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Japanese invasion on China
The Japanese invaded china causing the second Sino - Japanese war. The Japanese army turned a small incident in to a war and China was unable to resist them.The Japanese army was much stronger and brutal.
http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/camp/pac/china/w2c-inv.html -
Rape of Nanking
Nanking is the capital of China that fell to the Japanese. The Japanese general ordered that Nanking be destroyed and most of the city was burnt down. While they were very harsh to the civilians killing 50,000 males and raping 20,000 women.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-rape-of-nanking -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
On August 23, 1939, Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact, called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty. The treaty defined the territory Germany and Russia would have after a successful invasion of Poland. In the the agreement, Russia would have control over Latvia, Estonia, and Finland, while Germany would gain control over Lithuania and Danzig. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/german-soviet-nonaggression-pact -
Germany Invasion of Poland
One of Hitlers first major foreign policy acts after coming to power was signing the Non- aggression pact with Poland and the Germans were not very happy about this. On September 1,1939 the German army invaded Poland. It lasted a few weeks until the Germans defeated the polish army.https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070 -
German Blitzkrieg
A German term meaning lightning war. Blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. German forces tried out the blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939. It was successfully against Belgium. Then tried again against the Netherlands and France in 1940.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris
German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million people had already fled Paris. Very quickly the German Gestapo went to work arrests, interrogations, and spying were the order of the day, as a gigantic swastika flew beneath the Arc de Triomphe. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Operation Barbarossa
Adolf Hitler launched his armies in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union, three great army groups with over three million soldiers and three thousand tanks went into Soviet territory. The invasion covered a distance of two thousand miles. Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources.
.http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941 hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Hawaii. It lasted just two hours, The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous ships, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers died in the attack and another 1,000 were wounded.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
High ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in Wannsee to discuss and coordinate the what they called the final solution and it was to exterminate all the Jewish people. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Bataan Death March
After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island. About 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment. thousands died and this became known as the Bataan Death March.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Battle of the Midway
only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States Navy decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was an important turning point and the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
From April 19 to May 16, 1943, residents of the Jewish ghetto in Nazi occupied Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. The Warsaw ghetto uprising inspired other revolts in extermination camps and ghettos. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Called Operation Overlord, 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 coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of the Bulge
In December 1944, Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies by surprise blitzkrieg them. American units fought desperate battles to stop the German advance. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure land.The Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge and giving the battle its name. As a result of this battle their were many casualties.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Liberation of Concentration camps
Soviet soldiers were the first to liberate concentration camp prisoners in the war. On July 23, 1944, they entered the camps in Poland, and later overran several killing centers. On January 27, 1945, they entered Auschwitz and there found hundreds of sick and exhausted prisoners. The Germans left behihttps://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.phpModuleId=10007724nd. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The American invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II was for the need for a base near the Japanese coast.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 from a network of caves and underground installations. Despite the difficulty of the conditions, the marines wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
The biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign was from April 1,1945 to June 22, 1945 and involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82-day campaign, Japan lost 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered 65,000 casualties. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
VE Day
May 8, 1945 Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory. Cities in both nations, and cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, after the German soldiers surrendered and then the war was declared over. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
The United States became the first and only nation to use an atomic weapon during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima August 6, 1945. The dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
VJ Day
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as Victory over Japan Day known as V-J Day. The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan formally surrendered aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
