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Japanese Invasion of China
The Japanese being there invasion of China. The Chinses put up a much stiffer resistence then what was expected. It made them furious so there revenge was very bad. They invaded because it was the next step in their ideals for a total janapese conquest of Asia http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005437 -
German Invasion of Poland
Germany begins their invasion of Poland. The Polish army was defeated in a matter of weeks. The Soviet Union attacked from the opposite direction. They attacked because they were the easiest country to start the invasion. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005437 -
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German Blitzkrieg
Germany used fast tanks and support troops to quickly overwhelm the invading countries. They called it "Lighting War' or the blitzkrieg. The BlitzKrieg wasn't any single battle, it was just a style of attacking. The msot famous isntance is the battle of Britain. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005437 -
Operation Barbossa
Operation Barbossa was the German invasion of the Soviet Union. They had over a 3 million man army stretching from the North Cape to the Black Sea. Germany deided to do this so they didn't have to fight a far on two fronts. They eventually lost leading to a two front war. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
On December the 7th the Japanese attacked the naval base of Pearl with the of destroying the aircraft carriers. The attack lasted for just two hours but killed over 2000 sailors and destroyed over 20 major naval vessels. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wansee Conference
The Wansee Confernce was meeting held by high ranking Nazi officials to discuss the "Final Solution." The Nazi's were tired of the war taking so long so they tried a new plan. The plan led to the massive rounding up of Jews and transporatation to concentration camps. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005477 -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was the most decisive Naval batlte of WWII. The major advances in code-breaking let the Allies know when the ataack was coming and set an ambush. It ended up turning the PAacfici front of the battl in major favor of the Allies. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the defense of the city of Stalingrad by the Soviets. Over 2 million combined casutlies of the battle alone and considered one of the dealiest battles in history. By the Soviets winning it turned the war in the favor of the Allies. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw uprising was a Jewish resitence in the a city of Poland. It had about 750 in total. Almost all of the Jews were killed or deported evetually, but the wanted to show they weren't to cowed. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005188 -
Operation Gomorrah
Operation Gomorrah was a series of bombing runs by American and British airplanes. In total over 30,000 civilians were killed and destroying 280,000 buildings. It had a devestating effect on the morale of the Germans. The main reason was to destroy the German morale and get revenge for bomobing Britain. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
Allied Invasion of Italy
The Allies invaded the "Toe" of the Italy to force the Italians to surrender. Encountering almost no resitence they marched straght to the capitol. Once Sicially was conquered Musolini surrendered. The Italian soilders were taken prisnoer until the entire Axis surrendered. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland -
D-Day
D-Day was the invasion of Normandy by Allied forces. It is one of the largest battles in recorded history. It was the last battle needed to liberate France and was said to "The start of the end of the war." The Allies had taken all of norhtern France and Eurpoe so all that was needed was the sounthern part, that is why they did it. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Liberation of the Conctration Camps
Soviet forces were the first the liberate camps near Lublin, Poland. After the European Victory the Russians advanced quickly before the Germans were prepared for it. The Nazi's forced the prisoners to march west. THe march killed many of them and only a dew thousand were still alive the emancipate. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131 -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thudnerclap was a planned bombing of Desden by Allied forces. THe goal was to cut off the transportation chain along the eastern front and demostrte to the German people that their government had failed. At about 2 in the morning 244 bombers dropped hundred of tons of bombs on the citiy. The Germans lost almost all hope of winning the war after this run.
http://ww2today.com/13-february-1945-operation-thunderclap-raf-start-firestorm-in-dresden -
Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was started for America's need for a base near the Japanese coast. The island was defended by about 23,000 troops and the America's marines wiped them out in about a month. AMerica ended up taking the island and used it as a basis for future attack on Japan http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
Okinawa was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific front. 280,000 american troops fought 137,000 Japs. This was one fo the first times "Kamikaze" fighter were used. Okinawa was one of the final islands need by America in order finally invade the Japanese mainland. America finally won the battle. Both commanding generals died in the battle. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
VE Day
VE Day the official day on which Nazi Germany announced their unconditional surrender. The war was over in Europe. Over 2 million German prisoners were taken and 19,000 British POW's were released. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
VJ Day
VJ Day was when Japan surrendered uncondiontiaonal to the Allies. The dropping of the Atom bombs made the Japanese realize it was wise to end it. All of the Japanese troops had to pull out immdiatly and POW's were released. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Little Boy and Fat Man
The Atomic bombing of Japan by American forces was done to finally end the war. Japan would not surrender and an invasion of the japanese mainland would cost 100,000's of lives. Two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over 200,000 people died collectively. The area is still contaminated and still being killed by raidiation. Japan surrendered 6 days later. http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/atomic-bomb -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was Hitler's attempt to split the Allied army in half. The Allies were caught off guard but were able to defend against the onslaught. Germany's defeat led to a great weaking in the German army. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge
