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Japanese Invasion of China
Japan was low on resources and needed to expand to keep its power. After invading Manchukuo and Manchuria, the Chinese were next and were woefully unprepared due to the imperialism of the past century. In 1937, Japan had decided to invade China and launched an all-out offensive slaughtering many as they massacred any trace of the Chinese they could find. They eventually won the war and occupied most of China's Coast. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/world-war-ii-in-the-pacific -
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German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg meaning "Lightning War" in German was essentially a combined arms offensive revolving around high force and speed using a mix of tanks and planes all directed towards a single strategic target. This overwhelmed the enemy and allowed them to begin to surround and cripple enemy armies as they were already defeated before they knew what was going on. This tactic was used to invade Poland, France, and the Benelux region. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Signing of The Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
The Germans wanted to make sure that they wouldn't face any aggression from the east during their invasion of Europe. To do this, they decided a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union would work. The Soviet Union agreed and they also decided to split up Poland when Germany invaded the region. This allowed them to roll through Europe unopposed by the Communists in the east. Eventually, Germany broke the pact. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/german-soviet-nonaggression-pact -
German Invasion of Poland
Germany was ready to take over Europe. They had convinced their people that Poland was plotting against them, they had the non-aggression pact with the Soviets, and they had mobilized enough to outnumber the Poles. The Polish were no match for the German blitzkrieg and eventually fell in a few weeks. They eventually were split up between Germany and the Soviet Union due to the Molotov/Ribbentrop Pact.https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/invasion-of-poland-fall-1939 -
Operation Gomorrah
After the battle of Britain, the British decided to retaliate with a bombing of a more strategic target. They bombed the industrial powerhouse of Hamburg for a year or so until the costs became too much. The bombing paid off as over 200,000 buildings were destroyed in total. This crippled Germany's industry and other targets were bombed throughout the war thus weakening Germany's war efforts. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
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Battle of France
France had focused on an elaborate defensive military doctrine, under the impression that it would hold against the Germans. This however was not the case as the Maginot line meant to protect the Franco-German border didn't cover the Belgian flank. Germany fought their way through the Benelux region and went around the Maginot, defeating France with their blitzkrieg. France surrendered in 6 weeks and left Britain in their wake. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/fall_france_01.shtml -
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Operation Barbarossa
Breaking the prior non-aggression pact that the two nations had, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. On June 22nd, 1941, Germany had launched an invasion of the Soviet Union with 3 million troops. Due to the previous purge on Soviet leadership, this caught Stalin off guard and the offensive was rather successful until the winter. The winter slowed the German offensive and allowed the Soviets to regroup thus stopping the offensive. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
On December 7th, 1941, Japan decided to launch a strategic attack on the American Navy to cripple its navy. This resulted in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This attack resulted in roughly 3000 Americans dead along with 20 ships and 300 planes. This attack, however, failed to do much damage to the larger and more devastating ships. Congress and the president decided to go to war in the Pacific. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
This conference between German high officials Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler, and Heinrich Himmler talked about the "Jewish Question". The Germans saw the Jews, Poles, and cripples as a threat to their society and decided to get rid of them. This resulted in what was known as the Holocaust as the conference had ordered Himmler to initiate an efficient killing of the Jewish people. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
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Battle of Midway
The American fleet had started to prepare at Midway for an invasion of the rest of the Pacific. This prompted the Japanese to launch another surprise attack in an attempt to cripple the US navy. The US navy however deciphered the Japanese radio messages and found out about the attack. Waves of bombers were sent from the base to attack various branches of the Japanese attack. The US won and crippled the Japanese navy ending the battle. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
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Stalingrad [https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad]
Germany had to find some way to cripple the Red Army. They decided that cutting off the supply of oil coming from the southern Caucasus region would do the trick. The Germans directed their efforts from Moscow to the southern industrial city of Stalingrad. When the Germans approached the city, Stalin issued Order No.227. This prompted heavy resistance from the Soviets and resulted in a 6-month long slaughter. Germany would never recover from this battle. -
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Allied Invasion of Italy
After the strategic victory in Africa by the Allied forces, Italy and the territories it occupied was next. The Allies launched an invasion on Sicily and the fascist regime in Italy fell apart as the Allies gained more ground. Once they made it to mainland Italy, they met heavy German resistance in the mountainous terrain. This resulted in a long brutal fight until D-Day in which allied forces were ordered to hold in Italy. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/italian-campaign -
D-Day
The Allies needed to take pressure off of the eastern front and decided to invade Europe through France. On June 6th, 1944, they launched their offensive on the beaches of Normandy resulting in 10,000 casualties over the beach alone. Eventually, due to the efforts of Allied paratroopers behind enemy lines, the beaches were taken and Europe was now up for grabs. Germany would never recover from this. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
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Battle of the Bulge
The Germans had launched a familiar offensive through the Ardennes in an attempt to split Allied Forces. This wasn't successful but resulted in a 6-week meat grinder that left the forest utterly destroyed. The American forces dug in and both sides were not ready for the winter that was to come. The fighting was intense but the German offensive failed and the Americans won; They won at the cost of 100,000 lives. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Operation Thunderclap
In the late stages of the war, the Allied powers had decided to bomb strategic cities in Germany. During this period that lasted until the end of the war, many German cities were reduced to rubble and turned utterly useless. Some of these bombings were put into question as some of the targetted cities were not very important to the German war effort, yet got completely destroyed. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/firebombing-of-dresden -
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Iwo Jima
The American Military had flown many ariel recon missions over the island leading them to believe that they wouldn't have to face much resistance. They were wrong. The Japanese had dug into the jungle terrain using a vast array of hidden bunkers and artillery positions dug into the tops of the mountains to fire down on the invading Marines. The battle resulted in 25,000 casualties for the US Marines landing on the beach. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
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Okinawa
The battle of Okinawa was supposed to be the last island to be invaded before taking over Japan. They expected the landing to be a slaughter comparable to D-Day, however, when they landed they saw nothing. The Americans had walked right into the Japanese trap and when the Japanese forces were ordered to attack, the battle took a brutal turn as casualties stacked up on both sides. Eventually, the Americans cleared the island and won. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
VE Day
After the fierce Battle of Berlin, it was a matter of time until all of Germany surrendered to the Allied forces. The day in which the war in Europe ended was known as VE day and everyone celebrated the news across the world. This resulted in the splitting up of German territory and Austria, along the boundaries that would soon be known as the Iron Curtain. The war in the far-east however would not be over for a few more months.https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Atomic Bombing of Japan Starts
After Japan had refused to surrender, the Allies had to come up with a new solution to end the war quickly. The newly developed American Atomic Bomb was the solution. On August 6th, 1945, the B-29 bomber named the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb to ever be used on an actual target on Hiroshima. 80,000 died immediately. They did the same to Nagasaki soon after killing 40,000 people immediately. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki -
VJ Day
On July 26th, the Allied Forces had demanded that Japan surrender. They refused and the Americans had sent bombers armed with the deadliest bombs known to man, the atomic bombs. The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed and Japan eventually surrendered on August 15th, 1945. The day is known in history as the day World War 2 ended for good. Across the United States, everyone was celebrating the end of the conflict. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day