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Japanese invasion of China
Japan invades Manchuria, China for oil and other natural resources. This is because they lack these resources in their own land. The effect is that the world UN said to withdrawal to Japan bu they refused and continued to take Manchuria. -
Rape of Nanking
This was when Japanese soldiers raped and slaughtered the people of Nanjing. 50,000–300,000 dead civilians were killed during this mass murder spree the Japanese did. They did this because it was the capital of China and they hated the Chinese so they murdered thousands. This resulted in the UN looking down on the Japanese and the Japanese taking Nanjing. -
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German Blitzkrieg
It was the form of war the Germans used, it was used from 1939 till 1940. It meant "lighting war" in German, the Germans would rush into the country with all their power and take it quickly then take another spot. This was because Hitler knew he didn't have much time and oil to have a long war so he got oil and other resources as quickly as he could. It ended up in German taking every country they did it on, even France. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Germany and the Soviets both invaded Poland, Soviets from the east and Germany from the west. Germany invaded Poland to regain lost land from world war I and to gain more farm land. Two days, September 3, 1939,later Britain and France declared war on Germany and the USSR. -
Operation Barbarossa
This is when the Germans betray the Soviets and invade the USSR. They did this because Hitler hates the communist party and wants to kill them, in the holocaust. This caused a good push into the USSR in the start then a series of lost battle for the Germans. This also caused the USSR to join the allies. -
Pearl Harbor
This happened when the Japanese bomb the naval base of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. They destroyed many naval ships and killed thousands. They did this because they wanted to destroy the naval and aerial fleet of the Pacific so Japan can take more island, like the Philippines. This made it so the USA declared war on Japan which made Germany declare war on the USA. -
Wannsee Conference
It was the conference between the senior officers to discuss the genocide of the Jewish people. This was because Hitler blamed the Jews for their loss in WWI. This caused the genocide of 6 millions Jews in the short three year period and the creation of the country Israel. -
Battle of Midway
About six months after Pearl Harbor the Japanese attacked US naval fleets. This showed how powerful the USA was because he destroyed a whole Japanese fleet and not harming the US fleet to much. This was because Japan wanted to destroy the US naval fleet to become the main power in the Pacific. It resulted in the US become the naval superpower in the Pacific. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Germany was trying to invade the city of Stalingrad, Russia. This was marked the bloodiest battle in history killing 2.2 million people in this one battle. The Germans lost horrible and many Germans became prisoners of war. The Germans lost because it was winter and the Germans didn't know how to fight in the winter while the Soviets did. It resulted in Germany not invading the Soviets for a while. -
Operation Gomorrah
This was the Allie bombing of the oil refinery town of Hamburg, Germany. It lasted for 8 days and killed 42,600 civilians. They said when they would blow up a refinery it would make a fiery tornado. The Allies did this to wound the German need for oil, the Germans didn't have much oil in the first place. This resulted in the Germans have even less oil and having to stop pushing so hard into other territories. -
Allied invasion of Italy
This was followed by the invasion of Sicily, which was successful. The Germans tried to help Italy by sending over the Luftwaffe. And later in the battle sending over tanks but it didn't help. Italy gave in and surrendered on September 17, 1943. They invaded Italy so Germany would lose foreign troops and Italian resources. This resulted in Italy exiting World War II. -
D-Day
This was the allied attack on Normandy, France to take back France from the Germans. They prepared many fake signs to make sure the Germans didn't know they were going to land there. It worked and they took France on August 19, 1944, they took France back. This happened because France was a major Alliance with Britain so Britain wanted France back and, to push the Germans back into their land. The effect was they took France and they weakened the German army pushing them back into Germany. -
Battle of the Bulge
This was the last battle between Britain, France, USSR, and the USA against the Germans. Germany tried to take the land of eastern Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg. Germany did well in the beginning but they lacked the troops to continue. This happened because Hitler wanted to take more land before he bunkered in trenches. This resulted in Berlin being a straight line for the allied troops. This battle was a significant battle because it basically meant they won the war. -
Thunderclap Plan
This was a plan made to bomb Berlin, railways, and other small towns in Germany. But it never came into effect. It never did because they didn't know what railway to bomb and the pilots didn't want to bomb the small town. It is believed that if they did this plan it would have ended World War II in Europe. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
After the USA defeated German in the battle of the Bugle they moved over to the Pacific against the Japanese. It was to take the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese and it made the new plan of island hopping. This was the idea that they would go island to island getting closer to the Japanese. The USA took the Island and caused three times the casualties to the Japanese. It happened because there was a military base that the US wanted. They finally took the island on March 26, 1945. -
Battle of Okinawa
This is where the USA invaded Okinawa from the Japanese. It was called the "typhoon of steel" because of how hard the Japanese fought and the kamikaze attacks. It caused many deaths at least 75,000 Allied and 84,166–117,000 Japanese. This invasion was to get close to the main island of Japan so it is easier to bomb and drop napalm. It resulted in the USA taking the island and only getting closer to the defeat of the Japanese. -
VE Day
This is also called "Victory in Europe day" because this is when Germany surrendered from World War II. Hitler earlier that day killed himself by gunshot, along with his wife, because of the battle of Berlin. The death of Hitler was the cause of the end of the war and Hitler killed himself because he thought he will lose the war. This resulted in celebration across Europe at the end of WWII in Europe. -
Potsdam Declaration
This was the declaration that Japan would withdraw all of there forces from World War II. And for all soldiers to go back to mainland Japan. And they will return the land conquered. This declaration happened because Japan surrendered from the dropping of the atomic bomb. It resulted in the official end of World War II. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
We dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, atomic bombs are bombs that split atoms to release energy. The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the second one was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Thousands of people died from it. It was dropped to test the nuclear bomb and hopefully to end the war with Japan. It resulted in the surrender of Japan in World War II, and the end of World War II. -
VJ Day
This meant victory in Japan day which was a result of the drop of the nuclear weapons on Japan. The reason the surrendered was that Tokyo was in ruins and their military was losing too many people. This resulted in the end of World War II around the world.
