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Rape of Nanking
Japanese imperial armies invaded and took POW's to the outskirts of towns and were told by superiors to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible. Soldiers took pictures with the decapitated and burned corpses, smiling. After wards they turned to Nanking and attacked, taking women over 70 and girls under 8 to be sexually abused. They were raped and shot, pregnant women not spared and had fetuses ripped out after. Streets were said to run red with blood after all death.
www.historyplace.com -
German Blitzkrieg
A German military tactic which involved mobile powers and extensive used of firepower to disorganize enemies. The term that can be translated to "lightening war." The first attempt was in Poland during 1939. The term Blitzkrieg was never written in any military handbook or manual. The attacks moved from Poland to the Netherlands and France by 1940.
Source:
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris
Germans announced that they would be occupying France and that there would be curfew at 8 pm. British Prime Minister urged France that US would come to aid and not to sue for peace. Germans invaded France and 2 million Parisians had already fled. German gestapo took prisoners for interrogation, arrests, and spying and the Nazi flag flew under the Arc de Triomphe. The government collapsed and Germans took over but Canadians aided. The end was the signing of the armistice.
www.history.com -
Declaration of Pétains armistice with Hitler
On June 22 the armistice was signed in Compiègne by Nazi and the Third Republic officials of France, establishing a German occupation zone in France however did not go into effect until the 25. It encompassed the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean ports. Hitler chose Compiégne for the document to be signed because it was in the same place it had been signed in 1918. Charles de Gaulle announced to fight Germans. After the signing more than half of France was occupied by Germans.
www.History.com -
Battle of Midway
Occurred six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which was the United State's response against Japan, and resulted in the largest naval battle in WWII. The Americans sank four Japanese fleet carriers called Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu with 322 aircraft and over five thousand sailors. Japanese also lost the heavy cruiser Mikuma. American losses totaled in three thousand sailors and 147 aircrafts.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Bataan Death March
After April 9, 1942, the U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the central Philippine island, Luzon to the Japanese during World War II, more than 75,000 American and Filipino troops on Bataan were forced to make an straining 65-mile march to prison camps.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/04/bataan_death_march_75_years_ago.html -
Battle of Stallingrad (https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Stalingrad)
The Battle of Stalingrad was a successful Soviet defense against a heavily armored German army. It was the greatest battle of the Great Patriotic War, and it resulted in nearly 2 million causalities. This battle was the turning point of the second World War as a whole on the eastern front.On February 2, 1943 the German army, surrendered their remaining 91,000 men army. Approximately 150,000 German soldiers died in the battle.This battle was a large source of morale for the allies moving forward. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
In 1939, in Warsaw, 400,000 Jews were placed in a ghetto no bigger than one square mile. In 1940, the ghetto was sealed of by brick and barbed wire, it was under constant watch and anyone seen leaving the ghetto would be shot on spot. In 1943, Residents of the Jewish ghetto started a violent and armed revolt against deportation systems to extermination camps.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising
https://www.britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Ghetto-Uprising -
Allied Invasion of Italy
Field Marshall Bernard L. Montgomery began the Allied invasion of the Italian Peninsula which began with the landing off of the island of Sicily. General George S. Patton landed on Sicily's south coast, within three days, 150,000 Allies troops were ashore. The Italian government secretly agreed to the Allies' terms for surrender, but no public announcement was made until September 8th. -
Liberation of Paris
On this day, the French became free from German control. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Resistance, ordered allied troops into Paris to overtake the remaining Germans. In fact, many German soldiers were led off as captives. More than 500 Resistance fighters passed way in the fight for Paris, as well as 127 civilians. Once the city was free from German rule, French collaborators were killed when they were captured.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/liberation-of-paris -
Liberation of concentration camps
Soviet forces were first to approach the concentration camps. Germans were surprised by the advance of the troops and began to take apart the camps, burning crematoriums, demolishing camp sites, but they were left standing. Soviets overran the camps including Auschwits, the largest center in January of 1945. The Soviets found over 6,000 emancipated corpses and ended in liberating the Baltic states. Soviets were not the only ones to help but US forces too, liberating over 20,000.
www.ushmm.org -
Operation Thunderclap. (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II)
Towards the end of the European war, the Allies were looking to advance upon the German army. "Operation Thunderclap" was the Allies way of doing so. As a oncoming Soviet land army attacked the German army, the British and American air forces bombed the city of Dresden. This decision for the Allies became one of the most controversial topics of the war in the future. This caused the questioning of the true "good" that they were fighting for, and if they were willing to kill civilians to earn it. -
Battle of Okinawa. (http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa)
The Battle of Okinawa was the bloodiest battle of the pacific war, and was the last major battle on the pacific front. It is often thought of the third bloodiest battle of the war from an American standpoint, due to the large numbers of Americans who died during the course of the battle. Over the course of this battle, one can see the great heroics of the soldiers firsthand. From a medic rescuing 75 soldiers on Hacksaw Ridge, to the allied forces destroying the great Yamato. -
Charles de Gaulle's exile speeches
On June 18th Charles de Gaulle led a famous speech called "Appel du 18 juin" it was known as a rallying cry to pull nationalism out of the French people and to help prevent the Nazis from overtaking Paris. He uses poetic and fiery language in his speech craft. His speech sparked the regeneration of the French-speaking-world.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jun/27/de-gaulle-france-biography-fenby
http://www.bridgemanimages.com/en-US/collections/new-collections/the-de-gaulle-archive-online -
The Dropping of atomic bombs
The United States became the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it dropped the atomic bombs on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. In 1940, we started developing this type of weaponry when we got news that Nazi Germany was as well. When the bomb dropped they instantly killed 80,000, and people continued to die weeks later from radiation poisoning.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima
https://www.trumanlibrary.org/teacher/abomb.htm
