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Invasion of Manchuria
The invasion of Manchuria started on September 18th, 1931. The Japanese wanted to keep extending their empire and Manchuria was next on their list. The Chinese Army did not fight the Japanese back because they knew they just wanted an excuse to invade Manchuria. According to a Japanese spy, the Chinese soldiers sabotaged the railway and attacked the Chinese army. That spy was later executed. -
Blitzkrieg into Poland
At 4:45 a.m. on September 1st, 1939, about 1.5 million German troops invaded Poland on it’s border. The Germans bombed Polish airfields, and their U-boats and warships attacked the naval forces of Poland in the body of water known as the Baltic Sea. When the Germans attacked Poland they used a military strategy blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg also means “lightning war”. The Germans attacked Poland without them knowing. Two days after the attack, Poland declared war on Germany which initiated World War 2. -
Battle of the Atlantic
The Allies and Axis Powers fought for the control of the Atlantic until May 8, 1945. The Allies wanted to use the Atlantic to resupply Great Britain and the Soviet Union in their war against Italy and Germany. The Axis Powers did not want them helping the other side so they fought for control of the Atlantic Ocean.The Germans had a better advantage due to their U-Boats. The US came up with new technology known as radars. We could now tell where the submarines were located. -
German Invasion of France
On May 10th, 1940, Germany invaded France. Many of the battles were within Belgium up the Channel coast and across France. Hitler and his generals wanted to take Holland and Luxembourg before they conquered Belgium and France. The Allies used the “Dyle Plan” and created a defensive front by the natural barrier that was known as the Dyle River. The Germans made their way but the French thought they had more time.The Germans crossed in only twenty four hours. The Germans won the battle in France. -
Battle of Britain/ The Blitz
On July 10, 1940 was the first air battle ever in history. They fought in the skies over the United Kingdom. Germany targeted Britain’s air bases, military posts and their civilians for months but Germany still could not invade Britain. The Battle of Britain was a turning point in the war because Germany’s Luftwaffe lost to the Royal Air Force. During the battle, Germany changed its approach from operational to massive attacks on London. Hitler could not achieve his goal and left. -
Germany takes Greece
The Germans were unaware but the Italians decided to invade Greece with 70,000 soldiers. British forces then occupied positions on the island of Crete to defend Greece. The Italian force retreats due to the combination of Greek resistance and the Royal Air Force after just two weeks. Bulgaria agrees to allowing Germany the use of their soil bordering Greece for the upcoming invasion. -
Operation Barbarossa
June 22nd, 1941, Adolf Hitler commanded the operation known as Operation Barbarossa. It was Germany invading the Soviet Union. Adolf Hitler had the main goal of eliminating the Jews and by invading the Soviet Union. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, it was called the Battle of Stalingrad. -
Pearl Harbor
December 7th, 1941, the Japanese had a sneak attack on American soil at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The United States decoded their message about the attack but we could not figure out where it was bound to occur. The bombing of Pearl Harbor lasted for nearly two hours with about 2,000 American soldiers and sailors dead. The Japanese destroyed many ships and planes. FDR and Congress declared war on Japanese. In return, Japan's allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the USA. -
Guam
The battle was at Guam which is on the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. General George J. McMillin led the Allies to a victory in 1944. In 1941, the Japanese took Guam but by 1944 the US had captured it back. The Empire of Japan had a plan to capture Guam during World War 2 and they succeeded at first. Come 1944, the second battle only took a week with 7,000 American’s dead but over 18,000 Japanese casualties. The Allies came out with a victory. -
Bataan (battle and march)
The US lost the Battle of Bataan to the Japanese on April 9th, 1942. The US held off Japan at first, but on January 19th everything changed. The Japanese forces infiltrated behind US lines which cut off supplies to one of our divisions. That caused a collapse of that line. General MacArthur retreated to Australia while 60,000 prisoners marched 70 miles through steamy jungles to camps ran by Japan. Over 10,000 people die from abuse, exhaustion, and starvation. -
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid can also be referred to as the Tokyo Raid on April 18th, 1942. It was the first air strike to attack the Japanese Home Islands. It did very little damage to Tokyo. 16 American B-25 bombers were commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle. They were launched off the aircraft carrier called the USS Hornet. Even though the raid did no physical damage, it did hurt the Japanese “prestige”. -
