-
Japanese invasion of China
Government problems between China and Japan occurred. On July 7,1937 a clash between Japanese and Chinese troops lashed out, which finally lead to the start of war. They began air wars and bombing. Alliances were built, the US and Soviet Union helped China while Germany and others helped Japan- World War 2 broke out. After several years of fighting the Chinese won. -
Rape of Nanking
Japan bombed China's capital city, Nanjing, and killed half of the civilians. It became the single worst atrocity in WW2 era. The Japanese invaded China with intentions to conquer them. The Japanese were ordered to kill all captives. They eventually turned their attention to women of all ages and were sexually abusing them, even pregnant women. Americans in China tried to help by Red Cross organizations. Almost all the people caught in the "action" of the Raping of Nanking perished. -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg was a term for "lightning war". Germans wanted to invade all these countries but wanted to avoid a long war. The Blitzkrieg tactics required tanks, planes, and artillery. Soldiers on land would put a "dent" in their enemies front and air power would be sure they were not resupplying or redeploying. This was a tactic to force their enemy to surrender. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Germany invaded Poland in regards to "regain lost land" and take control of Poland. Poland continued to fight back and start armies to match up against the Germans, but they were too weak. Germany was told to withdraw their military forces from Poland by several other countries. Many countries were now at war with Germany, they began bombing Poland cities to scare Germany out of Poland, this did not work. Later, Germany attacked France, Norway, and USSR, breaking their nonaggression pact. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan ordered a surprise attack on the US. They launched more than 300 planes to bomb the US naval base, Pearl Harbor. They managed to kill more than 2,000 US soldiers and destroy 20 ships, including many enormous battleships. December 8 (the next day), US declared war on Japan, three days late Japanese allies declared war against the US. Finally 2 years later, the US entered WW2. -
Bataan Death March
Soon after Pearl Harbor the Japanese invaded the Philippines. Americans and Filipinos tried to resist the invasion of Japanese, but with little air power and naval ships available, they were forced to surrender. Prisoners were forced to walk 65 miles in extreme heat and harsh treatment of soldiers. They were being lead to concentration camps or being lead to their death. This march was later named the "Bataan Death March". Thousands were killed either by disease, starvation, or mistreatment. -
Battle of Midway
The US and Japanese meet in the Pacific ocean to fight. The Japanese were calculating when the US would arrive to launch a surprise attack. Yet the US were able to intercept and and decode 2 of the Japanese messages. There were many airstrikes and dive bombers that were unsuccessful and died on both sides. In the end the US defeated Japan at the battle of midway.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Germans and the Soviet Union were fighting for the control of the city of Stalingrad. It is considered the bloodiest war in history. The war lasted a few months until winter set in and Germany was very unprepared. Hitler ordered to continue and fight but the soldiers were freezing, running out of supplies, and dying. Germany surrendered and was a humiliating battle for Hitler against the USSR.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Wannsee Conference
Wannsee Conference was a high level German conference to discuss a way to kill the Jews in mass amounts. They came up with the solution to work them to death, yet many survived those horrible conditions. The Germans established gas chambers which killed 1,000 people a day. This seemed to be the key solution the Germans were looking for.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Germany was ordered to liquidate the Warsaw Ghettos. Although one day the German soldiers came in and the ghetto was deserted, all the Jews were in hiding. The Jews were planning a surprise uprising against the soldier; with homemade weapons they killed 12 soldiers. The uprisings continued for a month, resisting to be sent to the camps. Although later the German soldier were able to capture them again. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces invaded Normandy. It became one of the largest military assaults in history. D-Day was an effort to win back all of the German captured land. Many Allies lost their lives in the attempts to free land from Germany. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Japanese island of Iwo Jima was attacked Americas. The US bombed the island to see how much damage it would produce and to end the war quickly. When the war finally ended 7,000 U.S. marines and 21,000 Japanese people were killed. -
Battle of Okinawa
This was considered the last and biggest Pacific Island battles of WW2, 130,000 Japanese troops and the United States doubled that. After 82 days of war the Japanese had lost 77,000 troops and the allies had lost 14,000. The Japanese changed their war strategies and sent battleships and planes on a "suicide" mission. Over 100,000 civilian casualties and both sides lost their commanding generals in war. Many people went missing and even more wounded or killed -
VE Day
VE Day stands for Victory in Europe day. This day was when German forces all throughout Europe laid down their weapons. Russians took about 2 million German prisoners and 13,000 British people were released and sent back to Britain. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Liberation of concentration camps
The Soviet soldiers were the first to liberate one of the German concentration camps. German soldiers left many sick or injured prisoners behind when it was time to move camps; these prisoners were later freed. British, American, Canadian, French armies also liberated many concentration camps. In efforts to free prisoners they also found a disgusting amount of dead bodies. Half of the freed prisoners died a few days after being saved because they were too weak to digest food. -
Potsdam Declaration
Statement that called for all Japanese armed forces to surrender. The declaration stated if they did not agree to surrender they would suffer "prompt and utter destruction".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam_Declaration -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
The United States was the first to build and use an atomic in a war. The United States dropped an atomic bomb in Hiroshima as an experiment to see how much damage it would create and also to end the war. The bomb immediately killed 80,000 people and killed thousands more after the weeks. A few days later another bomb was dropped in Nagasaki killing 40,000 more people.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
VJ Day
VJ Day stands for Victory over Japan day. The day Japan surrendered to the Allies.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germans attacked Americans on the front of Northern France; Germans launched 3 offensive armies (a quarter million people). They created a "bulge" around the American front to push through the defense line. The battle lasted 3 weeks, ending in a tremendous loss of American lives, and surrendered their second largest amount of soldiers. The war did not end until American aircrafts came and bombed German stations. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation thunderclap was a cancelled operation in 1944. It was a plan to bomb Germany and kill thousands of people including key German people. The plan was reconsidered in 1945 but again rejected; although there were multiple other attacks put into action but nothing nearly as big or damaging as the original operation thunderclap was supposed to be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderclap_plan
