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Japanese Invasion of China
Japan wanted to build a large empire. They wanted to build this empire to provide resources for their military and industry. The Japanese forces attacked Manchuria, northern China, and East Indies. -
Rape of Nanking
As the Japanese Army tried to take over China, they spent a period of 6 weeks, in the Chinese city of Nanking. There they murdered hundreds of thousands of people. Which included both soldiers and civilians. This event also was called the Nanking Massacre, but because 20,000 to 80,000 women were assulted it is also know as the Rape of Nanking. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
Poland was the next target in Germany's expansion of Europe. This happened because as Germany and the Soviet Union signed a "nonagression pact" they also signed a second secret pact to divide Poland between the two countries. Germany began by sending their air force into Poland dropping bombs everywhere, and German tanks rolled into the countryside. This took the Polish by surprise. 2 days after this Poland, Britain, and France declared war on Germany. -
German Blitzkrieg
The German Luftwaffe, or German air force was notorious for the blitzrieg. This is also called lightning war. The Germans would fly in their airplanes and drop bombs on everything. Mostly on military bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. Cities were terrified of this, they had blackouts to avoid getting a bomb dropped on them. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbossa was the codename of Nazi Germany invading the Soviet Union. It is one of the largest military operations in history. More than 3 million Axis troops and 3,500 troops. Stalin was caught by surprise of this attack. Germany and the Soviet Union signed a nonagression pact earlier. Although the Soviet Union was surprised by this attack, the Germans lost this battle. This caused the Soviet Union to join the Allied forces. -
Pearl Harbor
More than 180 Japanese warplanes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. This attack lasted only 2 hours. The Japanese destroyed 20 American naval vessels, 8 battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. Over 2,000 American soldiers and sailors died after the attack, and 1,000 were wounded. The day after America declared war on Japan. 3 days after, Germany and Italy declared war on the US. This one attack led America to join WWII. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conferencer ws a meeting of the senior officials of Nazi Gernany held in Berlin. They wanted to discuss the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." The "Final Solution" was the code name for the systematic, deliberate, physical annihilation of the European Jews. None of the officials objected to the "Final Solution." They wanted to get rid of all the Jews in all of Europe. They predicted that approximately 11,000,000 Jews in Europe would die under the "Final Solution." -
Bataan Death March
The U.S. surrendered the Bataan Peninsula on the main island of the Philippines to the Japanese. The Filipinos and Americans were rounded up by the Japanese and were forced to march about 65 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando. The men were divided into groups of 100 and bagan marching to San Fernando. It took each group around 5 days to complete. Thousands of troops died, because of they were starved and beaten by their captors, the weak were also bayoneted. Many died at their destination. -
Operation Gomorrah
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany by night. American bomb during the day. British aircraft drop 2,300 tons of bombs on Hamburg in only a few hours. More than 1,500 German civilians were killed. Britain lost 12 out of 791 aircraft. The Germans were devastated by this attack, and Germans began to come to terms with defeat. -
D-Day Normandy Invasion
The Battle of Normany, was the Allied liberation of Western Europe.156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces landed on 5 beaches on 50 miles of French beach. This was one of largest amphibious military assaults in history. More than 4,000 Allied troops died, with thousands wounded or missing. In less than a week, the beaches were fully secured. The Normandy Invasion helped turn the tide against the Nazis. -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler wanted to split the Allied Armies in northwest Europe. He sent a surprise blitzkrieg through the Ardennes to Antwerp. 3 German armies launched into battle in Ardennes. The Americans were surprised as the Germans attempted to secure bridgeheads. The Allied front looked like a bulge which gave the name to the battle. The Germans had a shortage of fuel. This was a draw to both armies. The U.S. Army suffered more than 100,000 casualties. -
Operation Thunderclap
Also known as the Firebombing of Dresden, more than 3,400 tons of explosices were dropped on the city by American and British aircraft. The city was in flames and burned for many days. 8 miles of the city was burnt to the ground with a death toll between 35,000 to 135,000. Not much was accomplished with this bombing as Germany was on the verge of surrendering. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
An American amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima. There was air and naval bombing, before 3 U.S. marine divisions landed on the Island. Iwo Jima was defended by about 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops. After a month of fighting all of the Japanese were wiped out except for 1,083 prisoners. American losses included 17,400 wounded and 5,900 dead. -
Battle of Okinawa
This was the last and biggest of the Pacific island battles. The Japanese used a "special attack" or kamikazi tactic, which was a one-way suicide mission, flying airplanes into things, killing themselves and others. This attack had almost 100,000 civilian casualties. Many died during this battle, the casualties to the U.S. included 7,374 killed, 31,807 wounded, and 239 missing. The Navy suffered 4,907 killed or missing. The Japanese had losses more then 10,000. -
VE Day Victory in Europe Day
This was the day when Germany finally surrendered.In Prague, Germany surrendered to the Soviet. The surrender was a final cease-fire. German soldiers wanted to evade becoming prisoners of Soviet Forces. 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back to Great Britain. -
Hiroshima Atomic Bomb
The American bomber Enola Gay dropped a 5 ton bomb "Little- Boy" over Hiroshima, Japan. The blast killed 80,000 people, many more died because of wounds and radiation poisoning. The Americans dropped this bomb to help the war come to a quicker end. The Americans thought the Japanese would surrender. -
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb
Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima the Japenese did not surrender. Another B-29 bomber called "Bock's Car" dropped the second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki. This bomb was called "Fat- Man". This bomb has the equivalent of 22,000 tons of TNT. 60,000 to 80,000 were killed from this bomb. -
VJ Day Victory over Japan Day
After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan finally surrenders. They surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. This officially ended WWII.
