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Japanese invasion of China. Source:www.ushmm.org
Japan faced severe of oil and neutral resources, and decided to attack the United States and British forces in Asia and seize the resources of Southeast Asia. The invasion of Manchuria continued in 1937 with a brutal attack on China. Then the US Seeking to curb Japanese aggression and force a withdrawal of Japanese forces from Manchuria and China, the United States imposed economic sanctions on Japan. -
Rape of Nanking. Source: History.com
During the Sino-Japanese War, Nanking, the capital of China, falls to Japanese forces, and the Chinese government flees to Hankow.To break the spirit of Chinese resistance, Japanese General Matsui Iwane ordered that the city of Nanking be destroyed.Much of the city was burned, and Japanese troops launched a campaign of atrocities against civilians. In what became known as the “Rape of Nanking,” -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact. Source: www.ushmm.org
Also known as the German-Soviet Pact, It was signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union before WWII started. Both countries agreed not to attack each other. The German-Soviet Pact enabled Germany to attack Poland without fear of Soviet intervention.
Britain and France, having guaranteed to protect Poland's borders five months earlier, declared war on Germany. These events marked the beginning of WWII -
German Blitzkrieg. Source: www.history.com
Blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower.Its successful execution results in short military campaigns, which preserves human lives and limits the expenditure of artillery. German forces tried out the blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. -
Germany's invasion of Poland. Source: www.history.com
To Hitler, the conquest of Poland would bring Lebensraum, for the German people, He ordered 1.5 million German troops to invade Poland with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea.Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany initiating World War II. -
Fall of Paris. Source: www.history.com
German troops entered and occupied Paris. The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill convinced the French government to wait, and said that America would enter the war and aid France. President Roosevelt was planning on helping France but Secretary of State Cordell Hull opposed it, knowing that Hitler, as well as the Allies, would take such a public declaration of help as but a prelude to a formal declaration of war. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union: three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory.Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources. -
Pearl Harbor. Source: www.history.com
Japan launched a surprise attack on the US in hopes to destroy their aircraft carriers so they couldn't join the upcoming war; however, not all of the carriers were at the Pearl Harbor. Japan manged to destroy nearly 20 American nasal vessal, more than 300 airplanes, and more than 2000 American sailor and solddier died and 1000 were wounded.After the assault President Franklin D. asked the congress to declare war on Japan, the congress approved -
Wannsee Conference. Source: www.ushmmm.com
Fifteen high ranking Nazi party and German government leaders attended.It was held in a villa outside of Berlin by Reinhard Heydrich chief of the Reich Security Main Office.The meeting's purpose was to discuss the "final solution to the Jewish in Europe". The "final solution" was the Nazis' code name for the deliberate, carefully planned destruction, or genocide, of all European Jews.Hitler approved this plan of annihilation of the European Jews and it later became known as the Holocaust. -
Bataan Death March. Source: www.history.com
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines began, and captured Manila. On April 9, 1942, U.S. surrendered the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the JapaneseI the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March. -
Battle of Midway. Source: www.history.com
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
Operation Gomorrah. Source: www.history.com
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day.Britain had suffered the deaths of 167 civilians as a result of German bombing raids in July so Britain wanted to get revenge.More than 1,500 German civilians were killed in that first British raid.British strikes pursued until November of 1943. The operation proved destructive to Hamburg and the German's morale. -
D-Day. Source:www.history.com
the Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control.It began when American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. Before D-Day the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target.By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. -
Operation Thunderclap. Source: www.history.com
Operation Thunderclap was a code an aborted mission planned in August 1944. The plan included a huge attack on Berlin and it was believed that it would have killed about 110,00 people, many of them would have been German; however, it was decided that it was unlikely to success later. -
Battle of the Bulge. Source: www.history.com
Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance.As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name. The German did not win the war; however,This woke the Allied Powers from their relaxed state. -
Battle of Iwo Jima. Source: www.history.com
The American amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. Following elaborate preparatory air and naval bombardment, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island in February 1945.The battle was marked by changes in Japanese defense tactics–troops no longer defended at the beach line but rather concentrated inland; consequently, the marines experienced initial success but then got bogged down in costly attritional warfare. -
Battle of Okinawa. Source:www.history.com
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II. it involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese.The goal was to capture the air bases necessary for the projected intrusion of Japan. The Japanese navy and army mounted mass air attacks by planes on one-way “suicide” missions; the Japanese also sent the Yamato.The Allies won the Battle of Okinawa which soon lead to the dropping of the atomic bombs and the defeat of the Japanese. -
VE Day. Source: www.history.com
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.The German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs. Source: www.history.com
American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people , three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II -
VJ Day. Source: www.history.com
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Although Japan didn't officially sign the surrender document until September 2, 1945.on August 14, President Harry S. Truman announced news of Japan’s surrender in a press conference at the White House: “This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl Harbor. This is the day when Fascism finally dies, as we always knew it would”.
