-
Japanese invasion of China
the japan china war started in July 1937, when the Japanese claimed that they were fired on by Chinese troops at the Marco polo bridge near Beijing. using this as an excuse, the Japanese launched a full scale invasion of China using the conquered Manchuria as a landing base for their troops. The Japanese came up against little organized resistance. The Guomintang put up the little resistance though they were up a formidable enemy. -
germany's invasion of poland
In August of 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty. One week later, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. The first attack of the war took place on September 1, 1939, as German aircraft bombarded the Polish town of Wielun, killing nearly 1,200. Five minutes later, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on a transit depot at Westerplatte in the Free City of Danzig. Within days, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. -
German Blitzkreig
In the first phase of World War II in Europe, Germany sought to avoid a long war. Germany's strategy was to defeat its opponents in a series of short campaigns. Germany quickly overran much of Europe and was victorious for more than two years by relying on a new military tactic called the "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war). Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons (such as tanks, planes, and artillery) along a narrow front. These forces would drive a breach in enemy defenses, -
The fall of Paris
In the early 1940's, France was getting ready for an attack of Germany which they knew was coming.The key effect of the blitzkrieg into France was the division of Allied forces which were effectively split in two and backing up the British Expeditionary Force and the French First Army to the English Channel. Trapped and without room to maneuver or to be reinforced, Operation Dynamo, the quickly mobilized evacuation of allied forces across the English Channel to England. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the German codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, which commenced on June 22, 1941. It was to be the turning point for the fortunes of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, in that the failure of Operation Barbarossa arguably resulted in the eventual overall defeat of Nazi Germany. The Eastern Front, which was opened by Operation Barbarossa, would become the biggest theater of war in World War II. -
Peral Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the United States, bombing warships and military targets in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than 350 Japanese aircraft attacked the naval base in two waves, strafing targets, dropping armor-piercing bombs, and launching torpedoes toward U.S. battleships and cruisers. The U.S. forces were unprepared, waking to the sounds of explosions and scrambling to defend themselves. The entire preemptive attack lasted only 90 minutes. -
Wannse Conference
On 20 January 1942 one of the most infamous meetings in history was held on the outskirts of Berlin at an elegant villa at 56–58 Am Grossen Wannsee. The meeting had been called by the second most important figure in the SS, Reinhard Heydrich, to discuss issues arising from the Nazis’ treatment of the Jewish question. Present that day were fifteen senior Nazi functionaries most were civil servants or SS officers. The majority were highly educated – of the fifteen people who attended the Wannsee. -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
In the summer of 1942, about 300,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka. When reports of mass murder in the killing center leaked back to the Warsaw ghetto, a surviving group of mostly young people formed an organization called the Z.O.B. (for the Polish name, Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa, which means Jewish Fighting Organization) -
Operation Gomorrah
Operation Gomorrah was the military codename for the Allied bombing of Hamburg (Battle of Hamburg) during World War II (24 July 1943 - 2 August 1943). The attacks during the last week of July in 1943, created one of the largest firestorms raised by the RAF and USAAF in World War II, killing at least 42,600 civilians (other sources account for up to 125,000 deaths) and wounding over 37,000 in Hamburg and practically destroying the entire city. -
Allied invasion of Italy
Historically the invasion of Italy was a sequel to the conquest of Sicily, but from the point of view of grand strategy the two events were widely separated. The Sicilian campaign marked the close of a phase of the struggle against the Axis which had begun with Italy's entry into the war in the summer of 1940. When Messina fell to the Allies they had accomplished the basic aim of clearing the enemy from Africa and opening the Mediterranean to Allied shipping. -
D Day
D-Day was one of the major events of World War Two. D-Day saw a vast Allied armada deliver 100,000’s of soldiers to the shores of Normandy at the start of the drive to Berlin. D-Day itself was on June 6th 1944. The planning for D-Day began in 1943 at the Quebec Conference in Canada. The planned invasion was given the code-word "Overlord". It was believed by the Allies that the Germans expected an Allied attack at the nearest point to occupied Europe - the Pays de Calais. -
Liberation of concentration camps
The Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the largest killing center and concentration camp, in January 1945. The Nazis had forced the majority of Auschwitz prisoners to march westward (in what would become known as "death marches"), and Soviet soldiers found only several thousand emaciated prisoners alive when they entered the camp. There was abundant evidence of mass murder in Auschwitz. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap’ had been under discussion within the Allied Command for some time, the proposal was to bomb the eastern-most cities of Germany to disrupt the transport infrastructure behind what was becoming the Eastern front. Also to demonstrate to the German population, in even more devastating fashion, that the air defences of Germany were now of little substance and that the Nazi regime had failed them. -
Battle of the Bulge
Attacking through the Ardennes Forest in eastern Belgium on December 16, hundreds of German tanks and several hundred thousand German troops broke through the thinly held American lines. Although the Germans advanced as much as 50 miles in some areas, the Ardennes offensive was short-lived. Despite taking dreadful losses, US forces managed to delay the enemy sufficiently to permit reinforcements to be moved into position to halt the German drive. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
During the Battle of Iwo Jima, the United States Marines, led by Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, fought against Japanese forces led by General Tadamichi Kuribayashi. The Navy Department Library states that United States soldiers from the third, fourth and fifth divisions of the Unites States Navy proved to be a major part of the American victory. Throughout the battle, allied soldiers faced heavy attacks from Japanese forces. Capturing Mount Suribachi, a 550-foot volcano. -
Batle of Okinawa
A series of defense lines across the island, both north and south of the American landing beaches, enabled the Japanese to conduct a fierce defense of Okinawa over many weeks. Using pillboxes and strongpoints, caves, and even some ancient castles, the Japanese defense positions supported one another and often resisted even the most determined artillery fire or air strikes. Mounting few attacks themselves, the Japanese conserved their strength for this defense. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) was on May 8th 1945. VE Day officially announced the end of World War Two in Europe. On Monday May 7th at 02.41. German General Jodl signed the unconditional surrender document that formally ended war in Europe. -
Postdam Declaration
Held near Berlin, the Potsdam Conference (July 17-August 2, 1945) was the last of the World War II meetings held by the “Big Three” heads of state. Featuring American President Harry S. Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (and his successor, Clement Attlee) and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, the talks established a Council of Foreign Ministers and a central Allied Control Council for administration of Germany. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by the first atomic bombs used in warfare. The first atomic bomb ever to be used in a military operation was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan On August 6, 1945 at 8:16:02 a.m. Hiroshima time. The bomb, affectionately named "Little Boy," exploded 1,900 feet above the courtyard of Shima Hospital, with a force equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT. By the end of 1945, 140,00 people had died. -
VJ Day
Print Cite On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victoryover Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.” The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. -
