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The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
On September 18th, the Japanese invaded Manchuria on the false accusation that they had sabotaged their railroads(when the Chinese had actually just executed a Japanese spy). This was the Japanese Empire's attempt to gain control over the whole province so that they could eventually rule over all of East Asia. -
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The Rape of Nanjing(The Nanjing Massacre)
The Japanese General Matsui Iwane wanted to break the spirit of Chinese resistance during the Sino-Japanese war so he ordered that Nanjing be destroyed. The Japanese troops burned much of the city and committed strings of atrocities against the people living there. An estimated 150,000 male "war prisoners" were butchered, and over 20,000 women and girls of all ages were raped(many were killed or mutilated in the process). -
Anschluss
What is most interesting about the annexation of Austria by Germany is that they took over without a shot being fired. Germany;more specifically Hitler; wanted to take over Austria because there were German speaking people there and Hitler wanted to unite all "true Germans" into one nation. It was a little more complicated in Austria. A lot of Austrian citizens wanted to become part of Germany but lots of the population;including most political officials; wanted to remain their own country. -
Munich Pact(Munich Agreement)
The Munich Agreement was an agreement between Germany, Britain, and France that avoided war but stated that Germany could annex Czechoslovakia(which had mostly German speaking people).This was a "strategy" that was called appeasement. -
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Kristallnacht(Night of Broken Glass)
This was a countrywide attack on Jewish homes, business, synagogues, and even Jews themselves. This attack was carried out by members of the SA parliamentary forces and even normal German citizens. The widely accepted cause for this was the assassination of a German diplomat by a 17 year old Jew living in Paris. Overall, the deaths for this event are estimated to be at least 91 and probably more. This event also was the start of the final solution as well as the Holocaust. -
Non-Aggression Pact
This pact stated that Germany and Soviet Russia would not attack each other for the next ten years. Stalin viewed the agreement as a way to remain on peaceful terms with Germany but Hitler knew how smart a decision he had made. Hitler knew that because of this pact, he would avoid a two front war and thought that he would surely win the war that he could see was brewing. -
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The German Invasion of Polland
On September 1st, Germany, along with the USSR invaded Poland and using Blitzkrieg tactics, advanced some 140 miles into Poland. The Polish tried to put up a defense but their aeroplanes were easily outmaneuvered and outgunned. The Fighting may have ended on October 1st, but this event led to France and Britain declaring war on Germany and the start of WWII. -
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Lend Lease Act
The Lend Lease Act allowed the president to transfer arms or other defense materials to nations that the president deemed vital to the defense of the US. This enabled other countries to keep fighting even though America had not yet joined the conflict. It also helped avoid war debts like at the end of WWI. -
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The Evacuation of Dunkirk
This was a massive evacuation of Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. The reason for the evacuation was that German forces were rapidly approaching and encircling the Allies. The Allies of course didn't want to lose troops so they gathered whatever ships they could and staged a massive evacuation. By the end of the evacuation, over 338,000 soldiers had been evacuated. -
Tri-Partite Agreement
On this date, the Axis powers are formed when Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies by signing this agreement. The agreement stated that if any of the allies in the agreement were attacked by a nation not already in the war, the other two would help them. One of the reasons for this was to make the then neutral US think twice before joining the Allies. The pact also acknowledged that Germany and Italy would establish a new order in Europe while Japan would have lordship over Greater East Asia. -
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Operation Barbarossa
This was an attempt by Hitler to take over the USSR. When this attack ultimately failed, it turned the already shifting tides of the war even more in the Allies favor because now Germany had to deal with a two front war against the Allies but now also with the USSR. This operation failing is arguably the most important turning point of the war. -
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
This was a surprise military strike on a US base by Japan. Just before 0800, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the base. Hundreds of planes and almost twenty ships were destroyed. Over 2,400 Americans were killed;including civilians; and another 1,000 were injured. This event ultimately led to the US joining the war. -
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The Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval victory for the US after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The US' victory of this battle proved that they had the technology to break Japanese code. The US' victory also inflicted massive damage on Japan's Naval Fleet. This battle helped end the treat of Japanese intrusion into the Pacific. -
D-Day(The Invasion of Normandy/The Normandy Landings)
This was when some 156,000 Allied troops(American, British, and Canadian) landed on 5 beaches across 50 miles of heavily fortified area. To this day, the invasion is still one of the largest amphibious water invasions in history. It also required extensive planning and misinformation campaigns to mislead the German's about where the troops were attacking. The Normandy Landings have been hailed by some as the beginning of the end of the war. -
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The Liberation of Paris(The Battle for Paris and Belgium)
This was when Paris was finally freed after spending over 4 years in German control. One interesting fact is that the French resistance actually did most of the fighting but the Allied troops arrived just in time to help provide the finishing blow. On August 25th, the German garrison finally surrendered and gave up the French capital. Although small pockets of German resistance remained, Paris was considered officially free from German control. -
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The Battle of the Bulge
Germany's surprise attack on Allied forces was given this name because the Allies bulged inward on wartime maps. Germany's goal was to split the Allied line in half, capture Antwerp, and then encircle and destroy four Allied armies. They planned this so that the Allies would negotiate for peace, leaving Germany to focus on the eastern front of the war. They planned to use the weather to their advantage but the conditions changed soon after the attack started and thus, the Allies won the battle. -
Hitler's Suicide
On April 30, 1945, Hitler, along with his wife committed suicide by taking a cyanide capsule and then shooting himself. This happened in his refurbished underground air raid bunker. Though this is the place where Hitler is thought to have died, many believe that he escaped Germany and lived out the rest of his days plotting revenge. -
The Surrender of Germany
Although this is the generally accepted date of the German surrender, some say that May 8th of May 9th was when the war officially ended because the fighting still lasted another day or so. Regardless, German general Alfred Jodl signed The German Instrument of Surrender on May 7th and, on paper at least, Germany was defeated. -
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The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6th and August 9th, the US dropped two atomic bombs on two major production cities in Japan, Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In Hiroshima, when the bomb was dropped and exploded over the city, 90 percent of the city's population died instantly(thousands later died from radiation burns and poisoning). On August 15th, the Emperor announced the unconditional surrender of Japan, citing the devastating power of "a new and most cruel bomb."