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Japanese Invasion of China (1937)
The Japanese conquered Manchuria as they believed it would be beneficial to their nation. The Chinese were mistreated and eventually revolted in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The U.S. anger at the Japanese for this mistreatment created the oil embargo that caused the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor.
From History.com -
Rape of Nanking (Nanjing)
The Japanese invaded Nanjing and sexually assaulted and massacred thousands of people. This was in response to the Chinese resistance to Japanese takeover.
From History.com -
German Invasion of Poland
After signing the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact, Germany invaded Poland and quickly took over. Hitler took Poland for lebensraum for the people. Eventually it brought Hitler to break the pact with the Soviet Union and the USSR joined the Allies.
From the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum -
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German Blitzkrieg
The Germans began using the wildly successful strategy of blitzkrieg, where a highly-concentrated mass of offense penetrated the enemy's front lines to shock and disorganize them. The Germans used this because they believed it would make the war short. The Germans used this strategy to remain successful during WWII for over two years.
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From USHMM -
German Invasion of Paris
German troops announced that a new curfew would be imposed at 8pm when they invaded. 2 million people escaped and the rest were disheartened and tortured. This eventually caused the US to impose an embargo on the Axis Powers.
From History.com -
Operation Barbarossa (Nazi invasion of the USSR)
Hitler attempted to take Stalingrad by launching an offensive. He wanted to take Russia for lebensraum for his people. The terrible strategy and Russian winter killed the offensive and broke the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact, creating a two-front war that Germany could not win. -
Japanese Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The Japanese dropped bombs on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and destroyed many battleships and thousands of planes. The Japanese did this because of increasing resistance to the U.S.' opposition to the occupation of China. This bombing was their attempt to scare the US into nonalignment. It ironically and ultimately brought the US into the war and caused the demise of Japan years later.
From History.com -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference is where Nazi officials discussed the Final Solution. They met because they needed to coordinate how to mass-kill Jews. It eventually resulted in the plan used to exterminate 6-million Jews.
From USHMM -
Bataan Death March
After the US surrender in the Bataan peninsula, the Japanese troops forced 75000 Filipino and American troops to travel nonstop 65 miles to prison camps. In response, Dwight D Eisenhower invaded the island of Leyta.
From History.com -
Operation Gomorrah
The British dropped 9000 tons of explosives on Hamburg. They did this because they wanted revenge on Germany for bombing them, so they entered Germany by using a new radar jamming device called Window. It killed 30,000 and destroyed 280,000 buildings, destroying along with them the economy.
From History.com -
D-Day
Thousands of troops landed on the beaches of Normandy after fooling Hitler into thinking the attack would be in Pas-De-Calais. The Allies did this to, with the help of the U.S.S.R., crush Germany in the middle of the armed forces. This invasion eventually resulted in the unconditional surrender of Germany.
From History.com BONUS: Interesting fact from army.mil. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap was a plan intended to kill 220,000 German civilians and government officials. It was never executed as it was considered too impractical. -
Battle of the Bulge
This surprise German blitzkrieg offensive in the Ardennes got its name from the shape of the Allied front line, which was a bulge. The Germans intended to split the Allies in two through the Ardennes. This battle was forever known as the largest counteroffensive ever fought by the U.S.
From History.com -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Allied forces raided concentration camps and freed their occupants. The surprised Germans attempted to hide the evidence of mass-murder but failed. This led to their convictions in crimes against humanity.
From USHMM -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The US invaded the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, a hot and miserable environment, using a complicated system of caves, tunnels and dugouts. They invaded to get a military base near Japan. This allowed the easier takeover of Okinawa later on.
From History.com -
Battle of Okinawa
The U.S. invaded the last island on the list of islands in the island-hopping strategy. They invaded to create air bases vital to the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland. The captured island eventually facilitated the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in mainland Japan.
From History.com -
VE Day
VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) was a British, French and American day of celebration. They celebrated the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany.
[From History.com](www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe) -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. They did this to squeeze a surrender out of Japan. Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced its unconditional surrender after this killed more than 120,000 in Japan. -
Potsdam Declaration
Japan unconditionally surrendered through the Potsdam Declaration, declaring their acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Conference. This ended the atomic bombings of Japan and WWII.
From History.com -
V-J Day
V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day) was an Allied day of celebration. They celebrated because of the unconditional Japanese surrender.
From History.com
