 1,182 tons of incendiary bombs. The second raid dropped more than 1,800 tons of bombs. Its not known how many people truly died in these raids but its is said that more than 50,000 people may of died in Dresden. Only 8 Planes were lost. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
•One of the home islands of Japan 575 miles away defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese soldiers. They fought in caves and dugouts and were burrowed in just waiting for the Allied troops. All of the Japanese troops were either dead or missing. For the US able 5,900 were killed and 17,400 wounded. The fighting lasted 28 days. -
The Battle of Okinawa
The largest and final battle of the Island Hopping campaign, it was also the deadliest. This island allowed direct attacking of Japan. The battle involved 287,000 US troops and 130,000 Japanese troops. The Japanese troops fought to the death some even killing themselves to take out US troops. After 82 days of fighting all of the Japanese troops were missing or dead. Allied troops suffered 65,000 casualties, 14,000 deaths -
V-E Day
The day the war in Europe was officially over with Germany. In Moscow V-E Day is not celebrated until May 9, after 600 Soviets died because the fighting between Germany and the Soviet Union until the 9th. -
The Dropping of the Atomic Bombs(Hiroshima)
The dropping of the atomic bombs, Fat Man and Little Boy, dropped from American bomber, Enola Gay, was a very controversial decision. Risk 1,000,000 estimated casualities or kill thousands of civilians. The bombs were dropped first in Hiroshima, killing over 100,000 people, and the second in Nagasaki killing nearly 40,000 people. Japan surrendered on August 15. -
The Dropping of the Atomic Bombs(Nagasaki)
The dropping of the atomic bombs, Fat Man and Little Boy, dropped from American bomber, Enola Gay, was a very controversial decision. Risk 1,000,000 estimated casualities or kill thousands of civilians. The bombs were dropped first in Hiroshima, killing over 100,000 people, and the second in Nagasaki killing nearly 40,000 people. Japan surrendered on August 15. -
V-J Day
The day Japan surrendered to the Allies. The celebration ceremony on September 2 in Tokyo Bay on the USS Missouri was declared to be V-J by President Truman at the time.
