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Japanese Invasion of China
On July 7th,1937 Japanese soldiers claimed they were under attack by Chinese Troops at a bridge near Beijing called the Marco Polo Bridge. Japan then went on to invade the rest of China, making the already captured Manchuria their launch base. During the first 5 months were in command of 1 million Chinese people. With the invasion going on China lost control to their major cities and communication systems by the end of 1937. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
On September 1st,1939, Germany sent 1.5 million soldiers to invade Poland. During that time the Luftwaffe used bombs on Poland's airfields. While that was going on German warships and U-boats attacked Poland's naval forces. Adolfo Hitler said a statement that claimed the invasion was an action of defense. France and Britain heard of that claim and did not fall for it. Two days later both claimed war on the Germans which started World War 2. -
German Blitzkrieg
In September of 1939 Germany tried using their blitzkrieg method during the invasion of Poland. Blitzkrieg is a German term for ”“lightning war” which is a military tactic made to create disorganization among enemy forces through for the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated power. In 1940 they were able to use blitzkrieg against Belgium,the Netherlands and France. Erwin Rommel a German commander used the tactic during the North African Campaign of World War 2. -
Fall of Paris
On June 14th, 1940 people of Paris woke up to the sound of a man's voice giving an announcement through loudspeakers. The announcement was said to inform the people of Paris that they had an 8 pm curfew due to Germany invading them. The Germans initially planned to attack at night so that's why the curfew was made. So as expected German tanks rolled into Paris overnight and the invasion began. Paris was later taken over. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa began on June 22nd,1941 when Hitler sent his soldiers eastward to invade the Soviet Union. He sent three major sized armies with 3 million soldiers, 150 divisions and 3 thousand smashed tanks across a frontier in USSR territory. This invasion covered a distance of two thousand miles, which was covered from North Cape to the Black Sea. At that point of time Germany's combat reached an apogee.this event was a turning point because Germany underestimated their enemies. -
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
On December 7th,1941 hundreds of Japanese fighter planes were sent to attack the American naval base Pearl Harbor. This attack caught American soldiers by surprise making 2,000 killed and 1,000 were severely wounded. The attack caused 20 Americans vessels to be destroyed along with eight gigantic battleships and about 200 airplanes. A day after the American tragedy President FDR made a request to congress to declare war on Japan. Congress approved of the request and America declared war on Japan -
Wannsee Conference
On January 20th,1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered together in Berlin to to discuss and coordinate the implantation of what they called the “Final Solution”. Representing the Schutzstaffel was Reinhard Heydrich, the chief of the Reich Security Main Office. The Final Solution was the code name for the systematic deliberate annihilation of the European Jews. At some time in 1941, Hitler wanted mass murder of Jews. Heydrich convened the Wannsee Conference. -
Battle of Midway
In June of 1942 the Battle of Midway was considered to be one of the most conclusive battles of World War 2. The Battle of Midway effectively Japan's naval strength by America destroying the Japanese's aircraft carriers. Japan could not recover from the mauling at Midway and they ended losing the battle giving the victory to America. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The battle of Stalingrad was a harsh six months struggle between the armies of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The battle lasted from August of 1942 to February of 1943. It was one of the hardest fought battles in World War 2. There were many civilian and military casualties and much of the city was reduced to rubble because of tanks and bombs. The ultimate outcome of the battle was the crushing victory for the Soviet Union. -
Invasion of Italy
The Italian Campaign placed Allied troops on the European mainland for the first time, but it was never intended as a substitute for an attack aimed at Germany by way of the more open and more remunerative route through northern France. The invasion of Italy had a number of lesser objectives: to capitalize on the collapse of Italian resistance; to make immediate use of ready Allied strength; to engage German forces which might otherwise be used in Russia. -
Operation Gomorrah
On July 24th,1943,the British sent their own bombers to Hamburg,Germany to raid it. The British were to bomb it at night while America was to do it during the day in what was called “Blitz Week". On the night of the 24th British aircrafts dropped 2,300 tons of incendiary bombs on Hamburg. This bombing was equal to the amount of bombs Germany dropped on London. The incendiary bombs ended up taking the lives of 1,500 German civilians. -
D-Day
On June 6th,1944 the largest invasion in world history was launched. The invasion was led by soldiers from the United States, Great Britain,and Canada. On the coast of Normandy,France there were five beaches with code names:Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword, Juno. The United States landed on Utah and Omaha, Great Britain landed on Gold and Sword while Canada landed on Juno. There 138 Allied ships, positioned between three and thirteen miles out. Soldiers carried seventy pounds of gear from there ships. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign that lasted from December 16th, 1944 to January 25, 1945. It was launched through the the Ardennes region of Belgium France,and Luxembourg at Western Front by the end of World War 2. Adolfo Hitler had a goal to take back the harbor called Antwerp. The Germans had about 200,000 men with 340 tanks and almost 300 other vehicles.The US had 610,000 men involved in the battle. This battle was the bloodiest battle in World War 2. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap was under talks with the Allies for a good amount of time. The proposal was to bomb the eastern cities in Germany to stop the transport infrastructure behind what was becoming the eastern front. The population of Germany was lower making it easier to bomb because Germany's air defenses were low. Winston Churchill promised the USSR that they would help them in Western Germany. The priority of of Operation Thunderclap moved up the timetable of bombing. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the US Armed forces fought for and captured the island Iwo Jima from Japan. The Americans had a goal of capturing the entire island of Iwo Jima. They wanted to takeover their three major airfields to provide for a staging area of attacks on Japan's main islands. The battle had some of the most fierce fighting in all of World War 2 making it the biggest war in the Pacific Ocean. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was also known as Operation Iceberg , it took place April through June in 1945. The battle had over 100,000'casualties for Japan and 50,000 for the Allied Powers. The Americans faced an estimated 155,000 Japanese soldiers, air,and naval forces on April 1st,1945. Operation Iceberg was to be in every way,vast when compared to any other Operation undertaken by Allied forces in the Pacific War under US Navy command. -
VE Day
On May 8th, 1945 the announcement of World War 2 coming to an end in Europe was made. A day before on May 7th,German General Jodl signed a surrender document that ended the war in Europe for good. In the first few minutes of the announcement being made citizens of London were already on the streets celebrating the victory. May 8th was a day where people had to celebrate their victory. They called this day Victory day in Europe (VE Day) , people celebrated it by partying all day and night. -
Dropping the Atomic Bomb
On August 6th, 1945 a US B-29 bomber was sent to drop an atomic bomb on the Japanese city Hiroshima, instantly killing about 80,000 people. A few days later the US dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki making 40,000 more casualties. The dropping of the bombs was the only major bombing attack in American History. Months after the attacks 100,000 more people suffered slow deaths because of radiation poisoning. -
VJ Day
On August 15th, 1945, news of the surrender was announced to the world. This made many celebrations start all across America because it meant the end of World War 2 had finally come. On September 2nd, 1945 a formal ceremony was taking place in Tokyo Bay aboard the the USS Missouri. US President Truman declared the date as a celebration day names VJ Day.
