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Japanese Invasion of China
In 1937 the Japanese invaded China. The Second Sino-Japanese War began and Japan quickly captured key ports and industrial cities in China. Massacres were common and brutal.This war started because of Japan’s want to be the most powerful country in Asia ,but they needed resources ,so they were going to take over China. The war reached a stalemate until the west intervened by putting economic sanctions on Japan.http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/sino-japanese-war -
Rape of Nanking
In December of 1937 Japan had taken Nanking. After this troops marched on the city and slaughtered 300,000 Chinese civilians and raped 80,000 Chinese women. This happened because Japan was invading China and taking their cities. In this process there massacres and guerilla warfare was common. This event has left has left its legacy as the most infamous massacre of the Second Sino-Japanese War.http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/sino-japanese-war -
German Invasion of Poland
From September 1st, 1939 to October 6th, 1939 Germany began its offensive movement on Poland.The Poles were far outnumbered by their enemies and were defeated and humiliated.Hitler wanted access to the Baltic sea through Poland and Danzig which was an important port city.When the Germans crossed over to Poland on September 1st they officially started World War II. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/invasion-of-poland.asp -
Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg was a German term for ¨lightning war¨ and was a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. When used successfully it shortens military campaigns and saves lives. German forces tried it is Poland in 1939 and employed it successfully when they invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and France in 1940.The U.S. General George Patton adopted it for his European operations.http://www.history.com/topi -
Fall of Paris
On June 14th 1940 the Germans would take Paris. The French thought that they could not be taken due to the Maginot line which was a great defense for the French. The Germans ended up bypassing the line and going through the Ardennes Forest which people did not think was possible.They took France on the 14th and held it until the end of the war and this completed Germany’s conquest of Western Europe.
http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/invasion-of-france.asp -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler’s plan to conquer the Soviet Union was to begin on May 15th, 1941.He believed this would give enough time to attack before the winter set in. Due to trouble with the Yugoslavs the operation was pushed back a few weeks and began on June 22nd. Early on the Germans made a lot of headway but when the winters set in and they did not have enough food they lost many men. It was a miserable failure and by January 1943 many Germans had died or were Prisoners of War in Siberia.
http://spartacus-edu -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor had been used as a US navy base since the early 20th C. and in April 1940 the US fleet was sent there to deter Japanese attack. In January 1941 the commander of the Japanese fleet began planning an attack on the US navy at Pearl Harbor.On December 7th, 1941 the Japanese attacked the US fleet. We lost 18 warships, 188 aircrafts, and 2,403 men that day. This event is what caused the US to enter the war. http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWpearl.htm -
Wannsee Conference
This was a meeting held on January 20th, 1942 to discuss the ¨final solution of the Jewish question¨. The meeting was chaired by Reinhard Heydrich and 15 other Nazi bureaucrats were in attendance. They decided that all Jews would be evacuated to the east and put in labor camps and that the ones that survived the long march to these camps were to be considered dangerous and the germ cells of the Jews. From this date on the extermination of the Jewish people was a systematic event.http://spartacu -
Operation Gomorrah
On this day the British raid Hamburg, Germany by bombing it. The Americans bomb it by day in what is called ¨Blitz-Week¨. The British suffered many deaths in July due to German bombings and now the tables were turned. The British dropped as many bombs as the Germans dropped in their five biggest raids and 1,500 Germans were killed in the first raid. Bombings of Hamburg continued until November and were devastating for it. This caused German morale to go down greatly.http://www.history.com/this -
D-Day
On June 6th, 1944, 2,727 ships sailed to the Normandy coast. Once dawn broke the ships were in danger of being attacked by German U-boats. They landed on the shores of Normandy and began their attack. They were the largest armada to ever sail. This was the beginning of the allied forces regaining France. They regained their first town and in days to come many followed.http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/d-day-the-allied-invasion-of-france.asp -
Battle of the Bulge
On December 16th, 1944 the Germans launched an offensive of 3 German armies in the deadliest and most desperate offensive of the war through the Ardennes forest. The U.S.’s 106th division was nearly wiped out ,but this bought time for Brigadier General Bruce C. Clarke’s brilliant defense of St.-Vith. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes the Allied forces took on a bulge shape for which the battle got its name. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Operatation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap took place on February 13th, 1945. Operation Thunderclap was a strategic bombing raid of Dresden, Germany which took place between February 13th and the 15th. The bombing was by the Royal Air Force and rivaled that of Hamburg. The controversialness of the bombing would put an end to allied strategic bombings.
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Battle of Iwo Jima
On February 19th, 1945 American Soldiers began to land in Iwo Jima.The main objective was to capture the island’s airstrips and obtain a base from which the Americans would be able to attack the Japanese homeland. All 3 airstrips were taken by March 10th. The US used the island to launch bombing attacks on Japan.http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWjima.htm -
Battle of Okianawa
After the US took Iwo Jima they turned their attention to Okinawa. They landed on Okinawa April 1st, 1945. The fighting force was initially 155,000 ,but it grew to 300,000. The Americans took the Island on June 21st. Not long after this the US dropped Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the war ended on August 10th.http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWokinawa.htm -
Liberation of the Camps
Concentration camps began to be liberated in 1945. The Soviets liberated a few in 1944 ,but the most were not liberated until 1945. Belsen and Buchenwald were liberated April 13th,1945 and many camps would follow. There was a huge impact on the Americans that liberated the people in the camps and later the world because nobody had any idea how bad the Germans were really treating these people.
http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWchron.htm -
VE Day
On May 7th, 1945 German radio broadcast that Alfred Jodi would sign the official surrender of Nazi Germany the next day. Winston Churchill announced that May 8th,1945 would be a national holiday. This day would come to be known as VE or Victory in Europe day. http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWveday.htm -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
Harry Truman had to make the difficult decision of how to end the war in Japan. On August 6th, 1945 the US warned Japan to give up otherwise a bomb would be dropped on Hiroshima. Sadly, they did not give up and with another warning and yet still the Japanese did not give up 3 days later a 2nd bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. There were thousands of civilians that died because of this and the Japanese were forced to surrender which officially ended World War 2.
http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWna -
VJ Day
On August, 14th 1945 it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allied forces. This officially ended World War 2. August 14th and 15th would come to be known as Victory over Japan day or VJ day.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
