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Japanese Invasion of China
Japan invaded China, seeking domination of China. Small numbers of Chines and Japanese soldiers stayed near the Marco Polo Bridge. Japanese were training one day, and a few shots were fired, startling the Chinese. The Japanese noticed a soldier missing, assumed it was the Chinese, and began to attack the bridge the next morning. It then became a huge invasion of China with hundreds of thousand of troops being sent in, killing as many as 100,000 Chinese. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
German forces attacked Poland on land and from the air, using their new "blitzkrieg" strategy. Hitler seeked to regain lost territory and rule Poland, beginning World War II. Concentration camps were set up after the destruction of Poland, eliminating anyone against his ideas, racially, religiously, or politicaly. -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is the German term for "lightning war," a tactic to disorganize enemy forces with mobile forces and local firepower. These Blitzkriegs kept enemy soldiers up at night with the destruction of their town and the Nazi soldiers. A large formation could rupture an enemy's front and disorganize its rear. -
Fall of Paris
The Fall of Paris, France, known as the Battle of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries during WWII; the battle defeated primarily French forces. -
Atlantic Charter
The U.S. and Great Britain issued a joint decleration for the postwar world. In January 1942, 26 Allied nations pledged to support the decleration, The Atlantic Charter, which is one of the first key steps toward the establishment of the United Nations in 1945 and included eight common principles. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese Attack Pearl HarborJapan launched a suprise attack on the US Pearl Habror, hundreds of fighter planes attacking the American naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. Nearly 20 American naval vessels were destroyed, eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 planes. More than 2,000 American soldiers and sailors were killed, 1,000 wounded. The next day, President FRanklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, them agreeing and three days later Japanese allies, Germany and Italy declaring war on the US. -
Bataan Death March
During WWII and after the U.S. surrender at the Bataan Peninsula to the Japanese, about 75,000 FIlipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to walk a 65-mile route to prison camps.There was intense heat and cruel treatment by the Japanese along the journey. -
D-Day
D-Day InvasionDuring WW2, the Battle of Normandy, resulted in allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi's control. The battle began on JUne 6, 1944, 156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of France's Normandy region. Prior to this, Allies developed a plan to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. By late August 1944, all of Northern France was liberated and by Spring, the Germans had been defetaed by the Allies. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Soviet soldiers were the first to liberate the camps, first entering Majdanek camp in Poland and later on January 27, 1945 entering Auschwitz, finding hundreds of sick and dead prisoners. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Americans invaded Iwo Jima, defended by 23,000 Japanese troops and attacked by three marine divisions. The battle is marked by change in Japanese defense tactic-troops. Despite the difficulty, marines eliminated the defending forces after a month of battle. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Japanese changed their usual tactics, using attacks on planes with "suicide" missions and the Yamato. They also used "special attack" kamikaze tactics, difficult for the US because of the Japanese dtermination. It was the last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of WWII, with287,000 troops of the U.S. tenth army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese army. Japan lost more than 77,000 and the Allies suffered more than 65,000 casualities with 14,000 dead. -
VE Day
Both Great Britain and the US celebrated Victory in Europe Day, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
During WWII, an American B-29 Bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb,nicknamed "little boy" over the city of Hiroshima, wiping out 90 percent of people. The next bomb was called, "fat man" and dropped over Nagasaki after no Japanese surrender. Days later they announced their surrender. -
V-J Day
After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the surrender of Japan was announced. This effectively ended WWII, August 14 and AUgust 15 known as "Victoryover Japan Day" or "V-J Day"
