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Period: to
WWII
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Japanese Invasion of China
The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aimed at expanding its influence politically and militarily in order to secure access to raw material reserves and other economic resources in the area, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called "incidents". -
Rape of Nanking
The Nanking Massacre, also known as Rape of Nanking, was an episode during the Second Sino-Japanese War of mass murder and mass rape by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing (then spelled Nanking), then capital of the Republic of China. The massacre occurred over six weeks starting December 13, 1937, the day that the Japanese captured Nanjing. During this period, soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army murdered an estimated 40,000 to over 300,000. -
Germany Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak unit that marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. The German invasion began on September 1st 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. -
German blitzkrieg
A German term for “lightning war,” blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. Its successful execution results in short military campaigns, which preserves human lives and limits the expenditure of artillery. German forces tried out the blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. -
Operation Barabosa
Operation Barbarossa was the name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Over the course of the operation, about 4 million soldiers of the Axis powers invaded Soviet Russia the largest invasion force in history. In addition to troops, the Germans employed about 600,000 motor vehicles and between 600 to 700,000 horses. -
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, in the United States Territory of Hawaii. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. -
Wannsee Conference
The purpose of the conference was to ensure the cooperation of administrative leaders of various government departments in the implementation of the final solution to the Jewish question, whereby most of the Jews of German-occupied Europe would be deported to Poland and murdered. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a crucial and decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. The United States Navy decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy near Midway Atoll, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet that proved irreparable. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Southern Russia, on the eastern boundary of Europe. -
Operation Gomorrah
The Allied bombing of Hamburg during World War II with numerous strategic bombing missions and diversion raids. As a large port and industrial center, Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamburg-Harburg area oil refineries were attacked throughout the war. -
Allied Invasion of Italy
The Allied Invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy during the WWII. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign. This would reduce the amount of shipping capacity needed to supply Allied forces in the Middle East and Far East at a time when the disposal of Allied shipping capacity was in crisis and increase British and American supplies to the Soviet Union. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion by and establishment of Western Allied forces in Normandy, during Operation Overlord in 1944 during World War II. This was the largest amphibious invasion to ever take place. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap was the name for a cancelled operation planned in August 1944 but cancelled. The plan called for a massive attack on Berlin in the belief that would cause 220,000 casualties with 110,000 killed, many of them key German personnel. However, it was later decided that the plan was unlikely to work. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces withstood the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties for any operation during the war. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States landed and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the entire island, including the three Japanese-controlled airfields to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day, known as V-E Day, is the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. It marked the end of World War II in Europe. -
Poastdam Declaration
The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. A document was issued, which outlined the terms of surrender for Japan as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference. This ultimatum stated that, if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction. -
Battle of Okinowa
The Battle of Okinawa was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War during World War II. After a long campaign of island hopping, the allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
During the final stages of the Second World War, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history. -
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which Japan surrendered, in effect ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event.