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Japanese Invasion of China
During the Japanese Invasion of China the Japanese were in a dispute with the Chinese on the bridge of Marco Polo over a missing Japanese soldier. This dispute eventually turned into a full fledged war. The Chinese fought the Japanese with the aid of the U.S. and the Soviet Union and in the end 4 million Chinese and Japanese military personnel died due to war related causes and between 10 and 25 million Chinese civilians died. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base in Hawaii. It was attacked by Japanese air forces with hundreds of fighter planes. This resulted in the loss of 20 American naval vessels, over 300 airplanes, and more than 2,400 Americans died, including civilians, along with 1,000 Americans wounded. This happened because the Japanese wanted to take over the entire pacific for resources since their island is small and Hawaii was in their way. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting whereby German Nazis and Schutzstaffel leaders discussed the implementation of the "Final Solution" to the Jewish question. This meeting occurred because the Reich Main Security office wanted to ensure cooperation of administrative leaders on the "Final Solution". In the end, this meeting resulted in rounding up the Jewish people and placing them in extermination camps in Poland where those people would be sent to their deaths. -
D-Day (Normandy Landings)
D-Day was the allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany's control. Some 156,000 American, Canadian, and British forces landed on a 50 mile stretch of the fortified coast of France's Normandy region. A few days after the first landings 326,000 soldiers, 50,000 vehicles, and 100,000 tons of supplies had landed at Normandy.This battle occurred because allies planned the invasion for years. This battle continued for about 2 months and in the end it resulted in a victory for the allies. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major offensive campaign on the western front by German forces. It was a surprise attack that caught the Allies off guard and resulted in the bloodiest battle in WWII for American forces. The battle resulted in 89,000 casualties for Americans and between 67,000 and 125,000 Germans were killed, wounded, or missing in action. This battle happened so that the Germans could drive out Allied forces from the Western Front. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
The liberation of concentration camps took place over time and has no orders to liberate them, soldiers just knew to get rid of them. Concentration camps were camps that held people of the Jewish faith prisoner and was created by Nazi Germany. These camps were only created to kill, starve, and torture Jewish people. The liberation of these camps ended the genocide known as the holocaust. -
Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle where the U.S. marine corps landed on the island of Iwo Jima so that they could capture it. The U.S. wanted to capture it so that they could use it as a staging area for attacks on the Japanese islands but ended up being mostly useless. The battle resulted in 26,000 American casualties and around 22,000 Japanese casualties. -
VE Day
VE day, also known as Victory day, is the public celebration of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces to the Allies. This resulted in the end of WWII in Europe and happened because of Hitlers suicide on April 30th 1945. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The dropping of the atomic bombs on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima was the first use of atomic weaponry in war. The one who piloted the ship that dropped the bombs was Enola Gay. The U.S. decided to drop the bombs to bring a quick and speedy end to WWII. In the end 120,000 people died instantly, accounting both bombs, and several thousand more in the following weeks. This resulted in Japan announcing its surrender. -
VJ Day
VJ day was the day Japan announced its unconditional surrender to the Allies. This event happened because of the dropping of the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This surrender was the official ending for WWII for Europe and the U.S.
