Jessica Hasty: World War 2

By 1626883

  • Japanese Invasion of China

    Japanese Invasion of China
    SourceIn 1937, there was a minor engagement between Chinese and Japanese troops at the Marco-Polo Brige. This led to an undeclared war between the two nations. The Japanese wanted to expand in 1931, and then continued in 1937, but the Chinese decided they wanted to keep all of their land to themselves. "The China Incident" allowed Japan to create the "New Order" which dominated the Japanese military until about 1940, This set up the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy and created the Axis alliance.

  • German Invasion of Poland

    German Invasion of Poland
    SourceOn September 1, 1939, German forces crossed into Poland to officially start World War 2. Hitler understood that his overall conquest of Europe included the destruction of Poland. German forces fought with "blitzkreig" doctrines which involved heavy ground forces with large amounts of air force. This forced the country to later fall under Soviet communist rule before winning its independence in 1989.
  • Period: to

    German Blitzkrieg

    Source As Germans decided to start World War 2, they didn't want a long war. They wanted to defeat their opponents in short campaigns. They were able to successfully use this technique to destroy many countries. In 1941, they invavded the Soviet Union and was unable to defeat them. This caused a long World War 2 and their ultimate defeat in May 1945.

  • Fall of Paris

    Fall of Paris
    Source This attack was brought on by Hitler and his idea that he neded to take over Europe. They wanted to move towards the English channel, but take Paris in the process. On May 15th, they finally pushed into Paris. The Paris defense was slow to respond and had uncoordinated actions that forced their downfall. This later allowed the German army to have an advantage in the war.

  • Operation Barobossa

    Operation Barobossa
    Source On June 22th, Barbarossa was launched to begin the East Front- the German invasion of the Soviet Union. With the element of surprise, the German army made tremendous gains. The operation spanded from June to December. This caused Germany and many other countries to take tremedous loses and in the end, Germany underestimated Soviet defiance.

  • Pearl Harbor

    Pearl Harbor
    Source Japan wanted as much oil as possible in the Pactific because the mainland was not producing what was needed. The next place at the time that was best was Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. At 7:55am, they targeted "Battleship Row" which took soldiers by surprise. In the end, 8 battleships with destroyed, and 68 civilians were killed. This caused the dismantly of the Japanses Empire later on in history.

  • Wannsee Conference

    Wannsee Conference
    Source This conference was held to discuss te final solution for the Jewish and emigration problems. Hitler, and others there later decided to evacuate all Jews to the east. They would then be organized into labor camps and treated accordingly. From this meeting and on, the extermination of Jews became systematic. It has been estimated that between 1942 and 1945, between five and eleven million were killed at camps.

  • Battle of Midway

    Battle of Midway
    Source This attack was aimed to destroy U.S. aircraft carriers and occupy Midway Atoll-a tiny island between Asia and North America. Both the Japanese and Americans dropped torpeadoes and bombs at each other. At the end, the Japanese lost 4 aircraft carriers whereas as America only lost 1. This is now regarded as the most important battle of the Pacific Campaign.

  • Battle of Stalingrad

    Battle of Stalingrad
    Source Hitler and the Soviet Union were determined to take the city of Stalingrad in order to continue their plan and make sure that they did not fail in a big way. In the morning hours of November 19th, Stalingard cannons lit up the sky. On January 8th, the German Army requested surrender. It was rejected and continued to fight. They officially surrendered on February 2, 1943 and ended the siege of Stalingrad.

  • Operation Gomorrah

    Operation Gomorrah
    href='http://http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWcologne.htm' >Source</a> This operation was a campaign in the European Theater. On this day, British bombers raided Hamburg, Germany by night. During the day, Americans used their own Blitz to weaken them. These attack continued into November, and this Operation proved devestating to Hamburg. This operation later had a large toll on Hitler and turned their minds to ultimate defeat.

  • D-Day [Normandy Invasion]

    D-Day [Normandy Invasion]
    Source After the conquest of France in 1940, Western Europe was a major aim of the Allied strategy. Known as Operation Overload, U.S., British, and Canadian troops landed on Normandy beaches. On D-Day, Allies landed 11 divisions on the French coast but failed on reaching their plan but later was able to overcome. Ever since, June 6th is 1944 known as D-Day.

  • Battle of the Bulge

    Battle of the Bulge
    Source This attack was a gambit to reverse the German fortunes. The German defense had thousands of troops and many tanks. Their defense was halted short of its objective which was the Meuse River later on. Even though the U.S. defense took on many causalties, they made a large impact in the battle. By the end, Germans suffered more than 100,000 deaths and Americans approximately 81,000 deaths.

  • Operation Thunderclap

    Operation Thunderclap
    Source Arthur Harris devised Operation Thunderclap to break the morale of the German people. This was an air raid that would destroy the town of Dresden. This was chosen as the target because it hadn't been attacked during the war and was virtually undefended by anti-aircraft guns. On that day, bombers attacked the city. The resulting firestrom killed around 1.35 million people.

  • Battle of Iwo Jima

    Battle of Iwo Jima
    Source At the beginning of 1945, Douglas MacArthur decided to capture the small island of Iwo Jima. On this day, American soldiers attacked the island. The objective was to caputre the island's 3 airstrips and obtain a forward air base for the Allied attack on Japanese home territories. The U.S. was successful and was able to launch bombing attacks on Japan. Many of the wooden buldings of Japan made for easy targets.

  • Battle of Okinawa

    Battle of Okinawa
    Source Okinawa was the last stop before the Japanese mainland and was sought out for. The Allies planned out their largest assult with sea and air force. Casualities mounted for both sides, but Americans had a "healthier" advantage. During the lull, Japanese forces retreated further while still fighting assults. This win for the Allies set up the end of the Japanese Empire and set up an area to strike Japanese land,

  • VE Day

    VE Day
    Source Grand Admiral Donitz, President of the Third Reich traveled to Reims to surrender to the Western and Russian demands on May 7th. May 8th is traditionally known as VE Day now because it took time to get the news to travel. Many people crowded in the srteets and hung banners in excitment for their cause. Although the Nazism was removed, the war in the Pacific was still unresolved.

  • Dropping of the Atomic Bombs

    Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
    Source On August 6, 1945, the United States Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Tens of thousands of people died on impact and many died later because of radiation and bodily infection. Three days later, they dropped another bomb on Nagasaki. On August 8th, the Soviet Union declared was on Japan and invaded Manchuria. Japan later agreed to surrender and American forces occupied Japan.

  • VJ Day

    VJ Day
    Source With Japan surrendering, the Allies were finally able to celebrate. August 15 1945 and September 2 1945 are both known as VJ Day because Japanese forces didn't officially surrender until then. It not only marked the end of the war in the Pacific, but also the end of World War 2. In Britain, this makred the beginning of the Parliament.