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German Blitzkrieg
Germany was looking to shorten and avoid long wars. Their solution was the blitzkrieg method which was the use of new and strong technology. This became very successful as they defeated Poland during the invasion. -
Germany Invades Poland
The German-Soviet Pact stated that Poland be divided between two powers which led to the German attack on Poland. Germany invaded Poland by breaking through the Polish defenses and creating an encirclement attack. The result was a defeat of the Polish army within weeks. -
Fall of Paris
Germans flood into the city of Paris for an invasion to take over the land. Luckily, Paris had a little bit of a warning so many french men and women had already fled by the time Germany had entered. With little-to-no help from the Allied powers, Paris had fallen. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese performed a surprise aerial attack against the U.S. naval base located at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii. The reasoning for this was the tension between the two countries. Earlier, Japan had decided to declare war on China and expand their territory but the United States were completely against it. This attack on Pearl Harbor had immediately brought the U.S. into World War 2 and eventually led to the atomic bombing. -
Bataan Death March
After the U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula and the lack of naval and air support, 75,000 Filipino and American troops were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps. This long walk, the intense heat, and the harsh treatment from the Japanese guards resulted in thousands of troops dead. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
D-Day began from a threat of an invasion along France's northern coast. 156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces landed on the beaches along the northern coast of France ready for an invasion. More than 4,000 allied troops lost their lives and thousands more wounded or missing. -
Battle of the Bulge
Adolf Hitler attempted to split the allied forces in northwest Europe by using the blitzkrieg method. The reasoning for this was to push the allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. The result, a massive loss of American and civilian life along with many American deaths. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
America needed a base near the Japanese coast so they invaded Iwo Jima. Three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island where 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops were there to defend. The marines defeated the defending forces after a month of fighting. -
Battle of Okinawa
On Easter Sunday, the navy's fifth fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. armies and marine corps troops landed on the Pacific island of Okinawa in hopes to win over Japan. This invasion was part of a plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands which included Okinawa. The result, some American casualties but much more from Japan. The win of this battle put Allied forces within striking distance of Japan. -
VE Day
The United States and Great Britain both celebrated a victory against Europe on this day. This battle against Germany resulted in many deaths and a defeat against the Nazi war machine. The concern of German soldiers was to elude the grasp of soviet forces and keep from being taken prisoner before they decided to surrender. -
Atomic Bomb Dropping
As revenge on the bombing of Pearl Harbor and to use a nuclear weapon before Germany, the U.S. dropped a five ton bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This immediately ended World War 2. -
VJ Day
VJ Day or, Victory over Japan Day, was the day that Japan had finally surrendered. This surrender brought a close to all six years of hostilities for Japan and all hostilities during World War 2; World War 2 had ended.
