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China falls to Japan
The Japanese first invaded Manchuria and then made their way to China. Japanese treated the Chinese terribly and felt that they were better than the Chinese, Japanese wanted to control all of Asia because they were the only strong asian nation. -
Blitzkrieg into Poland
A week after the Nazi Soviet Pact the invasion of Poland occurred on September 1, 1939. The Germans brought troops, trucks, and tanks a crossed the border. German aircraft and artillery bombed Poland's capital, Warsaw. -
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World War 2
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Battle of the Atlantic
Conflict between British and American ships and German U-Boats. Germany suffered heavy losses, due to the innovations of radar and codebreaking within Allied ranks. -
German invasion of France
After Dunkirk, Germans advance into France.France unable to defend itself and army poorly trained, civilians flee to S. France. Luftwaffe-bombing civilians.June 14 - the Germans had taken Paris.Italy declared war on the side of Germany and invaded France from the south.On June 22, 1940,France surrendered. While Germans occupied the northern part of France, a puppet government for France's southern region was set up in Vichy under Marshal Henri Petain.The Free French were headed by de Gualle -
Dunkirk
After the failure of the Maginot line in early May of 1940, a full-scale defence barrier along the German border, the French were abandoned by British troops to face German invaders at Dunkirk. Allied soldiers were forced to evacuate Dunkirk harbor because the British, French, and Belgian troops were blocked by German forces during the Battle of Dunkirk. The French resistance lasted 10 days; on June 14th, the French surrendered. -
Battle of Britain / Operation Sealion
Hitler demands Britain return their colonies and agree to German domination of continental Europe. Upon refusal, London & the Royal Air Force are bombed. Hitler makes the first of his fatal errors, relenting bombings and eventually abandoning invasion plans, ending the German advance in W. Europe. -
Germany takes Greece
April 6 1941, The German air force launches Operation Castigo, the bombing of Belgrade. As part of a comprehensive Balkan offensive, German forces also bombed the Greek port city of Piraeus as army divisions swept south and west, en route to Salonica and the eventual occupation of Greece. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler, drawn to the idea of ending communism in Europe, taking the Soviet Union's raw resources and overpowering Stalin, began Operation Barbarossa. Three million Germans charged into the Soviet Union, starting a new blitzkrieg. Two and a half million Russian soldiers were pushed back and along the way they burned factories and crops, preventing the Germans from taking them. The Nazis, ready to invade Moscow and Leningrad, were delayed by Russia's harsh winter, which killed thousands of Germans -
Pearl Harbor
The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The U.S. enters the war, opening the Pacific Theatre. -
Philippines 1942
America controlled the Philippine islands. General Douglas MaCarther led the defense of the Philippines. His forces were no mach for the Japanese, which came ashore December 1941. The Japanese gained ground forcing MaCarther's troops to retreat back to the Bataan Peninsula -
Doolittle Raid
It was a suprise attack on Japan as revenge for the Pearl Harbor attack. It didn't do lots of damage but boosted U.S. citizen's morale. All or the pilots made it to safety in China or Soviet Union. -
Bataan (battle & march)
The Japanese won a series of battles controlling much of Southeast Asia and many pacific islands. The Japanese gained control of the Philippines by May 1942. They killed several hundred American solders and 10,000 Filipino soldiers during the 68-mile march -
Coral Sea
invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea and Tulagi, Solomon Islands for improved defensive positioning. Included a series of aircraft carrier bombings by opposing belligerent aircrafts. -
Midway
The US Navy sinks four Japanese aircraft carriers in the fight that proves to be the turning point in the Pacific war. -
Guadalcanal
Invasion of Guadalcanal & Tulagi in an attempt to seize the Japanese airfield near Lunga Point. -
Island Hopping
The strategy of capturing some islands and going around others. The United States used an island-hopping campaign on Japanese-held islands in order to invade Japan. -
Stalingrad
Germany's entire Sixth Army is lost, and the war begins turning in favor of the Allies after this major, decisive battle. It is considered the bloodiest battle of WWII. -
El Alamein
Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 13 days from 23 October - 4 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery took command of the British Eighth Army from General Claude Auchinleck in August 1942. The Allied victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign. It ended Axis hopes of occupying Egypt & controled Suez -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch (initially called Operation Gymnast) was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942. -
Kursk
