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Japanese invasion of China
During World War II Japan began the Sino-Japanese War. Japan would occupy China, with China actively resisting. In an effort to unseat the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese occupied large areas of eastern China in 1937. Japanese forces were diverted to Southeast Asia and to the Pacific front of World War II against the Western Powers and their allies beginning in late 1941.This had, and has caused much civil and political unrest between the Chinese and Japanese. -
Germany Invades Poland
One early morning, Germany invaded Poland in a rush, outpowering any Polish forces that would be sent out. Hitler wanted to claim Poland to fulfill lebensraum, or “living space,” for the German people. Hoping to avoid conflict with the USSR, Hitler signed a nonaggression act with them beforehand. This had showed what kind of tactics Hitler was capable of preforming, setting many nations on edge. -
German Blitzkireg
Bliitzkrieg was a German term for a "lightning war." Germany had used this tactic more than once. This was where the Germans would rush onto the battle as fast as they could, bombarding their enemies. Such tactics were used to win important battles, such as Germany's invasion of Poland. -
Fall of Paris
About the time when Churchill gave his grand speech about how the Allies must remain confident and how the Americans were going to help, French premier Paul Reynaud asked him for help. Roosevelt was ready to help and was going to publish this help, but Secretary of State Cordell Hull said that would not be great to publish such information. So, after hearing about this aid Germans had already swooped in on Paris, with more than two million French citizens fleeing. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes bombed America's Pearl Harbor. This incident had turned the tide on American opinion of joining the war. The Japanese had crippled much of the U.S. navy, hoping to prevent them from joining the war and strike back with much force. Almost 2,500 Americans were killed and another 1,000 were wounded. -
Bataan Death March
Following one of the largest surrenders in America's history in the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philipine island of Luzon, around 75,000 American and Filipino troops were taken prisoner by the Japanese, who forced them to march to their prison camps. Thousands of troops died due to the harshness of the conditions and their Japanese captors. -
Battle of Stalingrad
A Soviet defense against the Germans. This was a major turning point for the Russians, Casualties were near 2 million. Stalingrad was, for the Germans, an important milestone in their campaign they could not afford to lose. However, they had not accounted for the sheer amount of soldiers in the Russian army, and were taken over after many waves. This defeat caused Hitler to become insecure and distrust his military leaders. -
D-Day
Codenamed Operation Overlord, American, British, and Canadian troops had planned and landed on France's beach, Normandy to liberate it from the Germans. Much planning had gone into this campaign for about four years into the war. On June 6, Allied forces stormed Normandy, proving to be successful by the end of August. This was the turning point in the war, eventually leading Germany to unconditionally surrender. -
Liberation of Concentraion Camps
During the Allies' campaign of liberating Europe from Germany, they had come across many concentraion camps where enemies of Hitler's regime were held prisoner. In January of 1945 Soviets had liberated one of the most infamous camps, Auschwitz. While this was happening, there was a panic with retreating Germans trying to destroy all evidence. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The main reason behind the American invasion of Iwo Jima was to get a base near the Japanese coast. It was three divisions of U.S. marines with air and naval bombardment against nearly 23,000 of the Japanese naval and ground troops. The fact that the Japanese knew the land, this conquest was treacherous for the Americans. However, after a month America proved victorious. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was to be one of the largest battles fought on an island. This two month battle had invloved the 287,000 of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 Japanese soldiers of the Thirty-second Army. This battle was awful, considering that the Japanese at this point were scraping and pulling at any edge they could get over the Americans. The Japanese used anything they could to hide and ambush the Americans, sometimes using kamikaze-like charges at them with their bodies. -
VE Day
Otherwise known as the Victory in Europe day, both the U.S. and Britain celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany. Many Germans were afraid of being taken prisoner of the Soviets, and therefore lost 600 more soldiers vefore surrendering in Silesia. While this was happening, 13,000 British prisoners were released and sent back to their homeland. -
Dropping of Atomic Bombs
America dropped two newly made atomic bombs onto Japan, hitting Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.S. dropped these hoping to end the war quickly, seeing as Japan would never surrender otherwise. The explosion in wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Three days later, a second atomic bomb would be dropped on Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people. This cut the war short, and forced Japan's Emperor Hirohito to surrender. -
V-J Day
Japan had surrendered following the dropping of the atomic bombs, ending WWII. Before, Allied leaders gave Japan an ultimatum called the Potsdam Declaration. This declaration told Japan that the Allies would let Japan surrender peacefully, however they refused, prompting the Allies to drop atomic bombs onto them. August 14 was then known as the end of facism.
