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Rape of nanking
In late 1937, over a period of six weeks, Japanese Army forces murdered hundreds of thousands of people,including both soldiers and civilians,in the Chinese city of Nanking. The horrible events are known as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking,between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted. Nanking, then the capital of Nationalist China, was left in ruins, and it would take decades for the city and its citizens to recover from the savage attacks.http://www.history.com/topics/nanj -
japanese invasion of china
In the 1930s, China was a divided country. In 1927 Chiang Kai-Shek had formed a Nationalist Government ,the Kuomintang, but was opposed by Mao Tse Tung’s Communists (CCP). Civil war between the Communists and Nationalists erupted in 1930 – the period of Mao’s legendary ‘Long March’.http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/sino-japanese-war -
German Blitzkrieg
Germany's strategy was to defeat its opponents in short campaigns. Germany quickly overran much of Europe and was victorious for more than two years by relying on a new military tactic called the "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war). Blitzkrieg tactics required offensive weapons,planes, tanks, and artillery. Germany successfully used the Blitzkrieg tatic against Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France,Yugoslavia,Greece.
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fall of paris
On 11 November 1918, the French and British allies accepted Germany’s surrender and signed the armistice that ended the First World War. The signing took place in a railway carriage in the middle of the picturesque woods of Compiègne, fifty miles north-east of Paris. The event ran deep into the psyche of Germany, and none more so than in Adolf Hitler, at the time a corporal in the Imperial German Army. http://www.historyinanhour.com/2012/06/22/the-fall-of-france-summary/ -
Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The battle lasted just two hours, but was very devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on japan.http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl- -
operation barbarossa
Hitler’s intention was always to invade the Soviet Union. It was with the destruction of the Jews. He stated his intentions clearly enough in his semi-autobiographical Mein Kampf, published in 1925. This was meant to be a war of obliteration, and despite Russian territory and manpower, Hitler anticipated a quick victory.http://www.historyinanhour.com/2011/06/22/operation-barbarossa-summary/ -
Wannsee Conference
On January, 20, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's second in command of the SS, convened the Wannsee Conference in Berlin with 15 top Nazi bureaucrats to coordinate the Final Solution in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe, an estimated 11 million persons.https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/wannsee.html -
bataan death march
After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II, approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March.http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
D-Day
On June 6, 1944 the Allied Forces of Britain, America, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the coast of Normandy, France. With a force over 150,000 soldiers, the Allies attacked and gained a victory that became the turning point for World War II in Europe. At the end of D-Day over 150,000 troops had landed in Normandy.They then began to push germans out of france. http://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_ii/d-day_invasion_of_normandy.php -
VE Day
For just over five years and eight months a war had been raging in Europe. That began with Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. By the summer of 1941, the military of Germany’s dictator Adolf Hitler had conquered virtually all of Europe from Spain’s eastern border to the western border of the Soviet Union. Italy, under the control V-E Day celebrates the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allied forces in 1945, ending World War II in Europe.http://www.historynet.com/v-e-day-1945-the-c -
Battle of the bulge
In December 1944,Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Not ready, American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and Bastogne. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The American amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. Following preparatory air and naval bombardment, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island in February 1945. Iwo Jima was defended by 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, fought from an sneaky network of caves,and tunnel. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime.The war against Japan continued to rage. On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb that killed 80,000 immediately.Tens of thousands died later because of radiation..http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
VJ Day
On August 14, 1945, it was told that Japan had surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victoryover Japan Day,” or simply “V-J 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. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Liberation of concentration camps
As Allied troops moved across Europe in a series of offensives against Nazi Germany, they began to find thousands of concentration camp prisoners. Many of the prisoners had survived marches into the interior of Germany camps in Poland. These prisoners suffered from starvation and disease. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131
