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The Raping of Nanking (Picture source:https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/18/japan-hotel-chain-under-fire-over-denial-of-rape-of-nanking/)
Nanking happened when the capital of china(Nanking) fell to Japanese forces during the Sino-Japanese war. After they won the city they destroyed the city by burning it next they went after its citizens. They brutally butchered about 150 000 war prisoners, 50 000 citizens, and raped at least 20 000 women and girls killing or mutilating them in the process. the city took decades to recover, so in it's place Bejing became the capital of China. https://www.history.com/topics/japan/nanjing-massacre -
German Blitzkrieg (Picture source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/blitzkrieg)
German Blitzkrieg, which is translated to lightning war is a strike at enemies using mobile forces, such as tanks and air support. Using this method Germany took down Poland, Norway, Belgium, Holland and France very quickly. They figured this was a smarter way to fight a war rather than trench warfare like in WW1. Between Blitzkrieg and ground attacks the Germans could collect allied land much faster and easier than previously.
source: (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg) -
The fall of Paris (Picture source: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-France-World-War-II/The-fall-of-France-June-5-25-1940)
Between Paris's poor military and political guidance it only took 46 days for them to collapse. Initially Britain and France looked like a solid match to take on Germany but they didn't take into account Frances poor leadership. French tactics were very outdated not recognizing how far Germany had come and the willingness they had to win. Germany would have power over France for the next four years making them follow his beliefs. https://dailyhistory.org/Why_was_France_defeated_in_1940%3F -
Pearl Harbor (picture source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/children-pearl-harbor-180961290/)
Pearl harbor was between America and Japan, the Japanese were headed over not knowing who they were going to fight at first. After the great depression hit Japan hard they had to prove they still had a strong military. within 2 hours Japan had destroyed 323 american planes, 19 ships, and 2403 were dead. this lead to the next 24 hours having Japan invading Hong Kong,Philippines, Malaysia. This really encouraged the United States to keep fighting.
Source: Greatest events of World War 2 in colour. -
the Wannsee conference (picture source: https://twitter.com/roger_moorhouse/status/822359110310051840)
The Wannsee conference was held to discuss the total destruction of all European Jews. The Nazi officials were aware of Hitlers plans with the Jews but didn't appose. approximately 11 000 000 Jews were to be put under "appropriate supervision". Jews were taken to work and Heydrich said in a speech, that without a doubt a large number would be lost, any people who survive will be dealt with"appropriately". https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/wannsee-conference-and-the-final-solution -
The Bataan Death march (picture source: https://allthatsinteresting.com/bataan-death-march#5)
About 76 000 prisoners of war were forced into the march for at least 5 days by the Japanese army. The prisoners were shot, beaten, bayoneted, and beheaded. Between the number that died during the march then the number of prisoners who died in camp O'Donnell the death count is unknown. Including the march and the time spent in the camp the prisoners spent all the way from April until October suffering.
https:/www.britannica.com/event/Bataan-Death-March/The-march-and-imprisonment-at-Camp-ODonnell -
The Battle of Midway (Picture source: https://allthatsinteresting.com/bataan-death-march#5)
The battle was between America and Japan it is known as the turning point of the war in the Pacific. It started when the U.S. launched its attack on Japanese homelands. The Japanese retaliated by a surprise attack on the U.S.They saw it coming, So they turned the attack around on Japan. In the beginning it wasn't good for the Americans but soon their their luck turned around. More than 3000 Japanese and American Servicemen were killed within 1 day of battle.(source: the events of WW2 in colour) -
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Video source:https://www.facebook.com/IsraelMFA/videos/813830569009068/)
The Warsaw Ghetto was home to 400 000 Jews, the largest Ghetto in Poland. The Ghetto had terrible conditions and a major lack of supplies, so thousands of Jews died each month. The Ghetto was to be destroyed, so several hundred resistance fighters rose up and held off the Germans for almost a month. 7 000 Jews died in the uprising and the 50 000 who survived were sent to Nazi camps but the uprising killed several hundred Germans. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising -
D-day/The Battle of Normandy (picture source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2019/05-06/invasion-of-normandy-d-day/)
D-day is the largest invasion fleet in history it involved 12 000 warships, 4 000 landing crafts, and 16 000 troops. The war involved Britain, America, Canada, and France against the Germans. It started because the French wanted to take back Dieppe. Germans had advantage on the beaches, so the allies had make new tools to advance. The allies broke through after 7 weeks of battle. D-day had 1/2 a million Allied and Germany, deaths and 20 000 civilian French were killed.
(Events of WW2 in colour) -
The battle of the Bulge (picture source: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Bulge)
Battle of the Bulge was Hitlers last major offensive for on the Western front. The war involved the allies against the Germans, fighting in terrible conditions. Hitler had created his whole strategy around bad weather, which went well for them at first but then the skies cleared and everything turned around. Hitlers rage to continue the war was mainly fueled by the "vitamins" he was on, aka cocaine. Once the weather cleared the allies got to collect their victory.
(the events of WW2 in colour) -
The Liberation of Concentration camps (picture source: https://www.cufi.org.uk/spotlight/they-have-landed-how-d-day-led-to-the-liberation-of-the-concentration-camps/)
As the allies moved across Germany they discovered thousands of concentration camps. Majdanek was the first major concentration camp to be freed. The Germans had to become quicker at dismantling the camps, killing the people inside. When the Jews caught on that they were being saved some rose up. the Jews held off the Nazi's until the allies came. After liberation's of the camps the Nazi horrors were exposed to the world. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/liberation-of-nazi-camps -
The Battle of Iwo Jima (video source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xelUJtKsgWE)
The battle of was between the U.S. marines and the imperial army of Japan. The battle was fought on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima for 5 weeks claiming 21 000 Japanese lives and 7 000 U.S. marines. The Americans out numbered the Japanese 3 to 1 and the Japanese were running out of supplies. Even though the Americans declared they had won Iwo Jima they still had to fight off Japanese holdouts, who refused to surrender until 1949.
(https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima) -
Ve Day
Ve day means victory in Europe day. Britain and the U.S. were relieved that the fighting was over and that they won. They wore their countries colours and danced in the streets. Even though this marks the end of war in Europe it doesn't mark the end of WW2. Many soldiers were sent to fight Japan, because they had not yet surrendered. It wasn't all bad for Germany either, they were defeated but also freed form Hitlers reign of terror.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
The Dropping of the Atomic Bomb (picture source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki)
The atomic bomb was created by physicist named Oppenheimer. The bomb was dropped on Japanese city Hiroshima. The bombing collected approximately 66000 deaths and left 69000 injured. The bomb was dropped because it was the Americans last hope to beat the Japanese. The Japanese wouldn't give in, they were ruthless fighters who would never give in. Oppenheimer was haunted for the rest of his life, knowing it killed so many people and that it would kill again in the future. (Events of WW2 in colour) -
VJ Day
VJ day stands for victory over Japan, it happened when Japan had finally surrendered to the allies. This was the day the Americans had been hoping and waiting for since the Pearl Harbor attack. Just like on VE day, VJ day had celebrations because everyone was finally freed from fascism. The Japanese didn't really have a choice on whether to surrender after the atomic bombs were dropped. Japan didn't have the resources or power to keep fighting. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
