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Known as the forgotten massacre of WW2, the rape of Nanking is one of the most awful events of WW2. During the war between Japan and China, to break the spirits of Chinese resistance, Japanese General Matsui Iwane sent orders that the city of Nanking is annihilated. A significant part of the city was scorched, and Japanese soldiers dispatched a mission of abominations against civilians. China’s most prosperous city took decades to recover from the horrific acts it experienced. -
Japanese forces slaughtered an estimated 150,000 male war prisoners, massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages, many of whom were damaged or killed in the process. After the war ended, Matsui was convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and was executed. -
The SS St. Louis ship in which 907 Jewish refugees resided, was refused entry into Cuba, Canada and the USA. This was a huge misfortune for the Jews, as they were fleeing Germany, trying to save themselves from Hitler’s vicious deeds. Due to the denial, the ship had to turn back to Europe. Although a few European countries took in the refugees, 254 Jews were entered into the concentration camps and most likely died in the holocaust too. -
This event is an example of Canada’s history of selective and discriminatory immigration practices. On 5th November 2000, members of the Canadian ministry gathered to apologize to 25 surviving St. Louis passengers. On 20 January 2011, a memorial sculpture remembering the St. Louis refugees was unveiled at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, where the ship would probably have landed. -
The longest-continuous battle of the second world war, the Battle of the Atlantic was the battle between the Allied and German powers for control of the Atlantic Ocean. The Allies expected to keep the indispensable progression of men and supplies going between North America and Europe, where they could be utilized in the battling, while the Germans needed to cut these stockpile lines. Germany's Atlantic method was straightforward: to starve Britain into accommodation -
by annihilating shipper ships and their cargoes quicker than they could be supplanted. Hitler had lost the Battle of the Atlantic, due to the diligence of individual mariners and vendor sailors who kept the boats moving regardless, alongside improved coordination between the British Navy and Air Force, and innovative advancements that steered the results for the Allies. The Atlantic was the course by which all assets came to Britain, without which the nation would have imploded. -
Had we lost the fight, we wouldn't have had enough weapons – nor the mechanical ability to make weapons – and American soldiers would not have had the option to get across for D-Day. Truth be told, there wouldn't have been a D-Day. -
During the 1940s, men of Canada were called upon to act under military service during WW2. This is called conscription. Many French-Canadians did not agree with this act, therefore Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, held a vote on April 27th of 1942 to instil democracy, in which most provinces voted in agreement to the conscription. As for the results of this act, Bill 80 was passed, which authorized conscription for overseas service if it was considered necessary. -
Located in Canada, the purpose was to train allied aircrews for WW2 including pilots, navigators, & flight engineers. More than 130,000 crew members were prepared somewhere in the range of 1939 & 1945, making this one of Canada's incredible contributions to the early war effort. The plan was created through a signed agreement by Britain, Canada, Australia & New Zealand. This program is responsible for creating half of the services on the RAF, which assisted Britain in defence during WW2.
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The Dunkirk Evacuation involved a last-minute rescue of over 300,000 allied soldiers who were trapped by the Nazis near the beaches of Dunkirk, France. The Dunkirk Evacuation effectively ended the Battle of France. Operation Dynamo was the name of the evacuation plan. Naval vessels and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the evacuation. -
By the end, 198,000 British and 140,000 French and Belgian troops had been saved. Despite the successful evacuation at Dunkirk, thousands of French troops were left behind and taken captive by the advancing Germans. Also stranded on the shores of Dunkirk were large supplies of ammunition, machine guns, tanks, motorcycles, jeeps and anti-aircraft artillery.
