-
Japanese Invasion of China
Japan invades Manchuria.
Thev league did nothing.
An explosion on a section of the South Manchuria railroad, gave the army the excuse it needed to blame the local population of sabatoge and to occupy the nearest Manchurian town of Shenyang.
http://www.history.com/ -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Germany invaded along it's 1,750 mile border and bombed Polish airfields. U-boats attacked Polish navy.
Hitler wanted Lebensraum, or "living space".
Staged a phony attack. First move of WW2.
http://www.history.com/ -
German Blitzfrieg
Used on Poland. Means "lightning war" and was designed to create disorganizeation amoung enemy forces. Caused the defeat of many battles and took the French and Polish forces by surprise.
http://www.history.com/ -
Fall of Paris
Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening-as German troops enter and occupy Paris.
http://www.history.com/ -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler launches a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. Marks the crucial turning point in WW2. Forced Germany to fight a two-front war against superior resources. Hitler wanted the be able to expand.
http://www.history.com/ -
Pearl Harbor
Just before 8 a.m. hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base. Lasted two hours but was massively devastating. Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American nabal vessels, including eight enormous battleships and almost 200 airplanes. U.S. decalred war on Japan. Attack was inteded to neutralize American Pacific fleet.
http://www.history.com/ -
Wannsee Conference
Reinhard Heydrich (Himmlers 2nd) convened the conference in Berlin with the top 15 Nazi bureaucrats to coordinate the final solution. Killing the entire Jewish population in Europe.
www.historyplace.com -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad in the U.S.S.R. during World War II. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It 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.
www.history.com -
Kasserine Pass
German Gerneral Erwin Rommel launcche an offersive against Allied forces in Tunisia, North Africa. This was the site of the United States first major battle defeat of the war.
http://www.history.com/ -
Operation Gomorrah
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany. Used to fight against German forces. More than 1,500 German civlians were killed in the first raid.
http://www.history.com/ -
Allied Invasion of Italy
The British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery begins the Allied invasion of the Italian peninsula, crossing the Strait of Messina from Sicily and landing at Calabria–the “toe” of Italy. On the day of the landing, the Italian government secretly agreed to the Allies’ terms for surrender, but no public announcement was made until September 8.
www.history.com -
Liberation of concentration camps
Soviet forces were the first to approach a major Nazi camp, reaching Majdanek near Lublin, Poland, in July 1944. Surprised by the rapid Soviet advance, the Germans attempted to hide the evidence of mass murder by demolishing the camp. Camp staff set fire to the large crematorium used to burn bodies of murdered prisoners, but in the hasty evacuation the gas chambers were left stannding.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131 -
D-Day
156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France's Normandy region. Led to the liberation of northern France; called the beginning to the end of World War 2.
http://www.history.com/ -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler attempted to split the Alllied forces by a surprise attack through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Lieutenan Gerneral George S. Patton had his army take on the look of a large bulge to fight off the Germans.
http://www.history.com/ -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. Defended by roughly 23,000 army and navy troops against three divisions of marines. Marines wiped out the Japanese after a month of fighting.
http://www.history.com/ -
Battle of Okinawa
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of WW2. 287,00 troops of the U.S. Tenth army against 130,00 soldieres of the Japanese Thirty-second army. Would lose a key airbase in the protection of Japan. Japan lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies suffered more than 65,000 casualties with 14,000 dead.
http://www.history.com/ -
VE Day
Spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms. Germans were being defeatede all across Europe.
http://www.history.com/ -
Potsdam Declaration
The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender is a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II.
www.history.com -
Dropping of atomic bombs
Americfan B-29 bomber dropped the world's first deplyed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hirshima. Woped out 90 percent of the city and immediatly killed 80,000 people. Three days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing an estimatede 40,000 people. Japan surrenders.
http://www.history.com/ -
