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Invasion of China by Japan
An incident at the Marco Polo bridge that led to the invasion and later take over of many cities. This invasion led to the Sino-Japanese war. This agression led to the later necessary feel that made the United States stop Japan. This would later lead to The Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor dragging the US into the World War. The invasion and later war occured because of running tension between China and major contraversy occuring in the country at the time. -
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World War 2 - time line
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Rape of Nanking
In December of 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army marched into China's capital city of Nanking and proceeded to murder 300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers in the city. The six weeks of carnage would become known as the Rape of Nanking and represented the single worst atrocity during the World War II era in either the European or Pacific theaters of war. -
Germany Invades Poland
1,500,000 german troops invaded the 1,750 mile long border of Poland. While invading on ground they bombed Poland with the Luftwaffe. Adolf Hitler declared this as a defensive action but Britain and France were not convinced and declared war on Germany. This was the start of World War 2 and was also the start of the conquering of most of Europe. This invasion occured because Hitler wanted residential space for the "superior" German population. -
German Blitzerkrieg
The Blitzerkrieg is German for Lightning war. A military tactic that disrupts the enemies forces through concentrated power and mobile units. This was employed in many of the invasions that occured between september 1939 and april 1940. The many countries that were invaded included Poland, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, France, Greece, The Netherlands, and Luxemburg. This brought Most of central and Northern Europe into Germany's hands furthering the war and The Allies drive to end his conquest. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler inacted an invasion eastward into the soviet union. He used three great army groups of 3 million and 150 divisions.The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea, a distance of two thousand miles. It's failure turned the tides of the war towards the allies. Because of it's failure, it forced them to fight two fronts. It occured because of the arogance of the German army and the underestimation of Russia. This of course ultimately weakend Germany and led to there demise. -
Pearl Hrabor
Pearl Harbor was attacked before 8 am and was attacked by hundreds of japanese planes. This killed over 2,000 american soldiers and sailors, while another 1000 were injured. The Japanese also destroyed 20 naval vessels and more than 300 airplanes. This attack was what brought america out of it's isolation and into the war. Repeating the same actions of WW1 they were brought into a bloody war after american blood was spilled. This incident occured becasuse of rising conflicts with Japan. -
Wannsee Conference
A conference held by 15 high ranking german officers and led by Adolf Hitler. The Conference was held to discuss the anti-jew policies. A man known as Hermann Göring, the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe and the designated second in command in the National Socialist hierarchy was the head of the anti-Jew policies. He declared the final solution. He would round up all the Jews and send them to labor camps in the east. The living conditions would be harsh and the survivors would be killed. -
Bataan Death March
After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II (1939-45), the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers faced a five day walk and were usually starved and beaten to death. Those who were too weak to march were bayonetted. Thousands of troops died from this march and a memorial was set up for those individuals. -
Warsaw ghetto uprising
Several hundred resistance fighters, armed with a small cache of weapons, managed to fight the Germans, who far outnumbered them in terms of manpower and weapons, for nearly a month. However, during that time, the Germans systematically razed the ghetto buildings, block by block, destroying the bunkers were many residents had been hiding. In the process, the Germans killed or captured thousands of Jews. By May 16, the ghetto was firmly under Nazi control. But this uprising inspired many others. -
Opperation Gomorrah
The British retaliated from previous bombings done by the Germans by bombing Hamburg, Germany. They unleashed 2,300 tons of incedinary bombs and killed over a 1000 civilians. Germany was attacked shortly after again by the US and bombed northern Germany and Hamburg again. This devestated Germany and dropped overall morale. Another succesful attack on germany weakening it even more. They attacked germany in a fasion where US attacked in the morning and Britian at night. -
Normandy Invasion
The invasion was the largest sea, air and land based opperation before and since it. There was 5,000 navel vessels, 11,000 airplanes, and 150,000 troops. They were trained to do one thing the boat ramp goes down, then jump, swim, run, and crawl to the cliffs. They had 200 yards to cross and the only thing that kept them going was their valor and pride. They pushed and sacraficed but in the end they took the beaches of Normandy and succesfully completed there opperation. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation thunderclap -proposal was to bomb the eastern-most cities of Germany to disrupt the transport infrastructure behind what was becoming the Eastern front. Also to demonstrate to the German population, in even more devastating fashion, that the air defences of Germany were now of little substance and that the Nazi regime had failed them. In total 796 Lancasters took part in the two raids on the night of the 13th/14th, only 6 aircraft were lost. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The US wanted to take the strategic area of Iwo Jima, to have a base near Japan. 23,000 japanese troops gaurded the area, the amphibous troop that invaded loast many men. The whole garison was wiped out except for 1,083 prisoners. The Americans had 5,900 dead and 17,400 wounded. The Japanese fought in tunnels and other things. -
VE Day
The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms. The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender. -
Fall of Paris
When germany invaded the first thing the french citizens heard were a german accented voice over a loud speaker declaring a curfew. This was the start of german occupation of Paris. Before the tanks could roll in Parisians fled. Arround 2 million citizens fled Paris to escape the Germans. France asked the US for military aid but they could not give. However they did freeze american assets of the Axis powers. -
Battle of Okinawaw
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign (April 1—June 22, 1945) involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. the japanes changed tactis making the battle a long and defensive one on there part. Using suicide bombing and deep defensive lines they guarded Okinawa well but both generals died and there were countless losses. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, many historians argue that it also ignited the Cold War. This occured after several years of research and testing. Einstein was a major contibutor and without his work they would not have been made. -
Postam Decleration
A proclamation calling for the surrender of Japan in WW2. The proclamation was created by the Leaders of The US, Great Britain, and China. The proclamation was accepted after the Bombing of Nagasaki. After Japan accepted the decleration the war had ended. -
VJ day
It was the final day of the war and marked the surrender of Japan. When news was heard it was celebrated across the globe. Finally the long and bloody war would end. It ended with the bombing of Japan on Hiroshima and Nagizaki. This was the only case of a country using nuclear capabilities in the war. -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler decided to split the allied forces in the north west with a Blitzkrieg. He would thrust this tactic through Ardennes and Antwerp. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads. The Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name. Allied moved their trrops to bastone. And then Germans attack and allies have 100,000 casualties and that was the most costly battle.
