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Japanese invasion of China
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident sparked a full-blown conflict we know as the Second Sino-Japanese War. Under the terms of the Sian Agreement, the Chinese Nationalists and the CCP now agreed to fight side by side against Japan. -
Rape of Nanking
Japanese troops massacurred an estimated 300,000 civilians and raped approx. 80,000 women. Tens of thousands of Chinese were killed in the indiscriminate bombing of cities by Japans air force. -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
Just before the start of World War II (1939-45), Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, agreeing to not take military action against one another for ten years. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
At 4:45 am on Sept. 1,1939, 1.5 million German troops invaded Poland all along its border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
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WORLD WAR TWO
Sometimes called the bloodiest war in history, the Second World War was the cause of about 50-85 million deaths both military and civilian. It was sparked by the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and did not conclude until almost six years later in 1945 when the Allies defeated the Nazis and the Japanese in their attempt at world domination. -
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German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkreig (lightening warfare) was designed to detroy the enemy in one short, powerful blow and thus limiting the number troops and artillery germany would lose. -
Fall of Paris
Parisians awaken to the sound of a german voice telling them cerfew would be at 8 pm. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese fighter planes attack the American naval fleet in pearl harbor to secure the pacific ocean as their own. Caught completely unaware, most men still slepping soundly, Pearl harbor was obliterated. At this point in time, the united states finally enter the war. -
Bataan Death March
75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make the strenous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by their Japanese wardens. -
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Battle of Midway
Just six months after the brutal suprise attack on Pearl Habor, the United States defeated Japan in perhaps one of the most decisive naval battles in the whole of the war. This was instrumental in moving the allies into an offenseive postion in the war to take Tokyo. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
This battle stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million. -
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Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto uprosong was when residents of a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. -
Operation Gomorrah
The British and the Americans team up to blitz the German city of Hamburg. The British would bomb by night and the Americans by day. -
Italy surrenders to the Allies
With Mussolini gone and the fascist governments collapse in July, Gen. Pietro Badoglio (who had assumed power in Mussolini’s stead) began negotiating with Gen. Eisenhower. Weeks later, Badoglio finally approved a conditional surrender, allowing the Allies to land in southern Italy and begin pushing German forces up the penninsula. -
D-Day/Normandy invasion
The largest amphibious attack in history is launched on western Europe to free it from the Germans control. Some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on the heavily fortified beaches of Normandy France that day. More than four thousand allied troops died in this battle with thousnds more missing or wounded. -
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Liberation of concentration camps
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Battle of the Bulge
December 1944, Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance. The Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name. -
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Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle of Iwo JIma was perhaps one of the more challenging to win. The japenese fought from an ellaborate tunnel system, had dugouts and bases, and underground intallations. However, despite the tough conditions, The American Marines managed to wipe out their defending forces in a month. -
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Battle of Okinawa
The last and biggest of the Pacific Island Battles, The battle of Okinawa involved 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. By the end, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties. -
VE Day
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Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
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Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
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VJ Day
The formal surrender ceremony of japan was held in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri.
