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Some of the major events that happened during world war II.
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Second Sino-Japanese War, conflict that broke out when China began a full-scale resistance to the expansion of Japanese influence in its territory. A period of rapid Japanese advance until the end of 1938, a period of virtual stalemate until 1944, and the final period when Allied counterattacks, principally in the Pacific and on Japan’s home islands, brought about Japan’s surrender.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Second-Sino-Japanese-War -
The two dictators announced a nonaggression pact on August 23, 1939. The two men agreed that their countries would not to attack each other, either independently or along with other nations. They also vowed to consult each other in order to provide info or raise questions concerning their common interests, also to resolve any differences through negotiation. The pact would be in effect for ten years.
https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-7/pact-soviet-union -
Blitzkrieg, which means “lightning war” in German, had its roots in earlier military strategy. Most famously, blitzkrieg describes the successful tactics used by Nazi Germany in the early years of World War II, as German forces swept through Poland, Norway, Belgium, Holland and France with astonishing speed and force.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Paris fell to Nazi Germany on June 14, 1940, one month after the German Wehrmacht stormed into France. Eight days later, France signed an armistice with the Germans, and a puppet French state was set up with its capital at Vichy.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paris-liberated#:~:text=Paris%20fell%20to%20Nazi%20Germany,with%20its%20capital%20at%20Vichy. -
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
The Battle of Stalingrad was between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. The battle was from Aug. 1942 through Feb. 1943, more than two million troops fought in close quarters and nearly two million people were killed or injured, including tens of thousands of Russian civilians. The Battle of Stalingrad ultimately turned the tide of World War II in favor of the Allied forces.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
The "Final Solution" was the code name for the systematic, deliberate, physical annihilation of the European Jews. At some still undetermined time in 1941, Adolf Hitler authorized this European-wide scheme for mass murder.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/wannsee-conference-and-the-final-solution -
The Allies began their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, off mainland Italy. Encountering little resistance from demoralized Sicilian troops, Montgomery’s 8th Army came ashore on the southeast part of the island, while the U.S. 7th Army, under General George S. Patton.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland#:~:text=On%20July%2010%2C%201943%2C%20the,Army%2C%20under%20General%20George%20S. -
Resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Lasting six brutal weeks, from December 16, 1944, to January 25, 1945, the assault, also called the Battle of the Ardennes, took place during frigid weather conditions, with some 30 German divisions attacking battle-fatigued American troops across 85 miles of the densely wooded Ardennes Forest.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
As Soviet forces approached the Auschwitz concentration camp, they began evacuating Auschwitz and its camps. Thousands had been killed in the camps in the days before these death marches began. Almost all of the deportees who arrived at the camps were sent immediately to death in the gas chambers.
https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1942-1945/soviet-forces-liberate-auschwitz#:~:text=their%20little%20hands.-,January%2027%2C%201945,evacuating%20Auschwitz%20and%20its%20subcamps. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima was an epic military campaign between U.S. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan in early 1945. Located 750 miles off the coast of Japan, the island of Iwo Jima had three airfields that could serve as a staging facility for a potential invasion of mainland Japan. American forces invaded the island on February 19, 1945, and the ensuing Battle of Iwo Jima lasted for five weeks.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
On May 8, 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine during World War II.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe#:~:text=On%20May%208%2C%201945%2C%20both,machine%20during%20World%20War%20II. -
The United States bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, were the first instances of atomic bombs used against humans, killing tens of thousands of people, obliterating the cities, and contributing to the end of World War II.
https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/hiroshima-nagasaki-75#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20bombings%20of,end%20of%20World%20War%20II. -
The Allied celebrations on Victory in Europe Day were subdued by the knowledge that war raged on in the Pacific. As the fighting ended in Europe, US troops were drawing a noose around the Japanese home islands. But there were ominous signs that Japan’s fierce resistance would continue.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/v-j-day