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Rape of Nanking
During the Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese government abandoned Nanking and it fell to Japanese forces in December. To destroy the spirit of the Chinese resistance, Gen. Matsui ordered that the city be destroyed! Over a 6 week period, troops burned the city and launched a violent attack campaign against civilians; they killed an estimated 200,000+ people and raped 20,000+ women/children. It took decades for the city to recover and this event still characterizes Sino-Japanese relations even today. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
When this invasion officially started WWII, Hitler justified the action with Nazi propagandists accusing Poland of persecuting ethnic Germans living in the country. The Polish army lacked modern arms and equipment, so they didn't stand a chance. Britain and France stood by their guarantee of Poland's border and declared war on Germany 2 days later. The Soviet Union also invaded Poland from the east on September 17. Warsaw surrendered to the Germans on September 28. encyclopedia.ushmm.org -
German Blitzkrieg
The blitzkrieg, or lightning war, military tactic is characterized by extensive bombing early on to destroy the enemy’s infrastructure, railroads, communication lines, etc, followed by a huge land invasion with troops, tanks, and artillery. After the German forces advanced their way through, destroying anything in their path, infantry moved in and picked off any remaining resistance. The purpose of this was disorientation, to stop the enemy from reorganizing and counterattacking. history.com -
Fall of Paris
Following 6 months of "phony war" and the invasion of the Low Countries, German forces stormed into France on May 14th. With British and French troops rushing into Belgium, German forces were able to invade France through the Ardennes forest, bypassing the Maginot Line. Before France fell, thousands of soldiers were rescued off the beach of Dunkirk. After a month of fighting, the capital officially surrendered. Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium were also captured. www.britannica.com -
Battle of Britain
Becoming the first battle in history fought solely in the air, this conflict was between the Luftwaffe and the RAF. Hitler was planning a full-scale invasion (Operation Sea Lion) but knew he had to take out the RAF first. After the battle began, the RAF retaliated by bombing Berlin, which enraged Hitler and he ordered a bombing campaign (the Blitz) on Britain, hoping to destroy morale. Fortunately, the Luftwaffe was stretched too thin, and by October Hitler called off his invasion. History.com -
Pearl Harbor
Japan was trying to build an empire of its own but lacked the essential natural resources needed. When they occupied French Indochina in 1941, the U.S. retaliated and froze all Japanese assets in the states, preventing them from purchasing oil (they lost 94% of their oil supply). The Japanese refused to submit to U.S. demands and decided to take what they needed by force (they were trying to ensure the U.S. wouldn't intervene in their plans of launching a massive Japanese offensive in Asia). -
Pearl Harbor (pt. 2)
After months of preparation, the attack was launched just before 8 am on Dec. 7th, and in less than 90 minutes, Japanese planes had destroyed/damaged 19 U.S. warships and 300 of their aircraft, killing over 2,400 servicemen. This prompted President FDR the following day to give his "Day of Infamy Speech" just before Congress declared war on Japan, officially entering the country into WWII. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/pearl-harbor-december-7-1941 -
Bataan Death March
After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded the Philippines (U.S. colonial possession ~ saw the opportunity here for strategic wartime expansion) in January 1942. Despite insufficient supplies/food, and a naval blockade preventing aid from reaching the American & Filipino troops, they were able to hold out for three months before surrendering in April. The battle was the greatest defeat in the Pacific for the U.S. military and forced 60,000+ prisoners of war to march across the island to war camps. -
Battle of Midway
Wanting to gain territory in East Asia & the Southwest Pacific, the Japanese military hoped to defeat the US Pacific Fleet and take Midway. From there, they could launch additional attacks on Pearl Harbor, which they believed would force the US to negotiate peace. American Navy cryptanalysts broke Japanese communication codes so they learned of the attack in advance & prepared a counterattack. On the morning of June 4, the Japanese attacked the US base, and after days of this naval battle, -
Battle of Midway (pt. 2)
fought mostly with aircraft, (the main objective was bombing aircraft carriers), the US came out victorious. This was a major turning point in the war as the Imperial Japanese Navy would never be able to overcome the loss of four of their carriers and 100+ trained pilots. After their major defeat at Midway, the Japanese offensive in the Pacific was overturned (allowing the US to begin taking offensive action in the Pacific). https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/battle-of-midway -
Battle of Stalingrad
After Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the Red Army was able to halt an attack on their western front (the German goal was to take Moscow) so German forces set their sights on Stalingrad (industrial center of the USSR- Hitler saw the city of value for propaganda reasons, as it bore Stalin's name). German forces descended on the city in August & despite heavy Soviet casualties after pounding from the Luftwaffe, Stalin instructed his forces in the city to not retreat. By the fall, the city was in -
