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Japan invades China
A chaotic situation in China provided excellent opportunities for Japanese expansion. It happened because Japan had a desire to be an imperial power. Most Chinese turned to nationalism.
http://apjjf.org/-Diana-Lary/3449/article.html -
Rape of Nanking
Episode of mass murder and rape committed by Japanese troops during the Second Sino-Japanese War Took decades to recover
http://world.time.com/2012/12/13/the-nanjing-massacre-scenes-from-a-hideous-slaughter-75-years-ago/ -
The German invasion of Poland
Luftwaffe attacked Polish town. German troops opened fire. This happened because Hitler wanted to overturn the Treaty of Versailles.
https://www.roosevelt.nl/sites/zl-roosevelt/files/styles/image_inline_medium/public/german_invasion_350.jpg?itok=byrNK32f -
German Blitzkreig
Tactic used against Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia and Greece.
https://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/photo/lc/image/alpha/cd104.jpg -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. More than 2,000 Americans died in the attacks and another 1,000 were wounded.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Bataan Death March
March in Philippines of 66 miles that POWs were forced to endure in April 1942.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Bataan-Death-March -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Germans entered the ghetto to deport its inhabitants. Jewish underground organizations began creating an armed self-defense unit in response to this.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/gallery.php?ModuleId=10005188&MediaType=ph -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The Western Allies of World War II launched an attack on Normandy, France. A few months before, several U.S. soldiers and sailors were killed when Germans torpedoed a surprise landing. As a result, an Allied victory German army retreated towards Paris.
https://www.stratfor.com/image/allied-invasion-normandy -
Battle of the Bulge
This was an attempt by the Germans to push the Allied front line from France to Belgium. The German army was ruined as a result.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/117th_Infantry_North_Carolina_NG_at_St._Vith_1945.jpg -
Liberation of concentration camps
The Allies and the Soviets were given orders to release the prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. Many former prisoners were afraid to return to their normal lives.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/117th_Infantry_North_Carolina_NG_at_St._Vith_1945.jpg -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Americans launched an invasion of the Japanese island known as Iwo Jima. The Japanese were defeated by the Americans after only a month.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/37mm_Gun_fires_against_cave_positions_at_Iwo_Jima.jpg/295px-37mm_Gun_fires_against_cave_positions_at_Iwo_Jima.jpg -
Battle of Okinawa
Americans invaded Okinawa and engaged the Japanese in the bloodiest battle of the war. The Allies ended up winning the battle, but Okinawa is still Japanese territory.
http://battleofokinawatuhs.weebly.com/ -
VE Day
The defeat of the Nazi war machine occurred on this day. The leader of the Nazis committed suicide a month before. The Germans ended up surrendering and a majority of them were taken prisoner by the Russians.
http://i.infopls.com/images/mirrorveday.gif -
Dropping of the atomic bomb
An American bomber by the name of Enola Gay dropped a 10,000 lb. bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. 80 thousand citizens were killed in the blast while another tens of thousands died from radiation poisoning and injuries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki -
VJ Day
The country of Japan surrendered aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. Pres. Harry Truman announced the news at a press conference. Immediately, Americans began to celebrate.
http://time.com/3517476/v-j-day-1945-a-nation-lets-loose/
