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Rape of Nanking
The Rape of Nanking happened China's city of Nanking(Nanjing) in late 1937. The Japanese Army murdered thousands of people including soldiers and civilians. Between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted. It took decades for the civilians in the city to recover from this horrifying event. -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is known as lightning war. This means when invading a territory, the Germans basically sweep through it in a small amount of time. The Germans used blitzkrieg while invading Poland with the Soviet Union because Germany wanted to take Poland because of the Germans living their. World War 2 started after this invasion. -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
This is a pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. This was to show the the Soviet Union and Germany were friends. Both nations would come together to invade Poland. Later, Hitler and his German army will then betray the Soviet Union and invade them during WW2. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
Germany's Dictator, Hitler teamed up with the Soviet Union's leader Stalin to invade Poland. Germany invaded the west side and the Soviet Union invaded the east side of Poland. After this attack, Great Britain and France officially declare war on Germany in September, 1939. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a day all Americans will remember. In 1941 Japanese Air Force threw many bombs on America's major Navy ships. The Japanese wanted to get rid of America's great Navy, so the tried to blow it up. After this event, President Roosevelt declared war on Japan. -
D-Day
The U.S, France, and Great Britain did a beach invasion on the Germans with 150,000 soldiers, 5,000 ships, and 11,000 planes in northern France. They were trying to get Paris back from the Germans, and it worked. On August 24, 1944 de Gaulle enters and freed Paris for good from the Germans. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Americans finally defeated the Germans with the other Allies. Time to go to Japan, the country that got the Americans in the war in the first place. The Americans were "island hopping" on the islands in the Pacific. The Americans were trying to show the Japanese to basically not disrespect them ever again by getting as close as possible to striking rage to Japan. The Americans finally get into striking range of Japan -
Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa took place on an island near Japan. The U.S Navy's 5th Fleet with over 180,000 troops headed towards the island. This was part of "Island Hopping". This battle was very bloody, and the U.S defeated the Japanese on the island. The outcome of this got the U.S in striking distance to Japan. -
Battle of the Bulge
This is Hitler's last chance to defeat the Allies in Europe. The 600,000 American soldiers killed 100,000 German soldiers. The Germans had lost fuel in their vehicles. Hitler commits suicide to avoid getting captured by Allied troops. The Germans were finally defeated! -
VE Day
VE Day means "Victory in Europe". This victory was for winning Battle of the Bulge against Hitler. The Americans fought in the battle; 80,000 of them killed. Germany lost 100,000 soldiers because they ran out of fuel. The U.S along with the Allies won the battle against Hitler. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
President Truman of the United States decided to use atomic bombs on Japan at 2 different times. The first bomb was launched on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Around 70,000 killed instantly; 50,000 final death toll. The second one was launch on Nagaski just 3 days later. 40,000 kill instantly and 50,000 final death toll. This had defeated the Japanese for good. -
VJ Day
VJ Day means "Victory in Japan Day". This day is important to Americans because the U.S defeated Japan once and for all. This day celebrates the victory by the atomic bombs being dropped on the 2 cities in Japan. This day is still important today.
