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Known as the Manchurian Incident, Japanese military leaders decided to conquer the Manchuria Region of northeastern China, which was rich in natural resources such as coal and iron. The army believed that Manchuria's resources would allowed Japan to compete with large industrial nations. Japan quickly gained control over Manchuria, and they eventually set up a government in the region. Under Japanese control, the state was known as Manchukuo.
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In a period of six weeks, Imperial Japanese Army forces brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of people in the Chinese city of Nanking. Between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted. Nanking was left in ruins and it would take decades to recover from the attacks.
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Also known as the German-Soviet pact, the agreement between the two foreign ministers had two parts. An economic agreement was signed and said that Germany would exchange its manufactured goods for the Soviet's raw materials. The two countries also signed a ten-year nonaggression pact in which each signatory promised not to attack each other.
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Blitzkrieg was a new war tactic that the Germans first used on Poland. German for "Lightning War," it was centered around speed and coordination between planes and ground troops. Air attacks damaged defenses, and while citizens under attack were in a frenzy and panic, tanks and ground troops swept in to find remaining areas of resistance.
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This operation was the name of Nazi Germany's invasion of the soviet union during World War II. At first, the German Blitzkrieg was very effective against the millions of poorly trained soviets. The harsh winters stopped German progress eventually, and the Soviets were able to rebuild their army.
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The Japanese military leaders, led by Hideki Tojo, had been planning a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for months. This base was home to the U.S. Navy's pacific fleet. On December 7, 1941, the attack began. Hundreds of Japanese fighters and bombers sped over Pearl Harbor and dropped bombs and torpedoes. The attack lasted less than two hours, but around 2,400 Americans were killed and nearly 200 aircrafts were destroyed, along with eight battleships.
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On January 20, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich convened the Wannsee Conference in Berlin to coordinate the Final Solution, or the extermination of the entire Jewish population of Europe.
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After the United States surrender of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines on April 9, 1942, around 75,000 Filipino and American troops on the island were forced to march 65 miles to prison camps. The marchers were under intense heat and were treated terribly by Japanese guards. Thousands of lives were lost during the Bataan Death March.
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Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. defeated Japan in one of the most decisive battles of World War II. The United States was able to counter Japan's planned ambush on its few remaining aircraft carriers. The victory allowed the United States and it allies to move into an offensive position.
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The Soviets surrounded the Axis forces with around a quarter of a million men. The Axis had the opportunity to retreat, but Hitler refused. Eventually the remaining German soldiers were captured by the Soviets. Over one million Soviet soldiers died in the defense and victory of Stalingrad, but Hitler faced a crushing defeat. This marked a turning point in the war, because Hitler's invincible army was defeated.
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By the end of the summer during 1942, the Axis forces were poised to take the industrial city of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Its factories produced tanks and guns, among other military equipment. After bombing the city with air and artillery attacks, the Germans moved in to wipe out the remaining soldiers. The Soviets stood their ground, and fought furiously. Stalin wanted to save the city that was named after him. Georgy Zhukov gathered the remaining German forces for a counterattack.
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On July 24, 1943, British bombers bombed Germany during the night under Operation Gomorrah. On the evening of the 24, British aircrafts dropped 2,300 tons of bombs over Hamburg in only a couple of hours. More than 1,500 Germans civilians were killed during the first night, and Britain only lost 12 of 791 aircrafts. The attacks continued until November. 30,000 people were killed and 280,000 buildings were destroyed.
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On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces, led by George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower, invaded France. Over 150,000 troops landed on the Normandy beaches and pushed through the German defenses. By July, nearly one million allied soldiers had come ashore. The allies reconquered much of France, and Germany eventually surrendered Paris.
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Even though Hitler surrendered Paris, he was not finished with the Allies. In December of 1944, he ordered a massive counterattack in Belgium. The Germans produced a bulge in the Allied battle lines, so the battle became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Although the Germans were making advances, the Allies crushed the German offensive in January of 1945. Germany's defeat marked the end of major German resistance.
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Because the Americans needed bases closer to Japan, Allied troops landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima in February 1945. During the month long battle, 7,000 Americans died to capture the island.
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Following the Battle of Iwo Jima, the Americans invaded Okinawa, another Japanese island. The battle lasted three months, and took 12,000 American lives. The Japanese lost more than 100,000 defenders, and they also lost the battle.
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VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day, marks the defeat of Nazi Germany. Celebrated on May 8, it marks the formal acceptance by the Allies of Germany's surrender.
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The declaration was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. Following the dropping of the atomic bombs, Japan accepted and signed the declaration.
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The next step for America and the Allies was to take Japan itself. The Allies did not want to invade Japan because of the Japanese soldiers' willingness to fight to the death. The president of the United States, Harry Truman, had to make a difficult decision. After Japan refused to surrender, the Allies decided to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. On August 6, an American plane dropped an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Over 70,000 people were killed on impact.
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The Japanese still did not surrender, so on August 9 the Americans dropped a second atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Another 75,000 people were killed, and tens of thousands of people died following the effects of the radiation. The Japanese were almost forced to surrender.
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On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. August 14 and 15 are known as "Victoryover Japan Day," or "VJ Day."
