-
The Rape of Nanking was where it was decided that the city of Nanking must be destroyed. Over 150,000 war prisoners died and much of the city was burnt to the ground. The Japanese seeked revenge for their lost friends in the battle of Shanghai, as well it didn’t seem like the Chinese were going to surrender so the Japanese did pretty much exactly what the Americans did without an atomic bomb. These actions led to Japanese military leaders being convicted of war crimes at the end of the war. -
The German Blitzkrieg was a tactic that used an overload of military weapons to overwhelm the opposing army so that they were not able to attack the Germans. It was Germany's original plan to keep the war short and conquer land quickly and efficiently. It allowed Germany to stomp on many European countries giving Germany an upper hand. -
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack from the Japanese which attacked a Naval base which killed 2,403. The attack happened because the US was pressing Japan to stop expanding their military action in Asia. The attack on Pearl Harbor automatically pulled the U.S into WW2 which then led to the atomic bombs being dropped on 2 Japanese cities. -
Operation Barbarossa was the codename for the German troops to invade the Soviet Union, although they had a nonaggression pact. The Germans invaded the Soviet Union as an attempt to stop communism and to gain the land and resources the Soviet Union had. The Germans not gaining the land created a two front war for Germany, with the French on one side and the Soviet Union on the other. It also caused a lot of German casualties, limiting their army. -
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting between the Nazi party and the German government to discuss the Jew problem. The Conference happened for the discussion of how to deal with Jew problem, which ended with the decision of rounding up the Jews and sending them to concentration camps. It impacted the war because the use of trains to ship Jews to these camps slowed the transport of materials, which in the end slowed the Germans down. The Germans also used majority of their resources on the camps. -
Operation Gomorrah was an allied bombing by the British and Americans. The Americans raided in a said “blitz week” whereas the British bombed at night. This happened because it was a way to target Germany and hopefully destroy them, and publicly humiliate them. The raids lasted from July to November killing 30,000 people and destroying 280,000 buildings. Humiliating Hitler impacts the war because slowly he realized he would need to surrender because they were losing the war. -
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising was an effort against the lasting jews in the “Ghetto” to resist the Nazi’s trying to take them to the concentration camps. This event happened because the Germans were attempting to exterminate the Jewish population and the Jews did not want to have to leave. By the end of the war 42,000 Jews were deported to just a single concentration camp and roughly 6 million Jews had been killed by the end of the holocaust. -
D-Day or the Normandy Invasion is the event that brought all forces (land,sea and air) to the beaches of Normandy to defeat Nazi, Germany. The invasion of Normandy happened because it was the attack that was supposed to defeat Nazi, Germany and stop the second world war. D-Day put the allies in a better position to defeat Germany and for them to assume victory in the war. -
The dropping of the atomic bombs occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on August 6th and August 9th. The U.S decided to drop the atomic bombs because they decided it was the best way to get the Japanese to stop fighting, since it was proven they would not surrender. This event impacted the war by causing mass casualties and destruction to Japan, along with many countries being scared of the strength the U.S had after creating the atomic bomb. -
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive that ended up being one of their last. Hitler hoped that the Battle of the Bulge would be an attack that would stall the Allies from their offensive. This event caused catastrophic casualties for the Germans, which eventually 4 months later led to the German surrender. The event led to mass loss of military supplies and other supplies, which were impossible to repair before the end of the war. -
The battle of Iwo Jima was a battle between the U.S and Japan that lasted three and a half weeks, where the Allies took the victory of Iwo Jima. The U.S decided to attack because the Japanese had a very strategic air field on that Island. This impacted the war because the U.S were able to bomb strategic areas of Japan, and capture a very important island that the Japanese had used. -
VE Day stands for Victory in Europe day, this event marks the end of World War 2. This event happened because the surrender of Germany was officially signed May 7th, marking the official end of war in Europe. This event was significant because it was the end of one of the most brutal wars known to date. -
V-J Day stands for Victory over Japan day. This event happened a week after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. It was the official surrender of Japan, fully ending World War 2. The impact this had on the war was that this day officially ended World War 2. -
The liberation of concentration camps when allied and soviet troops found concentration camps and freed the Jews of the Nazi hate crimes against them. The concentration camps were a way to abolish the Jews in Germany, when the allied troops came across them and realized what the Germans had been doing, it was obvious they needed to be freed. The liberation of concentration camps led to the Nuremberg trials which charged Nazi leaders with hate crimes and war crimes against the Jews. -
The Potsdam declaration was an ultimatum sent by the United States, Great Britain and China for Japan to fully surrender. The Potsdam Declaration was issued because Japan had been ruthless and they would rather die than surrender, they were constantly attacking and causing havoc to the countries. This eventually lead to the atomic bombs being dropped on Japan which forced them to surrender.