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Rape of Nanking
The Rape of Nanking was series of mass murders rapes committed by Japanese troops against the residents of the Chinese capital,Nanjing, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name given to Hitler's plan to invade the Soviet Union. The plan worked to perfection at first as Hitler's 4 million personnel assigned to the Soviet border steamrolled through the Red Army. This came to a halt when winter came, as the German Wehrmacht was not used to the harsh Soviet winters so the Red Army pushed back. Because of this, German commander Erich von Manstein was unable to return to the previous German dominance. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes surprise attack the US navy fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor. The aim of this attack was to scare the Americans from entering the war but ironically, it ended up making the Americans join sooner. -
D-Day
D-Day was the Allied invasion of mainland Germany. The goal of the attack was to capture German held Caen and St. Lô, however, German general Erwin Rommel was able to keep Carenten, St. Lô, Bayeux, and Caen. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
On July 23rd, 1944, Soviet soldiers stumbled across Hitler's worst atrocity. Majdanek was the concentration camp that was discovered first. The soldiers found bodies and horribly deprived and malnourished Jews and alike. The most famous concentration camp, Auschwitz, was liberated under a year later on January 27th, 1945. -
Battle of the Bulge
The battle of the Bulge concluded the German offensive campaign on its western front. Hitler believed that if he could push through to Belgian held Antwerp, that he could encircle Allied troops and force them into a treaty. The attack caught the Allies completely off guard and resulted in the greatest loss of life for the Americans during the whole war. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a Pacific battle on the island of Iwo Jima in which American troops landed on and took control of the island. There was not much strategic use for the island as both the Army and the Navy could not use it. An estimated 18000 Japanese and 6000 Americans were killed. -
VE Day
VE Day was the public holiday to celebrate the surrender of the German armed forces on May 8th, 1945 by Hitler's successor and former naval commander, Karl Donitz. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
Nearing the end of World War II, the United States detonated their first nuclear weapon over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The atomic bombings killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and played a large part in ending the war. -
Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
The atomic bombing of Nagasaki was the less deadly of the 2 bombings. Between 39,000–80,000 people died and Japan's surrender was just under a week later. -
VJ Day
VJ Day is the public holiday celebrated after the official surrender of Japan on September 2nd 1945.
