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Japanese Invasion Of China
Japan was being controlled by hard-line military officers. They wanted war in part simply because part of their ideology extolled war. Japan's invasion of China was due essentially to Japan's desire to be an imperial power. China has grown from Japanese failure in China and the eventual triumph of Mao Zedong's communists in 1949.
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Germany's Invasion Of Poland
German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. Germany successfully used the Blitzkrieg tactic against Poland. It happened because to overturn the Treaty of Versailles, and The Nazi-Soviet Pact. The invasion led to many Jewish and non-Jewish refugees fleeing.
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Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Very shortly after the invasion of Poland, the Germans sent the Jews to ghettos in Warsaw. The Warsaw ghetto was the largest in Poland. If any prisoner tried to escape the camp, they were immediately shot by a soldier without any hesitation. One day, several hundred prisoners decided to revolt and steal weapons to escape the ghetto. Most escapees were recaptured and executed afterwards.
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German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons. It happened because the British wanted to send their air force to bomb targets inside Germany but were persuaded not to by the French who feared German reprisal. The major activity consisted of dueling propaganda messages blared from loud speakers. Many blitzkriegs result in a success which makes expansion possible, and things easier to achieve.
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Fall Of Paris
In 1940, the Germans entered France to invade it. Great Britain tried to convince France to fight back and not give up too easily. France struggled to fight back against the Nazi Germans and also asked for help from the Americans. Roosevelt replied and said they were ready to offer supplies but the Secretary of State opposed of the idea. Shortly after the Germans invaded France, they surrendered to Germany.
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Operation Barbarossa
Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union: 3 great army groups with over 3m German soldiers. It happened because the wake of Germany’s stunning success against the western allies in France. Impact was that Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources.
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Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, Japanese planes filled the sky over Pearl Harbor. It happened because The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over its import market; to this end. President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan then Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
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Battle of Midway
A four-day sea-and-air battle, where the U.S. destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own. This battle was a result of Japan being offensive. The US was a threat, and Japanese sought to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet before it was large enough. This battle made a turning point for the US.
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Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a code name for the research program to develop the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb named “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Thousands of Japanese were injured, burned, killed and/or suffered radiation sickness. On August 9, 1945, when Japan still refused to surrender, a second bomb, named “Fat Man”, was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945, therefore ending WWII.
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Battle Of Stalingrad
The Germans invaded Stalingrad, they believed it was essential to their campaign in southern Russia. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union, making it the turning of the tide of war.
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Operation Gomorrah
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day in its own “Blitz Week.” To make matters worse for Germany, the U.S. Eighth Air Force began a more comprehensive bombing run of northern Germany, which included two raids on Hamburg during daylight hours. British attacks on Hamburg continued until November of that year. , Operation Gomorrah proved devastating to Hamburg—not to mention German morale.
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Allied Invasion Of Italy
In 1943, the British armies were sent out on a mission. The mission was the invade the peninsula of Italy, and later the mainland. The day that the allies landed in Italy, the government secretly agreed to the allies that they would surrender. They didn't make an official statement until a few days after the landing. The Italian people were planning on uniting to overthrow Mussolini with the allies.
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D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
American, British and Canadian forces landed on the coast of France’s Normandy region. This invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history. The Allied forces wanted to enter Germany, where they would meet up with Soviet troops moving in from the east because the invasion was successful. Lastly, it resulted in the Allied liberation from Nazi Germany’s control.
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Battle Of The Bulge
Germans created a “bulge” around the area of the Ardennes forest in pushing through the American defensive line. The Germans threw 250,000 soldiers into the initial assault. It resulted in a massive loss of American and civilian life. Nazi abounded, including the murder of many American soldiers by SS soldiers in the Ardennes town of Malmedy.
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Operation Thunderclap
This proposal was to bomb the eastern most cities of Germany. The purpose was to disrupt the transport infrastructure behind what was becoming the Eastern front. Also to demonstrate to the German population that the air defenses of Germany were now of little substance and that the Nazi regime had failed them.
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Battle Of Iwo Jima
America was in desperate need of a military base near the Japanese coast. Because of that need, the US decided to invade the island of Iwo Jima. The island was guarded by 27,000 Japanese troops. The battle for the island lasted more than a month and ended in an American victory. All of the Japanese troops were wiped out by the Americans in this tough battle.
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Battle Of Okinawa
This battle was the largest and last battle of the Pacific islands. Okinawa, another island in Japan, was the next step for the allies to invade the country. Okinawa was very important because of its many airfields. In this battle, Japan used their infamous 'kamikaze' strategy to sink the allied ships. After almost a three month battle, the Allied Powers won the battle and successfully invaded Okinawa.
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Liberation Of Concentration Camps
The first concentration camp the Nazi’s created was named Dachau. The camp held political opponents of the Nazi's as prisoners then they increased and other groups joined the concentration camp; the majority were Jews. The prisoners were forced to work for German armaments production. The camp was served as the training center for SS concentration campsite guards. Hundreds of inmates got sick and/or died in the camp. The U.S. army liberated the Dachau main camp on April 29, 1945.
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VE Day
The V and the E in this day stand for "Victory in Europe". On this day in 1945, the British and Americans celebrated the war victory in Europe. Germany finally surrendered to the Soviet Union after they had lost more than 8,000 of their soldiers. The Soviets returned about 13,000 British prisoners of war back to Great Britain. They also rescued about 2 million other prisoners, right before Germany surrendered.
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Dropping Of The Atomic Bombs
On August 6th, America dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Shortly after, the world's second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The bombs immediately killed tens of thousands of people and wiped out 90% of Hiroshima. Even more died later from the radiation. The dropping of these bombs is what made Japan surrender and end the war.
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Potsdam Declaration
The emperor pleaded the Council to think about accepting the conditions of the Potsdam Conference. Japan surrendered after the bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Soviet invasion of Manchuria. Tokyo sent a message to the Allies accepting the Potsdam Declaration. President Truman brought the atomic bombing to an end after he received the message of Japans surrender. Meanwhile, aggressive fighting continued between Japan and the Soviet Union in Manchuria.
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Vj Day
VJ day stands for "Victory Over Japan Day". On this great day, Japan officially surrendered to the Allied Powers. The official surrender happened days after the incredibly fatal bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These bombings cause Japan an incredible amount of nuisance, even decades into the future. This was the end of one of the largest wars in history.
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