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Japanese forces killed thousands of people, both soldiers and civilians in Nanking, and over 20,000 women were sexually assaulted. After their victory in Shanghai, Japanese troops look to invade Nanking. Chiang Kai-Shek ordered the removal of the Chinese troops from the city so there was little to no defense. There is still anger over this event to this day. https://www.history.com/topics/japan/nanjing-massacre -
A military tactic used in battles during this time period. The tactic was the concentration of weapons along a narrow front. The tactic would cause a breach in enemy lines and cause shock and disorganization. Air forces would stop enemy line from getting supplies and forces. This tactic allowed Germany to overrun Europe quickly. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/blitzkrieg-lightningwar#:~:text=Germany%20quickly%20overran%20much%20of,artillery)%20along%20a%20narrow%20front
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A nonaggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union signed a few days before WWII. The purpose of this was to keep peace with Germany to build up the Soviet military. This allowed for Germany to attack without fear of intervention from the Soviet Union. https://www.britannica.com/event/German-Soviet-Nonaggression-Pact -
Japanese air forces attacked the U.S. naval base and destroyed or damaged 20 naval vessels and over 300 airplanes. 2,400 American soldiers and civilian died, while 1,000 were wounded. America didn’t like the aggression from Japan and so they cut their access to money and goods. This made Japan determined to stand their ground and led to the attack. This attack is what made the U.S. declare war on Japan and led to it’s involvement in WWII. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
The conference was held to find a final solution to the Jewish problem. Officials from Nazi ministries met to discuss a plan. One proposed plan was that Jews were to be transported to concentration camps and worked to death, by that was objected due to it being too time-consuming. The outcome of this months later were gas vans. The gas vans were killing 1,000 people a day. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Captured Filipinos and Americans were forced to march 65 miles and took around 5 days to complete. Thousands of troops died due to being starved and beat. Survivors were taken by rail to prisoner-of-war camps. Thousands more died from disease, starvation, and mistreatment. U.S.-Filipino forces were able to recapture the peninsula and Manila was liberated. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Residents of the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw revolted against the Nazis to prevent deportations to extermination camps. Resistance fighters fought the Germans for almost a month even though they were drastically outnumbered. By the end of this, the ghetto was under Nazi control and the Germans blew it up. This revolt inspired other revolts throughout Eastern Europe. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising
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During the day, Americans bombed Hamburg, Germany. During the night, British bombers raided it. That, evening, British aircraft dropped enough explosives equivalent to the explosives German bombers dropped during their five raids in total. The U.S. Air Force began bombing runs during daylight. After all of these attacks, 30,000 people were killed and 280,000 buildings were destroyed. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
The Battle of Normandy was an Allied liberation of Western Europe. American, British, and Canadian forces landed on the beaches along France’s Normandy region. The Normandy invasion turned the tide against the Nazis and started the end of the war in Europe. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
An offensive move by Adolf Hitler to split up the Allies. The failure of this led to the Allied victory. The battle got it’s name from the allied line that was shaped like a bulge. It was the costliest battle fought by the U.S. with 100,000 casualties. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge
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January is when Auschwitz was liberated. After that, American forces liberated many others, including Buchenwald, Dachau, and Mauthausen. British forces liberated concentration camps in Northern Germany. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/liberation-of-nazi-camps -
A battle between the U.S. and Japan on an Island off the coast of Japan. After weeks of fighting, Kuribayashi’s men started a final attack on March 25, 1945. American forces defeated them and declared Iwo Jima had been captured the next day even though they spent weeks capturing Japanese that refused to stop fighting. Out of the Japanese army, only about 200 survived, and arlun 7,000 marines were killed.
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German troops surrendered in Prague, Copenhagen, Oslo, Karlshorst, Northern Latvia, and the Channel Island of Sark. This day marked the end of the war. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Despite the end of the war, Japan was still fighting. On August 6, 1945, Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki -
Since there was no immediate response from the Japanese, a second bomb was dropped, Fat Man, on Nagasaki. Roughly 70,000 to 135,000 people died in Hiroshima and 60,000 to 80,000 people died in Nagasaki. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki -
It was announced that Japan surrendered. September 2 is also called VJ day as that is when the formal surrender took place. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day