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Japanese invasion of China
Japan invaded because they were in need of natural resources. They saw that at the time China was divided and decided to invade and conquer a chunk of the divided nation. They renamed it Manchukuo and held onto it until the USSR was given it as part of the Treaty of Paris (1947). Ultimately the USSR gave it back to the Chinese. -
Germany's invasion of poland
Using the war tactic of Blitzkrieg, Germany surrounded Poland along it's 1,750 mile border to German territory and started to invade, while at the same time German warships and U-ships fought Polish naval forces in the Baltic sea. Hitler claimed this was for defensive reasons, Britain and France didn't believe him and declared war two days later. -
Fall of Paris
Germany invades Paris on May 10, 1940. Germany used Blitzkrieg and France fell in a matter of weeks. Operation dynamo was put into effect evacuating troops from france. Invasion ended on June 25, 1940 Germany took control of Paris. America freezes their material aid to Germany -
Operation Barbarossa
Code name for the Nazi Invasion of Soviet Union. Launched June 22,1941 Hitler sent in three armies (three million soldiers total), 150 division, and over 3,000 tanks into the Soviet Union. By doing this Hitler broke their anti-aggression pact they had with the Soviet Union. The Operation failed and was a major turning point in WW2 forcing Germany to fight a two-front warfare against countries with more resources. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan decides to send a few hundred planes to bomb Pearl Harbor, mostly due to rising tensions between the US and Japan about Japanese expansion into China. Lasted two hours and the Japanese destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels and more than 300+ planes. more than 2,000 dead and another 1,000 wounded. We declare war the next day. Germany and Italy declare war on the US three days after the US declares war. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after Pearl Harbor, The US participates in one of the most decisive naval battles with Japan. This allied victory was due to advances in code breaking, where the US managed to intercept and counter Japanese plans to ambush their few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting crippling damage on the Japanese naval forces. -
Battle of Stalingrad
As part of operation Barbarossa Germany invaded the Soviet Union. When Germany reached the city of Stalingrad they had met with Soviet resistance. They had fought until February 2nd of 1943 where Germany had to retreat. It is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest battles of WW2 because it represented the turning point where the war favored the Allied powers instead of the Axis powers. This battle was one of the bloodiest in history with over 2 million casualties. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
In response to the deportation that Hitler had forced on many people, people started to take up arms for self-protection. They ultimately failed, most got deported to concentration camps and killing centers. On April 19th 1943 resistance fighters fought back and lasted until May 16th of the same year, when German soldiers captured all the resistance members and deported them to concentration camps, while also reducing the German ghetto to ruin. -
Operation Gomorrah
British Bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, at night, while the US bomb it by day in the allies' own "Blitz week". Allies had minimal casualties due to new Radar Jamming tech named "Window" of which were aluminum strips that the bombers dropped that confused radars. These bombings had an effect both physically on Hamburg, and also on German morale. The bombings continued until November 1943 -
Allied invasion of Italy
The British 8th army crosses the strait of messina from Sicily, lands on the tip of the Italian peninsula and begins their invasion. On the day of the landing however the Italian Government surrenders. No public announcement was made until September 8th. -
D-Day (Normandy)
more than 160,000 allied troops landed on Normandy beach, about a 50 mile stretch that was heavily fortified by French forts and was occupied by German soldiers. The plan was to try to take France back from Germany. 5,000+ allied aircraft ships and 13,000 allied aircraft supported the d-day invasion. The Casualties were high, more than 9,000 casualties, but it allowed the allies a foothold into Continental Europe which helped the allies eventually win the war. -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler decided to send in 200,000+ soldiers and almost 1,000 tanks to the English channel in order to split the allied armies. They cut through the Ardennes forest in France where they intercepted 4 divisions of resting american soldiers. After a hard day of fighting the German army broke through the american front, Seizing key crossroads, and pushing to the Meuse river. lasted until the 25th of January 1945 -
Operation Thunderclap
A proposition in the allied command to bomb the eastern-most cities of Germany in order to disrupt the transport that was supporting what was becoming the eastern front. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
American invasion stemmed from the necessity of a base near the Japanese coast. US Marines were called in, along with air and naval support, to fight against roughly 23,000 Japanese army and naval troops. Of whom had many underground installations, tunnels, etc. US victory with 5,900 dead and over 17,000 wounded. -
Battle of Okinawa
The last and also the biggest of the pacific island battles in WW2. Involved the US 10th army, about 287,000, against 130,000 of the Japanese 32nd army. By the end Japan had lost 77,000+ soldiers, and the US had 65,000 casualties and 14,000 dead. Ended on June 22 1945 with allied victory. -
VE day
Victory in Europe day. Celebrated as a public holiday to mark the unconditional surrender of Germany in WW2 marking the end of WW2 -
Dropping of the Atomic bombs (Hiroshima)
The US dropped two Atomic bombs on Japan one on August 6, 1945 at Hiroshima, Death tolls were estimated 150,000 people -
Dropping of the atomic bomb (nagasaki)
The Us dropped a second atomic bomb, after Hiroshima, on August 9, 1945. Death tolls to be estimated be 50,000+ -
VJ day
VJ day was the public holiday celebrating the unconditional surrender of Japan in WW2. Was also celebrated on September 2, 1945 for the formal surrender of Japan.
