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Japanese Invades China
In 1930, before this battle occurred, Chiang Kai-Shek was the dictator of China. He had formed a nationalist government called KMT. A man named Mao Tse Tung was against Chiang Kai-Shek, and was a communist. Because of this, the war between the Nationalists and the communists started. This is called the ‘Long March’. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, and after finding China's biggest weakness, won. In total, 35 million people died. This eventually led to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. -
Germany Invades Poland
Germany invaded Poland because they were trying to defend themselves. This led France and Britain to declare war on Germany, and World War II started. This was the first invasion in this war, and Germany went for Poland, because Hitler thought it would get them more living space or land. In result, 440 people died, and lots more countries joined the war. After the invasion, Poland surrendered to Germany. -
Fall of Paris
After the British troops left, and the French were left alone, the Germans launched an attack called Case Red. The French had wanted to make peace with Germany, so when Germany attacked Paris, the French did not fight forcefully. As a result of this, they signed an agreement to split the country of France, so Germany got control of the western and the northern parts of the country. This caused more tension in Europe during WWII and made the Allies angry. -
German Blitzkrieg
Also known as the term for “lightning war”, this was one of Germany’s strategies to catch their enemies off guard. They would use all of their weapons, such as tanks, planes, and artillery, and attack them early. By using this, their enemies would get very shocked, and would mess up their military and organization. They successfully used this strategy in 9 attacks. -
Operation Barbarossa
On this day, Adolf Hitler ordered his army to attack the Soviet Union. His goal was to invade enough places, so that Germany would get back everything they had lost in WWI.Three million soldiers fought from North Cape to the Dead Sea, reaching a span of over two thousand miles. The Germans won the battle because they were well trained and had a big army. After the Soviet Union surrendered, Germany continued invading and fighting other countries. -
Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes invaded the US Naval Base in Hawaii - Pearl Harbor. They destroyed over 320 machines and killed over 2,000 soldiers. The day after the attack, President Roosevelt declared war on Japan with the approval of Congress. America had finally joined WWII. The US wanted to be fully prepared before going to war with other countries. However, only a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US declared war on Germany too. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was held in Berlin to discuss what the Nazis called “The Final Solution”, or in other terms, how to get completely get rid of Europe’s estimated eleven million Jews. Nazi leaders dismissed their previous idea of sending Jews to Madagascar, and instead decided on moving them all eastward to labor camps. However, when the first concentration camps were set up in Poland a few months after this event, Hitler turned to them as the way to free Europe of Jews. -
The Bataan Death March
Approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops in Bataan, Philippines were forced by the Japanese (after they had lost the Island of Luzon to the Japanese) to make an 85 mile march, to prison camps in the city of San Fernando. During the six day journey, the prisoners received little to no food. In total, about 10,000 people died. ⅓ of them died during the march, and the other ⅔ died while at the prison camps. This march did not affect the overall outcome of WWII. -
Battle of Midway
Just six month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the US made a great gain against Japan in the Battle of Midway. Japan wanted to destroy the parts of the US Navy that had not been affected by the Pearl Harbor attack. However, the US found out about Japan's plan resulting in a huge win for the US. America permanently damage the Japanese Navy, and the win also meant that the US and the Allied Powers in the Pacific could change from a defensive position to an offensive one. -
Operation Gomorrah
British Bombers attacked Germany at night on this day. After Britain had suffered from Germany raiding them, they got back at them by attacking them. They dropped 2,300 tons of bombs and that was done in only a number of hours. In result, more than 1,500 people in Germany died, and Britain only lost 15 aircrafts, and still had all 779 aircrafts left. Britain kept bombing and raiding Germany and in total, killed 30,000 people. -
Allies Invade Italy
The invasion of Italy was a plan set up by Winston Churchill to allow the Allies to make their way into Germany. The Allies invaded the island of Sicily, off the coast of Italy, on July 10, 1943. They met lots of resistance from Mussolini's Italian forces as well as German forces. By September 3 of the same year, however, British troops made it to Italy’s mainland. On the same day, Italy surrenders to the Allies. This battle eventually led to the fall of Rome in 1944, and then Germany in 1945. -
D-Day (Start of Invasion at Normandy)
D-Day, nicknamed Operation Overlord, was the first day of the Battle of Normandy. Thousands of Allied troops invaded France in attempt to take over the region of Normandy. They believed that if they secured that part of France, getting to Nazi Germany would be easier. The attack turned out to one of the largest ever operations made in war history. Although the casualties were beyond imaginable, that day is known to be the start of the end of WWII, and the road to the the Allied win of WWII. -
Operation Thunderclap
This was a code that had been under discussion for the Allies for a long time. The proposal was to bomb the easternmost cities of Germany to disrupt all of the roads, railroads, and transport structures. The Allies bombed Germany and they won against them.