Battle of Stalingrad (pt. 2)
in ruins, but the Soviet army just needed to hold out til the winter so they could launch their counterattack. They managed to form a defensive ring around the city & trap the German/Axis troops. Their blockade limited access to supplies, so forces trapped slowly starved, but Hitler refused to surrender. By February 1943, Russian troops had retaken the city and captured 100,000 German soldiers. This victory stopped the German advance into the USSR & turned the tide of war in favor of the Allies. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
After the invasion of Poland, more than 400,000 Jews in Warsaw were confined to 1 square mile of the city. The ghetto was then sealed off by brick walls, barbed wire, and armed guards; disease and starvation killed thousands. Residents staged an armed revolt after news broke of their imminent deportations to Nazi-run extermination camps. By May 16, the ghetto was back under Nazi control, but the uprising inspired other revolts in camps and ghettos throughout German-occupied Eastern Europe. -
Normandy Invasion: D-Day
Codenamed Operation Overlord, this battle was the start of the Allies' plan to liberate Western Europe, defeat Nazi Germany, & end WWII. On June 6, about 156,000 American, British, & Canadian forces landed on 5 beaches along "a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region". Prior to D-Day, the Allies carried out a large-scale deception campaign to mislead the Germans to think the main invasion target was Pas-de-Calais. Within a week, the beach was fully secured and -
Normandy Invasion: D-Day (pt. 2)
by the end of June, approx. 850,000 men & 150,000 vehicles were in Normandy, prepared to continue their march across France. By the end of August, the Allies had "reached the Seine River, Paris was liberated and the Germans had been removed from northwestern France", effectively ending the battle. The Battle of Normandy was important as It led to the liberation of France, which denied Germany any further exploitation of their resources. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of the Bulge
This battle was a last-ditch attempt made by Hitler to split the Allies in two as they marched toward Germany, in order to destroy their ability to supply themselves (hoped their counter-attack would surround & cut off the British, American, and Canadian armies to stall the Allied offensive against Germany). The initial attack by the Germans created a bulge in the Allied front line, giving the battle its name. Germany's initial success was short-lived as its offensive required men and resources -
Battle of the Bulge (pt. 2)
that it simply did not have. Specifically, fuel shortages were made worse by bad weather, disrupting the German supply lines. When the weather cleared up, the Allies were able to launch their air counterattack. By the end of January 1945, the bulge had been completely closed up and both sides had suffered heavy losses. The battle is significant as it was the last German offense on the Western Front, and the catastrophic German losses prevented them from resisting the advance of Allied forces. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
The 1st major camp to be liberated was Majdanek (in Poland) in July 1944. The Nazis, surprised by the quick Soviet advance from the east, attempted to hide the evidence of mass murder by destroying what they could of the camps; also transported prisoners away from the front and deep into Germany as the Soviets closed in. In January 1945, Auschwitz was liberated by Russian soldiers. Upon liberation, only a few thousand prisoners remained as the surviving ones had been taken away on death marches. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was targeted by the Americans as part of the Allies' "Island Hopping" strategy, prefacing an invasion of mainland Japan. The first wave of U.S. Marines landed on the beach of Iwo Jima early Feb. 19., strafing the beaches with rocket and cannon fire (with support coming from air and naval forces). The Allies knew Mount Suribachi was heavily fortified by the Japanese prior to the invasion, but even after its capture, it took them months of inching north to conquer the whole island. -
Battle of Iwo Jima (pt. 2)
During the battle, the Japanese hindered the Marines' progress by using the rocky terrain to hide and prepare ambushes. The battle lasted 5 weeks and ended on March 26, when U.S. forces declared they had secured the entire island. Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history, but it paved the way for the last and largest battle in the Pacific: the invasion of Okinawa (Iwo Jima also majorly influenced the US decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki). www.livescience.com -
Hiroshima & Nagasaki Atomic Bombing
US President Truman decided to bomb Hiroshima to end WWII because of Japan's unwillingness to surrender unconditionally, which would have cost thousands of more soldiers' lives and caused millions of civilian casualties. We dropped the second bomb because two days after Hiroshima, Stalin declared war on Japan, and we were determined to "keep the Soviets out of Japan by displaying American military power". The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the course of world history; -
Hiroshima & Nagasaki (pt. 2)
thousands of people were killed in the initial explosions, and many more later died due to burns, injuries, and radiation poisoning sustained from the bomb. It also had global consequences including the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world and the subsequent Cold War between the Soviet Union and the US. https://www.britannica.com/question/Why-did-the-atomic-bombings-of-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki-happen