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Japanese invasion of China
This war started when the Japanese stated that they were attacked by the chinese at Marco Polo Bridge close to Beijing. They used this as an excuse to launch a full scale war on China. They used the already conquered Manchuria as a base to launch troops to China. Within 5 months, they placed one million chinese under total Japanese control. Since the land didn't have much strategic importance, the Japanese ceased to further expand into China. The war resulted in 4 million Chinese deaths. -
Molotov Pact
The world was shocked to see the Soviet union sign the pact since they had such a Rivalry with Germany. The pact stated the the two countries would not take any military action against each other for the next ten years. Both leaders walked away satisfied because Stalin could have time to expand his Red Army and maintaining peace and Hitler would be using the pact to be able to invade poland with no trouble from the soviets. The pact was broken on June 1941 when Germany attacked the Soviet Union. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Since Hitler didn't have a valid reason to attack Poland, he conducted an attack against himself claiming that it was the Polish. Using this as an excuse, he almost immediatly started attacking and bombarding Poland. He used his Luftwaffe to do Blitzkrieg and devestate the Polish. The Polish did react by sending 1 million men but insted of staying back and defending, they attacked which led to an even greater loss. This attack on Poland resulted the British to Bomb Germany three days later. -
German Blitzkrieg
Using the Luftwaffe to perform Blitzkrieg devastated many contries. Germany invaded Denmark on April 9, 1940 as a result of a quick one day attack using Blitzkrieg techniques. On the same day, the Germans moved up on Norway and started Bombarding them with Blitzkrieg and deploying troops to further devestate them. The Germans took over several countries in a series of Blitzkrieg attacks on Holland, Belgium, Luxemborg and France which was the first major step towards the beginning of World War 2. -
Fall of Paris
Jun 14, 1940 was the day that the relentless efforts of the Nazi's to defeat France had become reality. Paris had fallen and it was under the control of Hitler. France had surrendered even though Churchill had strongly recommended that they do not surrender and that the United States would soon enter the war and help the French. Unfortunately Paul Reynaud was not able to keep fighting since the U.S could not offer much help and allowed the Nazi flag to fly over France. -
Operation Barbarossa
June 22,1941. Hitler launches a titanic 3 million soldier attack on the Soviet Union in an attempt to invade them. This was the biggest mistake that Hitler would make. The German army went deep into Soviet territory surpassing 2/3 of the way to Moscow and Leningrad. Soviet soldiers resisted and further delayed German advance until winter time came. Without any supply drops or proper clothes, the unforgiving winter and the Red army forced the Germans to retreat. This had a great effect on WW2. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941 the Japanse launched a massive surprise attack against the United States by attacking Pearl Harbor near Honolulu. The Japanese used hundreds of fighter planes to destroy almost 20 naval vessels, 8 massive battleships, 200 planes and they also killed more than 2000 American soldiers along with over 1000 wounded. The united states responded by declaring war on Japan. It was this even that led to the joining of the United States in World War 2 -
Wannsee Conference
15 high ranking Nazi's and some German government officials gather at a villa in Wannsee in January 20 to discuss "The final solution to the Jewish Problem". This "Final Solution" was an attempt to completely erase the Jewish population from Europe by mass murder or any other means necessary. The Germans used the 11 million Jewish population for slave labor in order to build German factories and roads or to slaugher them by the masses. This made the other countries grow more furious a Germany. -
Bataan Death March
The U.S surrendered to Japanese forces on the Baaan Peninsula. As a result, 75,000 Filipino and American soldiers were forced to march 65 miles back to the prison camps and in the harsh heat. The soldiers were also poorly treated and often beaten and starved to death along the way. The march became known as he Bataan death march. The soldiers were divided into groups of 100 where they could be easily monitored. The torturous march took about 5 days to complete. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after Pearl Harbor was attacked, the U.S launched an attack on Japan which ened up as a victory to the U.S. This attack, counter attacked the Japanese' attempt to destroy the remaining aircraft carriers and ships. This counter attack inflicted a permanant damage on the Japanese Navy. This victory made it possible for allies to move into an offensive position. The Japanese' plan to attack was figured out before hand which was a result of decoding Japanese fleet codes. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The battle of Stanlingrad was know as one of the greatest battles in the patriotic war for the Soviet but for the worlds it was seen as the bloodiest battle which produced a combined 2 million civilian and military deaths. The battle further restricted the advancing of the Nazis further into Stalingrad. The soviets surrounded and eliminated the Germans crushing their morale and putting a big scar on the German army. It was the battle that turned the world war into the favor of the allied nations -
