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World War II, Period
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, though related conflicts began earlier -
Japanese invasion of China (1937)
The Japanese claimed that they were fired on by Chinese troops at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. Using this as an excuse, the Japanese launched a full-scale invasion of China using the conquered Manchuria as a launching base for their troops. The onslaught of the Japanese was relentless. Within 5 months, 1 million Chinese people were under Japanese control. All of the major cities in China were captured by the Japanese by the end of 1937. -
Rape of Nanking (1937)
The Japanese occupied the Chinese province of Manchuria transforming it into a Japanese puppet state. The fighting moved to the south in August when the Japanese attacked Shanghai and pursued the retreating Chinese army up the Yangtze valley to the national capital at Nanking. The Japanese began their attack on that city early in December, forcing its surrender on December 13. The population of Nanking was subjected to an uncontrolled butchery that came to be known as "the Rape of Nanking." -
Germany's invasion of Poland (1939)
Germans dismembered the Czechoslovak state in March 1939 in violation of the Munich agreement. Britain and France responded by guaranteeing the integrity of the Polish state. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. -
German Blitzkrieg (1939-1940)
ften refered to as "The Lightning War", Germany's Blitzkrieg tactics overwhelmed Poland in September 1939, then, after a pause, crushed Denmark, Norway, and the Low Countries in April-May 1940, and finally France in June 1940. The British and French declared war on Germany in September 1939 as a result of the aggression against Poland. Not until the debacle in Belgium did the French wake to the dimensions of their danger. -
Fall of Paris (1940)
The successful German invasion of France and the Low Countries, began on 10 May 1940. German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes and then along the Somme valley to cut off and surround the Allied units that had advanced into Belgium. On 22 June, an armistice was signed between France and Germany, which resulted in a division of France whereby Germany would occupy the north and west. -
Operation Barbarossa (1941)
The code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. In addition to troops, the Germans employed some 600,000 motor vehicles and between 600–700,000 horses. The operation was driven by Adolf Hitler's ideological desire to conquer the Soviet territories as outlined in Mein Kampf. Operation Barbarossa's failure led to Hitler's demands for further operations inside the USSR, all of which eventually failed. -
Pearl Harbor (1941)
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, but Japan and the United States had been edging toward war for decades. Because American military leaders were not expecting an attack so close to home, the naval facilities at Pearl Harbor were relatively undefended. The Japanese plan was simple: Destroy the Pacific Fleet. That way, the Americans would not be able to fight back as Japan’s armed forces spread across the South Pacific. After months of planning and practice, the Japanese attacked. -
Wannsee Conference (1942)
A meeting of senior officials of Nazi Germany, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. It was held to ensure the cooperation of administrative leaders of various government departments in the implementation of the final solution to the Jewish question. Conference attendees included representatives from several government ministries, including state secretaries from the Foreign Office, the justice, interior, and state ministries, and representatives from the Schutzstaffel. -
Battle of Stalingrad (1942)
Often regarded as the single largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare. German forces never regained the initiative in the East and withdrew a vast military force from the West to replace their losses. The attack was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. The fighting degenerated into building-to-building fighting. -
Battle of Midway (1942)
Fought almost entirely with aircraft, in which the United States destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Yamamoto Isoroku sent out the bulk of the Japanese fleet, including four heavy and three light aircraft carriers. Bombers from Midway Island struck ineffectually at the Japanese carrier strike force. The Battle of Midway brought the Pacific naval forces of Japan and the United States. -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising (1943)
Many Jews in ghettos across eastern Europe tried to organize resistance against the Germans and to arm themselves with smuggled and homemade weapons. When reports of mass murder in the killing center leaked back to the Warsaw ghetto, a surviving group of mostly young people formed an organization called the Z.O.B. The ghetto fighters were able to hold out for nearly a month, but on May 16, 1943, the revolt ended. -
Operation Gomorrah (1943)
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day in its own “Blitz Week.” Britain had suffered the deaths of 167 civilians as a result of German bombing raids in July. he explosive power was the equivalent of what German bombers had dropped on London in their five most destructive raids. More than 1,500 German civilians were killed in that first British raid. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion - 1944)
Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944, led by American forces. The Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. -
Battle of the Bulge (1945)
Known as the Battle of the Bulge because of the wedge driven into the Allied lines, the campaign lasted for approximately five weeks. he surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties for any operation during the war. The Germans' initial attack included 200,000 men, 340 tanks and 280 other tracked vehicles. Between 67,200 and 100,000 of their men were killed, missing or wounded. -
Operation Thunderclap
‘Operation Thunderclap’ had been under discussion within the Allied Command for some time, the proposal was to bomb the eastern-most cities of Germany to disrupt the transport infrastructure behind what was becoming the Eastern front. the code for a cancelled operation planned in August 1944 but shelved and never implemented. -
Battle of Iwo Jima (1945)
Continuous air and naval bombardment began 74 days before the scheduled invasion to prepare the way. As the invasion unfolded on the morning of February 15, the plan seemed a success. Huddled in their landing craft, the Marines encountered only scattered fire as they approached the beach. Nearly all the island's 21,000 defenders died in the battle while the Americans lost 6,821. -
VE Day (1945)
The German surrendered after the suicide of Hitler on 30 April 1945. The war-weary British began to rejoice straight away rather than waiting for the official day of celebration on the 8th. All over the country people held fancy dress parades for children, got drunk, made a din, sang and danced in the streets, and went to church to give thanks to God for victory. VE Day drew a line under the past, the defeat of Churchill in the July 1945 General Election signalled a new beginning. -
Battle of Okinawa (1945)
The “special attack” kamikaze tactics the Japanese used on these missions, although not especially sophisticated, were so determined that Allied forces perhaps faced their most difficult Pacific campaign. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces. Japan lost 77,166 soldiers, who were either killed or committed suicide, and the Allies suffered 14,009 deaths. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs (1945)
On this day in 1945, at 8:16 a.m. Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world’s first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima. U.S. President Harry S. Truman, discouraged by the Japanese response to the Potsdam Conference’s demand for unconditional surrender, made the decision to use the atom bomb to end the war in order to prevent what he predicted would be a much greater loss of life were the United States to invade the Japanese mainland. -
VJ Day (1945)
Victory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which Japan surrendered. In effect ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made. September 2, 1945 - the American victory over Japan