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A striking German attack on northwest Europe, known as the Battle of France, brought about the conquest and oppression of France as well as three different nations – Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium. Its failure was a result of hopelessly divided French politics, a lack of quality military leadership, and basic French military tactics. On the battlefield, France faced a desperately more prepared German army that utilized both more advanced weapons and sophisticated tactics. -
The last stage of the Jewish holocaust, the final solution, was the answer to the “Jewish Question”. Heinrich Himmler originally introduced the idea of the horrific annihilation, alongside Hitler who then executed the plan with his followers. Initially, Hitler did not plan on murdering the Jews, but they had to answer the anti-Semitism question “how do we get rid of the Jews”? They went through many plans beforehand to do so, such as immigrating the Jews out of Germany, but non that met the -
expectations of Hitler. To carry out the final solution, the Nazis murdered Jews by administrating policies that led to starvation, disease, random acts of terror, & mass shootings and gassings. Many Jews have died before the final solution, but the vast majority of Jews who died in the holocaust were murdered during the final solution. -
As a result of this event, 6 million Jewish people died in concentration camps between 1941 & 1945. Many survivors are still living with the trauma of the past, including the trauma that is passed down to their children. -
considered a threat to Japan. Administrative Yamamoto Isoroku planned this attack in hopes to destroy everything so that the Americans wouldn’t be able to fight back when the Japanese advanced throughout the Pacific. It is believed that the Americans had no reason to join the second world war without the Pearl Harbor attack. America’s response to the attack created a long-lasting effect, creating a global military and political superpower. -
The Pearl Harbor incident was the initial trigger that compelled America to enter the second world war. Japan sent an unexpected aerial attack on the U.S. naval base, which alarmed the Americans & consequently worsened the relations between Japan & the U.S.A. In just over an hour, the Japanese destroyed 180 aircraft and damaged more than a dozen ships. During its war with China, Japan wanted to expand in the Pacific, & since the U.S. moved the U.S. Pacific Fleet into Pearl Harbor, it was -
After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, both the United States and Canada took action against their residents of Japanese descent. In British Columbia, all Japanese-Canadian areas were eliminated. Homes and assets that belonged to Japanese Canadians were seized and sold. Some Japanese-Canadians — considered dangers to public safety — were constrained into internment camps. This was non-other than an act of discrimination against the Japanese. -
This is another example of Canada’s history of selective and discriminatory events. In 1988, the federal government had apologized for the awful events that took place. Many Japanese residents were left with negative psychological effects from the stress of being forced to dislocate themselves and having all their belongings ripped away from them. Similar to what the First Nations experienced. -
The Allied triumph was the start of the finish of the Western Desert Campaign, disposing of the Axis danger to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields. The fight resuscitated the assurance of the Allies, being the primary large accomplishment against the Axis. The Axis army of Italy and Germany suffered a decisive defeat by the British Eighth Army. -
It ended the long fight for the Western Desert and was the only great land battle won by the British and Commonwealth forces without direct American participation. The victory also persuaded the French to start cooperating in the North African campaign. -
During the last few months of the second world war, Candian forces were given the duty to free the Netherlands from Nazi occupation. Through the hard work and great determination carried by Canadian and allied soldiers, the remaining German forces in the Netherlands surrendered. This victory, however, came at an unfortunate price. More than 7,600 Canadians died in the efforts to free the country and are buried far from their homes and loved ones. -
Others returned home with injuries to body and minds that they carried for the rest of their lives. However, many great things came out of this event too. Some Dutch royalties found refuge in Canada; these connections created a loving bond between the two nations, creating a lasting effect. -
The greatest creation against the Jews was to come to end, as allied forces and the soviet union moved across Europe in hopes of ending the war in a victory against Germany. They uncovered the horrific liberation of concentration camps let alone stands as a huge event of the second world war, for it was the end of mass homicide. Majdanek and Auschwitz were the first major camps that were liberated. Journalists were invited to study the camps and the horrors. -
The liberation of these camps revealed the terrors of the holocaust to the world and left a traumatic and historical impact on all Jewish people around the world. Survivors are still feeling the terrors of their past in their flesh to this day. -
It is said that Hitler committed suicide, by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. His spouse Eva Burns also poisoned herself alongside their dogs. They had gotten married just over a day before they killed themselves. Although we may never know exactly why they did that, many conspiracy theories go around to prove to reason. Many people still believe that Hitler may be alive somewhere and that he may have escaped. 75 years later, the waters are still. -
Near the end of the second world war, America dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan and another on Nagasaki three days later. The explosion on Hiroshima immediately killed approximately 80,000 people and the explosion in Nagasaki killed approximately 40,000 people. It did not end there, the radiation caused lasting effects on the people for decades. The excessive amount of radiation exposure created cancers and horrible living for the Japanese residents. -
The following devastation of the attack caused Japan’s Emperor Hirohito to announce its countries surrender in the war. Japan was a fierce enemy of the US and its allies, during the second world war and the U.S.A. wanted them to surrender, thus choosing a deadly way to do so.
