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Rape of Nanking
why? -BLOCKED
what? -raped tens of thousands of women
effect? -killed suspected Chinese soldiers, massacred families living outside the Safety Zone, and raped tens of thousands of women -
Japanese invading China
why? -Seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries
what? -As many as 300,000 Chinese civilians and surrendered troops were killed.
effect? -tremendous losses sustained by the Chinese people. -
German Blitzkrieg
why? -to avoid a long war in the first phase of World War II in Europe.
What? -Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons (such as tanks, planes, and artillery) along a narrow front.
Effects? -major panic, something that the opposing military could not control. -
Ribbentrop Treaty
why? -culmination of negotiations for an economic agreement between the USSR and Nazi Germany which the Soviets used to obtain a political agreement
what? -The countries agreed that they would not attack each other and secretly divided the countries that lay between them
effect? -This treaty allowed the Germans to avoid a two-front war, which crushed Germany in World War I -
Fall of Paris
why? -German armies outflanked the intact Maginot Line and pushed deep into France
what? -Paris fell to Nazi Germany
effect? -Destruction of the Weygand Line -
Operation Barbarossa
why? -Hitler had always wanted to see Germany expand eastwards to gain Lebensraum or 'living space' for its people
what? -The German armies eventually captured some five million Soviet Red Army troops
effect? -Germany had suffered close to 775,000 casualties. More than 800,000 Soviets had been killed, and an additional 6 million Soviet soldiers had been wounded or captured. -
Pearl Harbor
why? -Japan believes that it can severely cripple the U.S fleet and buy them time in the Pacific and Southeast Asia
what? -the Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Effect? -killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroyed or damaged 19 U.S. Navy ships, including 8 battleships -
Wannsee Conference
why? -Nazi Party and German government officials gathered to coordinate implementation of the Final Solution
what? -Prior to the war, the Nazis had focused on encouraging Jews to emigrate from the Greater German Reich through their antisemitic policies and actions.
Effect? - leaders from the Nazi Party and the German government met at a picturesque villa on the outskirts of Berlin to plan -
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Bataan Death March
why? -they surrendered to Japanese troops
what?-the captives were beaten, shot, bayoneted, and, in many cases, beheaded
effect? -over twice as many POWs died in the first two months of imprisonment at Camp O'Donnell as did on the Death March. -
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Battle of Midway
why? -to gain territory in East Asia and Southwest Pacific, effectively removing the United States as the dominate power
what? -aircraft from Japanese carriers attacked and damaged the US base on Midway
effect? -stopped the growth of Japan in the Pacific and put the United States in a position to begin shrinking the Japanese empire -
Battle of Stalingrad
why? -Germany and its allies sought control over this city in Southern Russia
what? -Soviet forces launched a counteroffensive against the Germans arrayed at Stalingrad
effect? -put Hitler and the Axis powers on the defensive, and boosted Russian confidence -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
why? -Many Jews in ghettos across eastern Europe tried to organize resistance against the Germans and to arm themselves
what? -the Nazis moved to liquidate the Warsaw ghetto. In a desperate last stand, the remaining Jewish inhabitants began a hopeless month-long battle
effect? -The Jewish resistance in Warsaw inspired uprisings in other ghettos such as ... Holocaust are linked to the dates of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. -
Operation Gomorrah
why? -As a result of Nazi Germany's aggression
what? -a campaign of air raids
effect? -Strategic bombing was developed during the interwar years to avoid the bloody, stagnant trench warfare of World War I -
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Allied Invasion Of China
why? -The allied troops invaded and occupied Beijing on 14 August 1900.
what? -defeated the Qing Imperial Army's Wuwei Corps in several engagements and quickly brought an end to the siege and also the Boxer Rebellion.
effect? -In the ensuing battle, Japan lost four precious aircraft carriers, along with a heavy cruiser and over 300 planes. From that point, the Japanese military effort -
Operation Thunderclap
why? -during World War II, a plan called Operation Thunderclap was proposed. The idea was to bomb Berlin, which would inflict many casualties. However, the project was never put into action.
what? -the project was never put into action.
effect? -to bomb Berlin, which would inflict many casualties. -
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Battle of the bulge
why? -Hitler hoped that the German counter-attack would surround the British and American armies and stall the Allied offensive against Germany.
What? -the last major German military offensive in western Europe
Effect? -cost the Reich some 100,000 casualties and tremendous losses in military equipment. -
D-Day
why? -D-Day was born in the immediate aftermath of America's entry into the war, and agreement on a 'Germany first' strategy.
What? -brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history.
Effect? -put the Allies on a decisive path toward victory. -
Liberation of concentration camps
why? -oviet forces liberated Auschwitz—the largest killing center and concentration camp complex—in January 1945
what? -The first major camp to be liberated was Majdanek near Lublin, Poland in July 1944. Surprised by the rapid Soviet advance from the east
effect? -Suffering did not end after liberation. Thousands of inmates were beyond help. Allied soldiers · Survivors met much indifference from the public -
Battle of Iwo Jima
why? -The U.S. determined that Iwo Jima must be captured
what? -nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines were killed. Another 20,000 were wounded. Marines captured 216 Japanese soldiers; the rest were killed in action
Effect? -Iwo Jima served as an emergency landing site for more than 2,200 B-29 bombers, saving the lives of 24,000 U.S. airmen -
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Battle of Okinawa
why? -to secure the island, thus removing the last barrier standing between U.S. forces and Imperial Japan.
what? -drug out over nearly three months and included some of the worst kamikaze attacks of the war
effect? - The battle created a humanitarian disaster for civilians as well -
VE Day
why? -to mark the end of World War II in Europe.
What? -Germany unconditionally surrendered its military forces to the Allies, including the United States
Effect? -marked the end of most of the fighting in Europe, where tens of millions of service members and civilians were killed since the start of hostilities. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
why? -The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, brought the United States officially into World War II. In the surprise attack,
what? - an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese
effect? -leukemia, cancer, or other terrible side effects from the radiation. -
VJ Day
why? -Japan had surrendered unconditionally, war-weary citizens around the world erupted in celebration.
what? -formal surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay
effect? -The Allied celebrations on Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day), on May 8, 1945, were subdued by the knowledge that war raged on in the Pacific. -
Potsdam Declaration
why? -to serve as legal basis for handling Japan after the war.
what? -gave the Japanese a way out of the war that avoided complete ruin and unconditional surrender.
effect? -Germany and Poland, the Potsdam negotiators approved the formation of a Council of Foreign Ministers