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Japanese invasion of China (1937)
a clash occurred between Chinese and Japanese troops near Peiping in North China. When this clash was followed by indications of intensified military activity on the part of Japan, Secretary of State Hull urged upon the Japanese Government a policy of self-restraint. https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/china.htm -
German Blitzkrieg
Germany quickly overran much of Europe and was victorious for more than two years by relying on a new military tactic called the "Blitzkrieg" https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005437 -
Germany's invasion of Poland
The German-Soviet Pact of August 1939, which stated that Poland was to be partitioned between the two powers, enabled Germany to attack Poland without the fear of Soviet intervention. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070 -
Operation Gomorrah
a campaign of air raids beginning 24 July 1943 and lasting for 8 days and 7 nights. It was at the time the heaviest assault in the history of aerial warfare and was later called the Hiroshima of Germany by British officials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Hamburg_in_World_War_II -
Operation Barbarossa
code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which was launched on June 22, 1941. The failure of German troops to defeat Soviet forces in the campaign signaled a crucial turning point in the war.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Operation-Barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
the Japanese bombarded the pearl harbor because they were a threat to the Japanese https://pearlharborwarbirds.com/why-japan-attacked-pearl-harbor/ -
Wannsee Conference
conference discussing the "final solution", which was the Nazis' code name for the deliberate, carefully planned destruction, or genocide, of all European Jews. The Nazis used the vague term "final solution" to hide their policy of mass murder from the rest of the world.
https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007712 -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion
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. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of the Bulge
the Germans launch the last major offensive of the war, Operation Mist, also known as the Ardennes Offensive and the Battle of the Bulge, an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-bulge -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap was the code for a cancelled operation planned in August 1944 but shelved and never implemented. The plan envisaged a massive attack on Berlin in the belief that would cause 220,000 casualties with 110,000 killed, many of them key German personnel, which would shatter German morale.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderclap_plan -
Battle of Iwo Jima
U.S. Marines stormed the beaches of the craggy, bombed-out island of Iwo Jima. The island’s Japanese defenders had entrenched themselves in a honeycombed network of caves, tunnels, pillboxes and spider holes, and U.S. forces would spend the next several weeks advancing inch by bloody inch across unforgiving terrain.
http://www.history.com/news/the-battle-of-iwo-jima-begins-70-years-ago -
Battle of Okinawa
The battle of Okinawa, also known as Operation Iceberg, took place in April-June 1945. It was the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific theater of World War II. It also resulted in the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 casualties for the Allies.
http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-okinawa-operation-iceberg.htm -
VE Day
On this day in 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.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
n American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world’s first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-is-dropped-on-hiroshima -
VJ Day
V-J Day, had been selected by the Allies after they named V-E Day for the victory in Europe. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo Bay, Japan, aboard the battleship USS Missouri.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_over_Japan_Day
