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Japanese invasion of China
Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937–45, a conflict that broke out when China began a full-scale resistance to the expansion of Japanese influence in its territory. It began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937 in which a dispute between Japanese and Chinese troops escalated into a battle. -
Rape of Nanking
the Japanese butchered an estimated 150,000 male “war prisoners,” massacred an additional 50,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages. Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek ordered the removal of nearly all official Chinese troops from the city, leaving it defended by untrained auxiliary troops.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-rape-of-nanking -
Germany's invasion of Poland
To Hitler, the conquest of Poland would bring Lebensraum, or living space, for the German people. According to his plan, the racially superior Germans would colonize the territory and the native Slavs would be enslaved. -
German Blitzkrieg
Germany's strategy was to defeat its opponents in a series of short campaigns. Germany quickly overran much of Europe and was victorious for more than two years by relying on a new military tactic called Blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons such as tanks, planes, and artillery along a narrow front.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/blitzkrieg-lightning-war -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
The Soviet Union had been unable to reach a collective-security agreement with Britain and France against Nazi Germany, most notably at the time of the Munich Conference in September 1938. By early 1939 the Soviets faced the prospect of resisting German military expansion in eastern Europe virtually alone, and so they began searching about for a change of policy -
Fall of Paris
The attack began on 10 May 1940, with German air raids on Belgium and Holland, followed by parachute drops and attacks by ground forces. The two beleaguered nations were hastily added to the anti-German ad-hoc coalition. The speed of the German advance and the brutality of the air raids gave them a huge psychological advantage http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/fall_france_01.shtml -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Operation Barbarossa
Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union: three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Bataan Death March
The Americans were rounded up by the Japanese and forced to march 65 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando. The men were divided into groups of approximately 100, and what became known as the Bataan Death March typically took each group around five days to complete. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Wannsee Conference
The Final Solution was the code name for the systematic, deliberate, physical annihilation of the European Jews. At some still undetermined time in 1941 Hitler authorized this European-wide scheme for mass murder. Heydrich convened the Wannsee Conference. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advances in code-breaking, the United States was able to counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers causing permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
The Warsaw ghetto uprising was a violent revolt. Residents of the Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland, staged the armed revolt to prevent deportations to Nazi-run extermination camps. The Warsaw uprising inspired other revolts in extermination camps and ghettos throughout German-occupied Eastern Europe. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising -
D-Day
During World War II the Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along the coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history -
Battle of the Bulge
the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor. The battle that ensued is known historically as the Battle of the Bulge. https://www.army.mil/botb/ -
Liberation of concentration camps
As the Soviet Army advanced from the east, the Nazis transported prisoners away from the front and deep into Germany. most were force-marched hundreds of miles, often in freezing weather and without proper clothing or shoes. Over the course of these death marches, tens of thousands of people died. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/liberation-of-the-concentration-camps -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a military campaign between U.S. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan. the island of Iwo Jima had three airfields that could serve as a staging facility. American forces invaded the island on February 19, 1945. it’s believed that all but 200 or so of the 21,000 Japanese forces on the island were killed, as were almost 7,000 Marines. https://www.history.com/ -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II. On April 1, the Navy’s Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. The invasion was part of Operation Iceberg, a complex plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
VE Day
May 8th, 1945, was the date the Allies celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler’s Reich.
The Allies had begun to overrun Germany from the west during April as Russian forces advanced from the east. On 25th April 1945, Allied and Soviet forces met at the Elbe River, the German Army was all but destroyed. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/VE-Day/ -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
On August 6, 1945, during World War II, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki -
VJ Day
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15. It 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. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