Operation Gomorrah
This operation was a response to Germany's bombing of Britain. By evening, 791 British bombers flew over Hamburgh dropping 2300 tons of incendiary bombs which was equivalnt to what the Luftwaffe had dropped on Britain. The U.S then led two more detailed bombings over Germany during daytime further crumpling the Germans. The attacks killed over 30,000 people and ruined some 280,000 buildings. Hitler did "Nazi" that coming. -
D-Day
Over 150,000 soldiers landed on Normandy by boats and airplanes. This was one of the most decisive battles of world war 2. Men came off the boats running towards the beach while trying to avoid heavy fire by German artillerary at higher ground. Many soldiers' lives were instantly lost but they somehow managed to keep progressing through the beach and eventually finiding cover and kept moving forward. Over time, with the help or reinforcements, the Allies took over Normandy and claim victory. -
Operation Thunderclap
It was a proposal by the Allies in order to bomb eastern German cities to ruin and tangle transportation and to also demonstrate to the people how their great country had failed them by allowing other countries to attack them and put their safety in jeopardy. The Allies primarily had their sights on Dresden since it hadn't recieved much bombing since it was so far east. To solve that problem, two raids occured one the 13th and 14th with 796 Lancasters were involved which devastated Dresden. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Attack on Iwo Jima was because of the need of a space for bombers to be stationed close to Japand and somewhere that B-29 bombers which were damaged in Japan could have a place to land without having to fly all the way back to the Marianas. It was defended only by 23,000 Japanese men and the U.S pierced this thing line of defence by dropping 22,000 bombs. Of the 23,000 Japanese, 1,083 were taken prisoners and the rest were wiped out. The U.S took over Iwo Jima in just less than a month. -
Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa was one of the Biggest of the Pacific Battles and the Last one. 287,000 American soldiers faced 130,000 Japanese soldiers. The air bases which gave an strategic advantage to the U.S were now at stake. The Japanese started using new tactics and also started deploying masses of air attacks which most of them were suicide bombers. The Japanse started launching surprise "Kamikaze" attacks which further surprised the U.S. Despite the surprise, the U.S gained a victory over 82 days. -
VE Day
May 8th was teh day that ended the war. The Nazi's finally surrendered to the Soviets and the Allies were already celebrating victory in europe day. Moscow celebrated on the 9th of may where Stalin personally got on radio and announced “The age-long struggle of the Slav nations… has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over.” Russians took over 2 million prisoners while the British got back 13,000 of their imprisoned men. It was a great day for the Allied nations. -
Dropping of atomic bombs
The United States was the first country to use the atomic bomb. The Germans had started investing their research into atomic warfare before the United States but they were defeated in war before they were able to put it to use. The atomic bomb had been tested in July 1945. On August 1945, Enola Gay dropped the first ever 5 ton atomic bomb over Hiroshima which instantly killed 80,000 and turned four square miles of city into dust. A second bomb was dropped 3 days later forcing Japan to surrender. -
VJ Day
August 14,1945. 8 days after the first atomic bomb had been dropped, Japan finally surrendered to the allies which ended world war 2. Later it became to be known as victory over Japan day. This was made possible by the atomic bomb. Even if the atomic bomb wasn't use, the chances of Japan's victory would be low to none but what the atomic bomb did was secure a quick victory and finally bring the bloodshed and destruction of World War 2 to an end. -
Battle of the Bulge
Over a quarter million German soldiers started their most desperate and deadly battle in the unforgiving Ardennes on December 16, 1945.The Germans caught the Allies by a surprise and kept progressing through the Ardennes. In an attempt to maintain safety of Bridgeheads, the Allied front line took a Bulging shape which would later name the war after itself, Battle of the Bulge. The Germans experienced a fuel and supply shortage and the Allies kept fighting which eventually led to Hitler's loss.
