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Rape of Nanking
Mass murder and mass rape by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanking. The massacre occurred over six weeks, during this period, soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army murdered an estimated 40,000 to over 300,000 Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants, and perpetrated widespread rape and looting. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
The German-Soviet Pact stated that Poland allowed Germany to attack Poland without the fear of Russia's intervention. Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. -
German Blitzkrieg
German Blitzkrieg, meaning lightning war to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. German attacked Poland in 1939 then Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. -
Operation Barabossa
Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during WW2. About four million soldiers of the Axis powers invaded Soviet Russia, making it the largest invasion in the history of warfare. In addition to troops, the Germans employed 600,000 vehicles and between 600–700,000 horses. Thanks to Hitler -
Pearl Harbor
The attack, which lasted less than 2 hours, killed the lives of more than 2,500 people, wounded 1,000 more and damaged or destroyed 18 American ships and nearly 300 airplanes. Almost half of the casualties at Pearl Harbor occurred on the naval battleship USS Arizona, which was hit four times by Japanese bombers. -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Act of Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland, and Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining Ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp. It was the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II. -
D Day
The Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. About 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on the coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
Battle of the Bulge
A major German offensive campaign launched on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties for any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's armored forces. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
A major battle in which the United States Armed Forces occure and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army. The American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day was 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 thus marked the end of World War II in Europe. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
In August 1945, during the final stage 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
News of the surrender was announced to the world. This sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of World War II. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was held in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. At the time, President Truman declared September 2 to be VJ Day.
