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Japanese invasion of China (1937)
It was the largest Asian war in the twentieth century. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, full-scale war started in earnest in 1937. The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily to secure its vast raw material reserves and other resources. It ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945. -
Rape of Nanking (1937)
The Japanese invaded Nanking, capital of China. The city known as the "Rape of Nanking." Japanese butchered 150,000 male "war prisoners," massacred 50,000 male civilians, and raped 20,000 women and girls of all ages. Death tolls range from 200,000-300,000 people. Nanking was left in ruins; it would take decades for the city and its citizens to recover. The true nature of the massacre has been disputed. Some claim the death tolls have been inflated; others have denied that any massacre occurred. -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact (1939)
Also known as: German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Germany signed a pact with the Soviet Union to prevent military conflict among either country. The Soviet Union saw the pact as a term in which Stalin could build up his military, while staying on peaceful terms with Germany. Germany used the pact as a way to invade Poland with no opposition. The pact eventually fell apart when Germany began invading the Soviet Union in June 1941. -
German Blitzkrieg (1939-1940)
The German air force dropped bombs over Poland's military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. German tanks spread terror and confusion at the same time, using Germany's military strategy, the blitzkrieg or "lightning war." The blitzkrieg takes the enemy by surprise and quickly crushes them with overwhelming force. -
Germany's invasion of Poland (1939)
German forces bombarded Poland on land and from the air; Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and rule Poland. WWII had begun. The German invasion of Poland used the "blitzkrieg" strategy. Within one day of the German invasion of Poland, Hitler was already setting up SS "Death's Head" regiments to terrorize the populace. Polish forces were severely under-equipped and no match for modern mechanized German forces. Great Britain would respond with bombing raids over Germany three days later. -
Fall of Paris (1940)
By the time German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million Parisians had already fled. The German Gestapo went to work with arrests, interrogations, and spying. Hitler wanted to take over France so he could get on to the Soviet Union. Parisians remained trapped in their capital in despair. President Roosevelt froze the American assets of the Axis powers, Germany and Italy. -
Operation Barbarossa (1941)
The Germans invaded the Soviet Union because Adolph Hitler was determined to enslave the Slavic population and exterminate the Jews. Soviet counterattacks were slowing the Germans advances. Winter weather set in that the Germans were not prepared for. The Germans had to retreat. Barbarossa had failed, and Nazi Germany confronted a two-front war that it could not win. -
Pearl Harbor (1941)
Japan made a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. Japan thought this would make the U.S. lift their sanctions, that were placed against Japan, to try to make Japan stop expansion into China. Instead, the U.S. declared war on Japan. America joined World War II. -
Wannsee Conference (1942)
This was a conference for discussion about possibilities to the "Final Solution of the Jewish question." Numerous proposals were made, such as: deportations, mass sterilization, and concentration camps. Many officials met with Nazi ministries and organizations to discuss the elimination of the Jewish people. It was only months later, that gas chambers began killing 1,000 people a day, which proved success and efficient for a solution. -
Bataan Death March (1942)
Japan invaded the Philippines, capturing the capital, Manila, forcing the U.S.-Filipino army to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula, for three months, with no naval and air support, before surrendering due to starvation and disease. 75,000 U.S.-Fiiipino troops were forced on a 65-mile march to prison camps. In intense heat, Japanese brutality, and one meal of rice, thousands died in the Bataan Death March. In February 1945, U.S.-Filipino forces recaptured Bataan; Manila was liberated in early March. -
Battle of Midway (1942)
After Pearl Harbor, Japan wanted to sink the remaining American aircraft carriers. They wanted to draw out the American fleet so they could crush them on Midway Island. Instead, the Americans solved the Japanese fleet codes and headed off the Japanese ambush, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. This was one of the most decisive naval battles of WWII and an important turning point in the Pacific War. The victory allowed the U.S. and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943)
When the Germans invaded Poland, 400,000 Jews in Warsaw (the capital) were confined to a one square mile ghetto sealed off by brick walls, starvation, and disease. Jews revolted against deportation to extermination camps. Germans destroyed the ghetto buildings and bunkers. By May 16, the ghetto was under Nazi control. 7,000 Jews died in the uprising and a few hundred Germans. The Warsaw ghetto uprising inspired revolts in extermination camps and ghettos throughout German-occupied Eastern Europe. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion - 1944)
D-Day is the day the Allied powers crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, beginning the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control during WWII. The largest military operation in history, 155,000 Allied troops-Americans, British and Canadians-had successfully stormed Normandy's beaches. D-Day was a decided success. By the end of June, the Allies had 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles in Normandy and were ready to continue their march across Europe. -
Battle of the Bulge (1944)
Adolph Hitler tried to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by a surprise blitzkrieg of 250,000 troops through the Ardennes to Antwerp. As the Germans attempted to secure vital bridgeheads in the Ardennes, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, the battle's name. German fuel shortage and American troops fighting in the frozen forests proved fatal to Hitler's ambition. This was the costliest action ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties. -
Liberation of concentration camps (1945)
Allied troops moved across Europe against Nazi Germany and encountered tens of thousands of concentration camp prisoners suffering from starvation and disease. The Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the largest killing center and concentration camp. There was abundant evidence of mass murder in Auschwitz, where piles of corpses lay unburied, exposing Nazi horrors to the world. The camps had to be burned down to prevent the spread of epidemics. Survivors faced a long and difficult road to recovery. -
Battle of Iwo Jima (1945)
The Americans invaded Iwo Jima during WWII because they needed a base near the Japanese coast. Following air and naval bombardment, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the Island. Iwo Jima was defended by 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought from dugouts and tunnels. In difficult conditions, the marines wiped out defending forces after a month of fighting. The battle earned a place in American lore with the publication of a photograph showing the U.S. flag being raised in victory. -
Battle of Okinawa (1945)
This was the last major battle of the Pacific War; it was the bloodiest. Allied foces invaded the Island for air bases that they needed to invade Japan. The Japanese changed their defense strategy to gain time and used one-way "suicide" missions to conserve their energy. There were over 100,000 Island civilian casualties and over 77,000 soldiers. The allies suffered over 65,000 casualties. The commanding generals on both sides died in this battle. The allies won the battle and occupied Okinawa. -
V-E Day (1945)
On this day, the German troops throughout Europe surrendered in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany. The Russians took approximately two million prisoners just before and after the German surrender. Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back to Great Britain. On April 8, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate "Victory in Europe Day," rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs (1945)
After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war. By 1945, the Allies consistently bombarded Japan from air and sea. The Japanese government in Tokyo refused to surrender, and on August 6, the American B-29 plane, Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, killing more than 70,000 people and destroying 5-square-miles. Three days later, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing another 40,000. The following day, the Emperor urged his people to surrender. -
V-J Day (1945)
On this day, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, August 14 has been known as "Victory over Japan Day," or simply "V-J Day." The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan's formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Coming several months after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan's surrender in the Pacific brought six years of hostilities to a final close.
