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Japanese invasion of China
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Germany's invasion of Poland
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German Blitzkrieg
Soldiers such as Hans von Seeckt and Heinz Guderian allegedly perceived more clearly than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe the military potential of the internal combustion engine combined with modern communications technology -
Operation barbarossa
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Pearl Harbor
The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes -
Operation Gomorrah
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D-Day (Normandy Invasion
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Dropping of the atomic bombs
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. -
Battle of the Bulge
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Operation Thunderclap
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Battle of Iwo Jima
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Battle of Okinawa
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VE Day
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VJ Day
The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Coming several months after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan’s capitulation in the Pacific brought six years of hostilities to a final and highly anticipated close. -
Wannsee Conference
On January 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss and coordinate the implementation of what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question."