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Japanese Invasion of China (1937)
Also called the Second Sino-Japanese War, this war consists of the destruction and conquest of the vast majority of China. During this time, the Chinese Nationalist Party faced three fronts: the Muslim revolts in the East, the Communist uprisings in the North, and the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria. The Japanese invaded Manchuria because they yearned for the raw resources that Manchuria held. After Manchuria, there was all out war, and Japan took over major cities such as Shanghai and Nanjing. -
Rape of Nanking
When Japan invaded the Chinese capital of Nanking, they massacred 50,000-300,000 Chinese civilians. It was considered a war crime, and the Japanese government claimed they didn't order the massacres. It was called "the rape" of Nanking because of how many buildings were looted and how many people were raped and murdered. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
In 1939, Germany decided to invade Poland. This was to add territory and resources, and to solidify an alliance with the USSR. Contrary to popular belief, the Polish army didn't send horses to try and fight back tanks. Poland was decently well-prepared to defend themselves, and the fighting lasted an entire month. In the end, Germany gained most of Poland, and concurrently France and Britain declared war on Germany. -
German Blitzkrieg
Germany used a very powerful war tactic- Blitzkrieg. It means lightning war and it was when heavily-armored units dislocated enemies, and then airplanes and experienced soldiers would come in and suppress the enemy further. It was extremely effective and let Germany conquer most of Europe. -
Fall of Paris
After Germany strategically avoided the Marignot Line in France, they rapidly captured the cities of Calais, Nantes, and lastly Paris. They captured Paris with little resistance, and Hitler ordered that if Paris was ever taken by the Allies, they were to burn the city and blow of the Eiffel Tower and any other building of importance. The officers in Paris never did that. -
Operation Barbarossa
This was essentially Hitler's invasion of the USSR and most of its territories. Hitler had five steps to his invasion: conquer the Baltic Nations and Belarus, Conquer the Ukraine, take over Southern Russia, annihilate the capital of Moscow, and then march into Central Asia. The first two steps worked, and he nearly conquered Southern Russia. The reasons why he was unsuccessful is that Russia was so large that is was hard to keep control of. Also, the Russians were very persistent fighters. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7th, 1941, Japan decided to bring America into their conflict because America was looking at Japan disfavorably after their invasion of China. Japan then sent numerous airplanes and submarines to Hawaii, and bombed the naval base of Pearl Harbor. This caused America to enter WWII, as they declared war on Italy and Germany directly after. Japan also bombed Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines on this day. -
Wannsee Conference
This conference, located in the Wannsee District of Berlin, was the deciding factor of how to annihilate European Jews. The senior members of the Nazi party attended this meeting, and decided they would use occupied Poland as an extermination spot for the innocent, hard-working Jewish population. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
German-occupied Warsaw held a lot of Jews, and when Hitler went to exterminate the remaining Jews in the city, the Ghetto district (where the Jews lived) had a large uprising, It was unsuccessful, as most of the Jews were burnt alive or suffocated anyways, Hitler then burned the Ghetto, and the vast majority of Warsaw was destroyed. -
Operation Gomorrah
Also called the Hiroshima of Germany, this bombing raid of the German city of Hamburg was disastrous for Germany. Hamburg was a large port city for them, and most of their commercial and residential districts were leveled. The weather in Hamburg was unusually dry, as well, and it was windy, which caused a fire tornado to devastate the city as well. -
Battle of Stalingrad
When German forces approached the Soviet city of Stalingrad with huge numbers, the Soviet leaders thought they would be defeated. To their surprise, the Soviet army held off the Germans and obliterated their forces in the East. This was considered the turning point of the Eastern front. -
Allied Invasion of Italy
Since the beginning of the war, Hitler ordered German troops to stay in Italy. America, Britain, and the other Allies saw Italy as a key stronghold in Europe, and invaded it. First, they invaded the island of Sicily, which allowed for them to next attack Salerno, which is by the metropolis of Naples. After this, Germany exited Italy and Italy ultimately surrendered. -
Normandy Invasion
To counter Germany's annexation of France, multiple Allied nations united to invade Occupied France. It is the largest amphibious assault in history, and it was an attack on five beachheads in Northern France. The highest levels of casualties were at Omaha Beach, a beach mostly assaulted by American and British soldiers. This invasion was crucial because it turned the tides in the Allies's favor. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap, or the Thunderclap Plan, was a planned operation to invade the capital city of Berlin and destroy German morale. It was scrapped because it was believed it wouldn't work and there would be too many casualities. Raids on other German cities were conducted instead. -
Battle of the Bulge
This was considered one of the most strategic American victories in the war. American forces invaded Belgium through France, and pushed back the German army to their homeland's own borders. -
Iwo Jima
After American victories in the Pacific, Japan decided to raise defenses on the Volcano Islands, off the shore of Japan. America decided to invade these islands, and after struggles getting up the highest peak on the island, they raised an iconic flag that became a symbol for the Pacific Campaign. -
Battle of Okinawa
This battle, which was extremely bloody (80,000 casualities) allowed America to gain control of Okinawa Island, but it showed how defensive the Japanese were of their nation. This led to America bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, because they knew that if they hadn't, the amount of deaths would be even higher. -
Victory in Europe Day
When German officials declared their surrender in Reims and Berlin, celebrations erupted worldwide. Oddly, the USSR didn't celebrate with their Western allies, because they wanted Germany to surrender directly to the USSR, which occurred a day later. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
When Japan ignored America, Britain, and China's warning that they would obliterate Japan if they didn't surrender, America bombed two Japanese cities, fearing a mainland invasion. Since Britain and America were firebombing cities already and the Japanese didn't care, they decided that drastic measures must be used, and they bombed the cities, which killed about 100,000 civilians. Japan surrended shortly after. -
Victory over Japan Day
After the bombing of Japan, Japan finally surrendered on the USS Missouri battleship in the Pacific. Afterwards, there were huge celebrations from New York City, to London, to Shanghai, and most of the world commemorated this day to respect the fallen of the war.
