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Japanese Invasion of China
Also known as the second Sino-Japanese war, was a huge battle between the Republic of China and Empire of Japan during World War II and prior. This conflict started from a disagreement over ownership from Chinese mainland and other reasons. On and off fighting between them 6 years before. Full on war in 1937. After the Japenese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Invasion of China merged into full scale war. -
Rape of Nanking
Late 1937, Imperial Japan Army brutally forces thousands of people, both soldiers and civilians in the Chinese city of Nanking, where people were slaughtered and killed, while women were beaten and raped. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Poland was invaded by Germany in 1939, a short time after his rise to power, invaded because Hitler claimed it was a defense action, but more or less a huge invasion. German troops by the million marched into the 1,750 mile border while the Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. This was the start. -
German Blitzkrieg
The German Blitzkrieg, a word for a swift fast military war campaign was first tested in the invasion of Poland,before successfully using the strategy with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. Hitler used this tactic for swiftness and had successful outcomes -
Operation Barbarossa
A large invasion from Germany onto the Soviet Union, winning this battle would prove a large point in Germany's favor, which is why Hitler launched the operation. However, the three army groups with over 3 mil German soldiers, 150 divisions, and 3k tanks hit the frontier into Soviet territory, but the Soviet Union came out victorious. This was a crucial turning point in the war, for if it was won by Hitler the Nazi army would not have went against the 2 war front that put them out. -
Pearl Harbor
As a way to disable/prevent American Naval power interference, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor by Honolulu, Hawaii. The outcome was devastating, only lasting two hours. More than 2000 American soldiers and sailors died, 20 naval ships destroyed and 300 planes ruined. This caused the United States to declare war on Japan the very next day. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The main reason the Battle of Stalingrad happened was to secure the oil fields in the Caucasus region and to do this, German orders by Hitler to take Stalingrad. the successful Soviet defense of Stalingrad. Considered to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict, It stopped German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning point of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with more than 2 mil casualties. -
Bataan Death March
A forced march to a prison camp near Cabanatuan, within 6 days American and Filipino POWs forced to march 85 miles on the Bataan peninsula. The combined 75k troops Filipino and American were forced to surrender on April 7th. The next day, the Bataan Death March had started. Those who survived to reach the Japanese prison camp near Cabanatuan were not likely to see the celebration and liberation of Luzon in 1945 under U.S. General Douglas MacArthur -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Known as the largest single Jewish Revolt during WW II, Jewish resistance that rose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II, happened because of the Jews effort to stop the final transfer the last of the Ghetto population to Treblinka, an extermination camp. When the Ghetto refused to surrender to a German SS office who then ordered the burning of the Ghetto, every block, ending May 16th. A total of 13,000 Jews died, about half of them burnt alive or suffocated. -
Operation Gomorrah
Operation Gomorrah was an air attack on the German city of Hamburg, Germany by the British Royal air force, and American air force. Britain decided this mission after they had the deaths of 167 civilians as a result of German bombing raids in July. Frequent and consistent bombings destroyed most of the city, destroying 280k buildings and killing more 1,500 German civilians. -
Allied Invasion of Italy
September 1943, the Allied troops start their invasion from water landing into the mainland of Italy. They encountered little resistance from "demoralized Sicilian troops" as the Allies begin their invasion of axis controlled Europe. -
Normandy Invasion (DDAY)
The Normandy invasion, better known as D-Day, went from June 1944 to August 1944, happened because the Allies liberated Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. 156,000 American, Canadian and British troops landed on the five beaches along a 50-mile haul of the heavily guarded coast of France's Normandy region. Over 200.000 Allied American deaths occurred. Almost half a million troops all together deceased. -
Battle of the Bulge
The last push of the Nazi offensive campaign, started through the forest of the Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France. An attempt to push the Allies front lines west from northern France to northwest Belgium. Surprise attacks on the allies caught them off guard, and suffered their highest casualties of any mission during the war. However the battle also severely drained Germany's armoured forces on the West Front, and they were unable to replace them. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Being first saved by the Soviet Union, in July,1944, the Soviets entered the camp of Majdanek in Poland, and later overcame other killing camps. Other allied forces saved Jews from the camps. On January 27, 1945, they entered Auschwitz, the most infamous and biggest camp, and there found hundreds malnourished prisoners. Germans had been forced to leave these prisoners behind in their fall from the camp. Leaving behind countless articles of clothing, and some other death camps were destroyed. -
Operation Thuderclap
A code name operation for an ally attack on the Nazis but was never implemented into the war because of belief it wouldn't work. The main purpose was to lauch a massive attack in Berlin in the belief that would kill 220,000 casualties with 110,000 killed, many of them key German personnel, which put down German morale. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
One of the last few battles in the American campaign, the battle of Iwo Jima, one of the most bloodiest battles in history. In fact, it was the only major battle in the Pacific War in which the U.S. Marines suffered greater casualties than they inflicted on the Japanese defenders. Iwo Jima happened because of the Americans interest on the two landing strips for their B-29 Bombers. The Japanese were heavily fortified but the Americans had extensive naval and ground support that won the battle. -
Battle of Okinawa
A fierce last battle of the Allied campaign, the battle of Okinawa was started because the US wanted a base close enough to the Japanese Main Islands to allow for effective bombardment of the main islands and as a base for the eventual invasion of the Japanese Main Islands. Resulting in the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 casualties for the Allies, American forces saw that Japan would not surrender to the US, making it an easy decision to drop the bomb -
VE Day
Victory in Europe day, was the holiday celebrated on May 8, 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's surrender of its military. It formally marked the end of World War II in Europe. -
Atomic Bomb Drops
During the final stage of World War II, The U.S dropped nukes on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th, 1945. this being the only use of nuclear weapons for war in history, killed at least 129,000 people in both cities. The United States thought this to be the only way to end the war. Sure enough, Japan made public its surrender to the Allies on August 15, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki. Today people still question the use of the bombs. -
VJ Day
VJ day, (victory over japan day) was the day Japan formally surrendered to the allies, one month after the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending WW II.
