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Japanese Invasion of China
In late 1937,over a period of 6 weeks, Imperial Japanese Army forces brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of people-including both soldiers and civilians in the Chinese city of Nanking (Nanjing). These horrific events are known as the Nanking Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, between 20,000-80,000 women were sexually assaulted. Nanking, capitol of Nationalist China, was left in ruins, and it would take decades for the city and it's citizens to recover from the savage attacks. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
At 4:45 A.M., some 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along it's 1,750-mile border 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. -
German Blitzkrieg
A German term for "lightning war", blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. It's 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. -
Fall of Paris
On this day in 1940, Parisians awakened to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loud speakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8:00 P.M. that evening-as German troops enter and occupy Paris. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had tried for days to convince the French government to hang on, not to sue for peace, that America would enter the war and come to it's aid. -
Operation of Barbarossa
On June 22, 1941, Adolf 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 3,000 tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea, a distance of 2,000 miles. -
Pearl Harbor
Just before 8 A.M. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii, the barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: the Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including 8 enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 American soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. -
Wannsee Conference
On this day, Nazi officials meet to discuss the details of the "Final Solution" of the "Jewish Question". In July 1941, Herman Goering, writing under instructions from Hitler, had ordered Reinhard Heydrich, SS general and Heinrich Himmler's number 2 man, to submit it "as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative, material, and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish Question". -
Battle of Midway
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 preemptand 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 vistory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad, was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the U.S.S.R. during World War II. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
From April 19th to May 16th, 1943, during World War II, residents of the Jewish ghetto in Nazi- occupied Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against departments to extermination camps. The Warsaw Ghetto uprising inspired other revolts in extermination camps and ghettos throughout German- occupied Eastern Europe. -
Operation Gomorrah
On this day in 1943, British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day and it's own "Blitz Week". Britain had suffered the deaths of 167 civilians as a result of German bombing raids in July. Now the tables were going to turn. The evening of July 24, saw British aircraft drop 2,300 tons of incentiary bombs on Hamburg in just a few hours. -
Allied Invasion of Italy
The British 8th Army under Field Marshall Bernard L. Montgomery begins the Allied invasion of the Italian peninsula, crossing the Strait of Messina from Sicily and landing at Calabria- the "Toe" of Italy. On the day of the landing,the Italian government secretely agreed to the Allies' term for surrender, but no public announcement was made until September 8th. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
During World War II (1939-1945), the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany's control. Codenamed operation overload, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France's Normandy region. -
Operation Thunderclap
On January 26, 1945, Audie Murphy and some 40 U.S. troops sat shivering in a frigid, snow-covered clearing near the Alsation town of Holtzwihr. The battle-weary soldiers had been ordered to hold a vital roadway until reinforcements arrived, but the operation was delayed and the promised relief was nowhere to be seen. Just after 2 P.M., the winter stillness was suddenly broken by the thunderclap of an enemy artillery borrage. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The American amphinious anvasion 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. Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought froom and elaborate network of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground instillations. -
Battle of Okinawa
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign (April1-June22, 1945) involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiersof the Japanese 32nd Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82-day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties- including 14,000 dead. -
VE Day
On this day in 1945, both Great Brtiain and the United States celebrate victory in EuropeDay, 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. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, many historians argue that it also ignited the Cold War. Since 1940, the Uniteed States had been working on developing an atomic weapon, after having been warned by Albert Einstein that Nazi Germany was already conducting research into nuclear weapons. -
VJ Day
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies,effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14th and August 15th have been known as "Victory over Japan Day" or simply "V-J Day". The term has also been used for September 2,1945,when Japan's formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. -
Battle of the Bulge
In December 1944, Adolf Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Caught off-guard, American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and Bastogne. 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.
