Adriana's WWII timeline

Battle of the bulge

1945 BCE

What happened/why/effect: The battle raged for three weeks, resulting in a massive loss of American and civilian life. Nazi atrocities abounded, including the murder of 72 American soldiers by SS soldiers in the Ardennes town of Malmedy. Historian Stephen Ambrose estimated that by war’s end, “Of the 600,000 GIs involved, almost 20,000 were killed, another 20,000 were captured, and 40,000 were wounded.”

Dropping of the atomic bombs 1945

1945 BCE

What happened, why and effect: On this day in 1945, at 8:16 a.m. Japanese time, an 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.

Liberation of concentration camp 1945

1945 BCE

What happened/ why/ effect: Soviet forces were the first to approach a major Nazi camp, Poland, Surprised by the rapid Soviet advance, the Germans attempted to hide the evidence of mass murder by demolishing the camp. Camp staff set fire to the large crematorium used to burn bodies of murdered prisoners, In the summer of 1944, the Soviets also overran the sites of the Belzec, Sobibor, The Germans had dismantled these camps in 1943, after most of the Jews of Poland had already been killed.

Battle of Iwo Jima 1945

1945 BCE

What happened/why/effect: Despite the bloody fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the Japanese defeat was assured from the start. Overwhelming American superiority in arms and numbers as well as almost complete control of air power coupled with the impossibility of Japanese retreat or reinforcement, along with sparse food and supplies permitted no plausible circumstance in which the Americans could have lost the battle.

D-Day 1944

1944 BCE

What happened:the day the Allied powers crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, beginning the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi
Why:the Allies knew that a successful invasion of the continent was central to winning the war.
Effect:By the end of D-Day, 159,000 Allied troops, marines, airmen and naval personnel ashore have successfully established four sizeable beachheads. The invasion front remains vulnerable to German

Allied invasion of Italy

1943 BCE

What happened:
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place on 3 September 1943 during the early stages of the Italian Campaign of World War II.
Why:On the day of the landing, the Italian government secretly agreed to the Allies’ terms for surrender, but no public announcement was made until September 8.
Effect: Allied victory in Sicily had resulted in the overthrow of Mussolini's government, and the capitulation of Italy.

Warsaw Ghetto uprising 1943

1943 BCE

What happened/ why/ effect:On April 19, 1943, the Warsaw ghetto uprising began after German troops and police entered the ghetto to deport its surviving inhabitants. Seven hundred and fifty fighters fought the heavily armed and well-trained Germans. The ghetto fighters were able to hold out for nearly a month, but on May 16, 1943, the revolt ended. The Germans had slowly crushed the resistance. Of the more than 56,000 Jews captured, about 7,000 were shot. the remainder were deported to camps.

Operation Barbarossa

1941 BCE

What happened: German soldiers advance through northern Russia, planes were flying over German positions near Moscow soviet prisoners on their way to German prison camp.
Why:Planning for Barbarossa had begun over a year previously, in the wake of Germany’s stunning success against the western allies in France.
Effect:Political and physical weakeness of the "Greate" Brittain, increase of tensions between Soviet Union and USA for dominance and influence in the World.

German Blitzkrieg

1940 BCE

What happened: German troops parade through Warsaw Poland, September 1939, the goosestepping of the Wehrmacht embodied the idea of nazi superiority and German right of conquest.
Why: The British and French declared war on Germany on September 1939 as a result of the aggression against Poland. In mid March 1940 Finland was forced to captivate to the soviet.
Effect: German "lightning war" Military tactic calculated to create psychological shock and resultant disorganization in enemy force.

Fall of Paris 1940

1940 BCE

What happened:On this day in 1940, Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening-as German troops enter and occupy Paris.
Why: Hitler dictates that the French capitulation take place at Compiegne, a forest north of Paris.
Effect:When the British and the French saw themselves pushed back by the operation, the British evacuated their British Expeditionary Force with French divisions in Operation Dynamo.

Germany's invasion of Poland 1939

1939 BCE

What Happened: The German soviet pact, which stated that Poland was to be partitioned between the two powers, enable Germany to attack Poland. On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded poland.
Why: German wanted Poland. Some of the territory poland occupied had been Prussian territory. German territory prior to the First World War, Germans desire for agricultural independence.
Effect: About 65,000 polish troops were killed and others being captured by the German and 240,000 by the soviet.

Rape of Nanking 1937

1937 BCE

What happened:the Rape of Nanking was an episode during the Second Sino-Japanese War of mass murder and mass rape by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanking.
Why:Because China had tried but never successfully invaded the islands of Japan, this also presented an idea of superiority to the Japanese.
Effect: Several thousand females from 7 years old to around 75 years old were gang raped and many were then killed. Thousands of men, women and children were killed.

Japanese invasion of China 1937

1937 BCE

What happened: There were about 800 Japanese present, some of whom were in sedan chairs, the binding of prisoners and shooting kept up until 2 o'clock in the morning.
Why: Japan's invasion of China was due essentially to Japan's desire to be an imperial power, there was both an economic and a militaristic element. Economically Japan needed more resources.
Effects: almost every family and community was affected by the war. 20 million and 30 million soldiers and civilians died during the war.

Operation Thunderclap

Feb 13, 1945

What happened/why/effect:
The background of "Thunderclap" was long and complex. Two months after D-Day, Sir Charles Portal, chief of the Air Staff, had suggested that the moment Germany approached military collapse, a series of heavy air raids launched against east German population centers these raids might even precipitate total surrender. The Joint Intelligence Committee a group of British experts was cool to "Thunderclap," since it was not likely "to achieve any worth while degree of success