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German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg means "lightning war" in German. Its a military tactic designed to create disorganization towards your enemy's forces. This tactic was experimented on Poland in 1939 before successfully happening on Belgium, the Netherlands, and France on 1940 when invading them. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Germany did not like the fact that Poland had received the former German provinces of West Prussia, Poznan, and Upper Silesia under the Treaty Of Versailles after world war one. Hitler saw this as a threat to Germany because he thought the French and Polish military would come together and attack Germany before his military could rearm. This destroyed Poland and the Jewish community forever. -
Fall of Paris
The fall of Paris was when Germany invaded France, By the time German tanks rolled into Paris 2 million people had fled. This event lead to Germany later invading Belgium, Luxembourg,and the Netherlands. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941 hundreds of Japanese planes entered and attacked the American naval base in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor. The attack lasted two horrible hours. Twenty American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. Approximately 2,000 American soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. This event made the United States declare war on Japan. -
Bataan Death March
The day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Japan invaded the Philippines within that month they captured the capital, Manila. The American and Filipino defenders of Luzon were forced to retreat. Those 75,000 Filipino and American troops were forced to march 65 miles to prison camps. The marchers suffered the intense heat and harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands died during the march and after. -
Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway was one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II, just six months after Pearl Harbor. Japan planned to attack the United States again so they could sink the American aircraft carriers that had escaped the attack in Pearl Harbor. Luckily for the US, they were successful in breaking a code so the US was able to preempt and counter Japan's planned ambush. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
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Operation Gomorrah
German bomb raids took place on July in Britain killing 167 civilians as a result of this, Britain dropped 2,300 tons of incendiary bombs on Hamburg. This killed more than 1,500 German civilians. The explosive power was equivalent to what the German bombers dropped on London in their 5 destructive raids. -
Allied invasion of Italy
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Liberation of concentration camps
Prisoners were freed in the ending stages of the war first by the Soviet soldiers. On July 23, 1944, they entered the first death camp then later entered several others. British, Canadian, American, and French soldiers also helped to free prisoners. The Germans had attempted to empty the camps of survivors to hide all evidence of their crimes. Left behind were belongings of victims such as, 348,820 men suits, 836,255 woman coats, and tens of thousands pair of shoes. -
Battle of the Bulge
The point was to split the Allied armies by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. This was when three German armies launched he deadliest and most desperate battle of the war. The Battle of the Bulge was the costliest action ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties. -
Battle of Iow Jima
America needed a base near the Japanese coast. Iow Jima is roughly 575 miles away from the Japanese coast. Three U.S. divisions landed on the island meeting up with 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops defending Iow Jima that fought from tunnels, caves, dugouts, and other underground installations. Through out a whole month of battling in hard conditions the U.S. won. -
Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa was the last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of WW1. The battle involved 287,000 U.S. troops and 130,000 Japanese soldiers. -
Dropping of the atomic bomb
Japan was given a chance to surrender but they ignored the demand. The use of the atomic bomb was seen as the only and best plan to force Japan to surrender and ending the war. This cost Japan hundreds of millions of dollars. The first bomb killed 80,000 people the second killed 40,000 more and in the months following about 100,000 more people died slowly caused by radiation poising. -
VJ Day
"V-J Day" is also known as "Victoryover Japan Day". On August 14, 1945 Japan surrendered to the Allies, effectively ending WWII. This term is used on September 2 today around the country because this was when Japan's formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S.Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.