Final strategic offensive the Germans were able to mount in the east. The decisive Soviet victory gave the Red Army the strategic initiative for the rest of the war. It is considered the biggest tank battle of the war. -
Silicy
The Allied invasion of Sicily,codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign,in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis.It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation,followed by six weeks of land combat.It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on 9-10 July 1943,and ended August.Strategically,Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners.The Allies drove Axis air,land and naval forces from the island;Italian dictator Mussolini was toppled from power. -
Salerno
Almost a month after the allies secured Sicily. They began their invasion of Italy, with the first landing at Salerno on September 9, 1943. -
Anzio
Allied amphibious landing during the invasion of Italy, it was behind the main German defensive line (Gustav Line) and was meant to either capture Rome or draw enough forces off the Gustav Line to allow it to be broken. It did not succeed, except at drawing some force off of the Gustav Line. The Battle of Anzio was several months long and the Allies struggled to maintain their beachhead. -
Gilbert & Marshall Islands
The US Marines invaded Tawara, part of Gilbert Island. This was known as Operation Galvanic and it was the bloodiest battle with the Marines in the secured end of Tawara. Also in Operation Flintlock, the US Marines invaded the Marshall Islands, where the 4 week battle took place in Kwajalien & Eniwetok. -
D-Day
The Allied Expeditionary Force under Dwight Eisenhower lands on the coast of Normandy, France on what will later be called "D-Day". Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high (9,000 Allied casualties), but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler. The "Second Front" that Stalin has been demanding for three years is now open. -
Guam
It occurred because Japan took over Guam, but Americans wanted to liberate Guam. It was an American victory and the Guam became a base for allied operation. -
Operation Dragoon
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Battle of the Bulge
The last, desperate German offensive launched through the densely forested Belgium, and France and Luxembourg on the Western Front in an attempt to split the Western Allies, encircle large portions of Western Allied troops and capture their primary supply port at Antwerp in order to prompt a political settlement. -
Bastogne
This Siege of Bastogne was between the German & the American forces at the Belgian town called the Bastogne, where the German officials aim was the harbor at Antwerp. This siege was a small part in the Battle of Bulge. -
Yalta Conference
U.S., British, and Soviet leaders agreed on the occupation of post-war Germany, and on when the Soviet Union would join the war against Japan. -
Iwo Jima
Marines land on Iwo Jima, beginning five weeks of terrible fighting for control of the strategically-located island. -
Okinawa
Okinawa, an island in the Ryukyu Islands chain that was early established as the frontline in the defense of mainland Japan, was invaded by 60,000 U.S. troops that began with an unbelievable amount of naval gunfire. Two United States Marine and two Army divisions landed on Okinawa on April 1st and faced 155,000 Japanese ground, air and naval troops in an area in which many civilians still inhabited. This battle was the last hope for the Japanese and many already knew of the defeat that lay ahead -
Hitler's Suicide
For two years, Germany had been demolished by bombs which destroyed military bases, factories, railroads, oil deposits and cities. By March the Allies had taken over West Germany and the Soviet army had the east, almost conquering Berlin. Axis Powers began to surrender and in Italy Mussolini was killed. As the Soviet army got closer and closer to Berlin, Hitler hid in his underground bunker and committed suicide there. -
German Surrender
May 8, 1945, the day the germans surrender was marked as the end of WW2 as well as known as the V-E Day, in other words - Victory in Europe Day. -
Potsdam
Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction. -
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Hiroshima & Nagasaki
As the war in the Pacific continued, the mass of Europe as well as China and the United States called for a surrender of Japan, promising nothing less than "prompt and utter destruction". Meanwhile, American scientists had successfully constructed the first atomic bomb. President Truman chose to use this weapon against the Japanese on Aug. 6, 1945 on the city of Hiroshima. Six days later, on Aug. 9, the U.S. dropped the second atomic bomb, nicknamed the Fat Man, on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. -
Japanese Surrender
After American plans drooped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Manchuria the war was soon to be over. on August 10, 1945 Emperor Hirohito forced the Japanese government to surrender. On September 2, 1945, a formal peace treaty was signed on board the American battleship Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. -
Battle Of Leyte Gulf
Fought between combined US and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte and Samar, this was the largest naval battle in history.
