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Japanese Invasion of China
The Japan-China War began in July, 1937 when the Japanese claimed that they were allegedly attacked by Chinese infantry at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. The Japanese quickly captured all of the major cities in China by the end of 1937. In 5 months, 1 million Chinese people were under Japanese control. In 1940, war became a stalemate. The Japanese was unable to claim victory, nor the Chinese to remove the Japanese from the territory they took. -
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World War II
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Germany's Invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Polish troops was defeated within weeks of the invasion with more than 2,000 tanks and over 1,000 planes. Britain and France had declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. Eastern Poland was invaded by the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939. Nazi Germany siezed the remainder of Poland when it invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Poland remained under German occupation until January 1945. -
German Blitzkrieg
German forces invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. At first, the German Blitzkrieg seemed to succeed, the Soviet army was driven back. In December 1941, Hitler declared war on the United States. A second German invasion against the Soviet Union in 1942 brought German troops east to the shores of the Volga River and the city of Stalingrad. The Soviet Union then launched a counterattack in November 1942, trapping and destroying an entire German army. Germany was defeated in May 1945. -
The Fall of Paris
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had tried for days to convince the French government to hang on, not to sue for peace, & that America would enter the war as support. Roosevelt replied that the United States was prepared to send material aid & was willing to have that promise published, but Secretary of State Cordell Hull opposed. He knew Hitler would consider it as a declaration of war. -
Operation Barbarossa
Under the codename Operation "Barbarossa," Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the biggest German infantry operation of WW2. Hitler had always disliked the German-Soviet nonaggression pact, so he decided to attack the Soviet Union within the following year. On December 18, 1940, he signed the first operational order for the invasion of the Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941, three army groups attacked the Soviet Union. By September 1942, the German domination over Europe expanded greatly. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes attacked theUnited States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. The raid came with no warning and no declaration of war. The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. It completely destroyed and damaged American battleships. 160 aircraft were destroyed and 150 damaged. The attack took the country by surprise, especially the unprepared Pearl Harbor base. -
Wannsee Conference
Nazi Party and German government officials gathered to address and coordinate of what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." The "Final Solution" was the code name for the plan to annihilate the European Jews. Some still disagreed in 1941. Hitler authorized this European-wide plan for mass murder. Various cruel proposals were discussed. Heydrich proposed transporting Jews to concentration camps in Poland and working them to death. -
Battle of Midway
Early in the morning of June 4th, Japanese aircraft attacked and badly damaged the base of Midway in the United States. The Japanese were unaware to the East, U.S. carrier forces were ready for battle. After the ambush, the Japanese aircraft headed back to their carriers, but became informed of the U.S. naval forces in the area. The US Navy and US army forced the Japanese to retreat from battle. The Japanese lost approximately 4,800 men, four carriers, one cruiser, and hundreds of aircraft. -
Operation Gomorrah
Operation Gomorrah was an aerial bombing that occurred in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. The orders for Operation Gomorrah were given on May 27, 1943. The attack started on the night of July 24, 1943, and continued until August 3. Operation Gomorrah destroyed a significant amount of the city of Hamburg, leaving over 1 million civilians homeless and killing 40,000-50,000 residents. Over two-thirds of Hamburg's population fled the city immediately after the raids started. -
Allied Invasion of Italy
On September 3, Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery’s 8th Army began its invasion of the Italian mainland. The Italian government agreed to surrender to the Allies. By the terms of the agreement, the Italians would be treated mercifully if they aided the Allies in evicting the Germans from Italy. Later that month, Mussolini was rescued from a prison in the Abruzzo Mountains by German mercenaries and was declared as leader of a Nazi state in northern Italy. German forces in Italy surrendered on May 1. -
D-Day Normandy
The Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. It was codenamed "Operation Overlord" and began on June 6, 1944 when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on beaches along the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest marine military assaults in history. After D-day, all of northern France had been liberated & soon after the Allies defeated the Germans. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germans launch the last major offensive of the war, "Operation Mist", also known as Battle of the Bulge. It was an attempt to force the Allies front line to northwestern Belgium. The Germans attacked with 250,000 soldiers in the assault. The objective was to split the Allied troops by an unexpected blitzkrieg ambush through the Ardennes to Antwerp. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
The Red Army liberated Auschwitz in Poland. In the following months, the Soviets liberated more camps in Poland. Shortly before Germany's surrender, Soviet forces liberated the Stutthof, Sachsenhausen, and Ravensbrueck concentration camps. U.S. forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, on April 11, 1945. The U.S. also liberated Dora-Mittelbau, Flossenbürg, Dachau, and Mauthausen. British forces liberated concentration camps including Neuengamme and Bergen-Belsen. -
Operation Thunderclap
Allied strategic bombing raid against the German city of Dresden. The immediate controversy about the raid contributed to the end of Allied strategic bombing. On February, 8 Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF) instructed RAF Bomber Command and the U.S. Strategic Air Forces to attack Dresden because of its importance to movements of military forces on the Eastern Front. The casualty figures reported by German fire and police services ranged between 25,000 and 35,000 dead. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
This was an amphibious invasion by three U.S. marine divisions who landed on the Japanese coast. Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought from an elaborate network of caves, dugouts, & tunnels. Despite the harsh conditions, the marines wiped out the defending army 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. -
The Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II. The Okinawa campaign involved the 287,000 soldiers from the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 troops of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. By the end of the 82-day raid, apan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 injured, including 14,000 dead. -
V-E Day
Both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazis. V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself. He said “The age-long struggle of the Slav nations… has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over.” -
Potsdam Declaration
From July 17 to August 2 1945, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and U.S. President Harry Truman met in Potsdam, Germany to settle terms for the end of World War II. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bomb
At around 8:15 a.m. a US bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, instantly killing around 80,000 people. A second bomb was dropped in Nagasaki three days later killing 40,000 more people. The dropping of the bombs remains the only nuclear attack in history. These attacks occured by executive order of US President HarryTruman. In the months following the attack, roughly 100,000 more people died slow, horrendous deaths as a result of radiation poisoning. -
V-J Day
It was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on August 14, 1945 endinf WW II. This is now known as V-J Day or Victoryover Japan Day. Japan’s capitulation in the Pacific brought six years of hostilities to an end.