Coral Sea
Coral Sea battle was a 4 day battle in May 1942 which was marked the first air-sea battle in history. The Japanese’s plans were intercepted by the Allied forces when they figured out that the Japanese want to try and get control over the Coral Sea by invading Port Moresby. When the Japanese landed, they were attacked from American aircraft carrier planes commanded by Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher. Both sides suffered but it left the Japanese without enough planes to cover Port Moresby. -
Midway
The Battle of Midway is known as a turning point in WW2. It lasted until June 7th. The plans of Japan were intercepted and decoded. Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku chose to invade a target close to Pearl Harbor to draw out American fleet so the Japanese could crush the US. The plan was intercepted and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz moved his US carriers in position to surprise the Japanese. After the victory at Midway, the US went straight to defeat Tokyo. -
Stalingrad
The Nazi's bombed Stalingrad. The Russians stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and the Allies favor increased. The Germans saw the conquest of Stalingrad a very important city to get. It was a vital industrial and transportation center and both Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler understood the symbolism in it. It was the only city to have the Soviet dictator’s name. By late September the Germans basically gained Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad was humiliating for Hitler. -
Guadalcanal
It is apart of the Solomon islands located northeast of Australia.The United States invaded the island that was occupied by Japan. The US first conquered the smaller island of Florida and Tulagi which is north of Guadalcanal.During the day the US would bomb incoming Japanese ships but at night the Japanese would use small fast ships that would send in more soldiers. The Japanese faced a terrible loss and it really destroyed their morale. -
El Alamein (second battle)
The battle El Alamein started October 23rd and ended November 4th, 1942.The three hundred Sherman tanks shipped to Egypt from the USA helped the allies have an advantage in firepower to win this battle.The Allies intercepted a message from Rommel to Hitler and Montgomery had the note decoded in his hands the next morning. Hitler ordered Rommel to ‘stand and die’ but he had already began to retreat. The second battle of El Alamein was a turning point in the North African campaign. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch is also called Operation Gymnast. This operation occurred on November 8th, 1942. It was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during World War 2. -
Philippines 1942
The US troops travel to defend the Philippines led by General MacArthur in March. We lasted 3 months with the Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific at our side. In May we eventually ran out of supplies and we had no reinforcements. General MacArthur and US troops retreat back to Australia, General MacArthur declares he will return. On May 6th, the Japanese capture the Philippines. -
Kursk
The German goal was to wreck as much of the Soviet army as possible. Adolf Hitler delayed the attack so more newly produced tanks could reach the Eastern Front. But by Hitler postponing, it allowed the Soviets to prepare their defenses, prepare flanks of the Kursk salient with massive minefields and defensive works, and move in numerous reinforcements. Hitler decided to call off the operation because of Anglo-American invasion of Sicily and Italy was about to collapse. The Germans had failed. -
Sicily
July 1943, the Allied powers invaded Europe and wanted to finally defeat Nazi Germany. The Allies were hoping to remove the fascist regime from the war, divert the German divisions from the northwest coast of France, and secure the central Mediterranean by moving next to Italy. -
Salerno
On September 3rd, 1943 to the 16th, the Allied powers not only invaded Salerno but Taranto as well. The US army led by General Mark Clark landed on the coastline of Salerno while British Commando units and the US Rangers landed on the peninsula itself. Salerno was the northernmost part the Allies could fly planes from off of Sicily and land on the beachfront. Two days went by and the Germans and Italians finally came to fight but it was too late. By the 15th, Salerno was occupied by the Allies. -
New Gunea
The Australian and American forces launched an attack against the Japanese.For most of the battle, it was fought on the rugged terrain around Salamaua and Wau. The Australians drew in Japanese troops slowly nearby Lae. It later became a Japanese base in March 1942. This plan was called the Salamaua magnet which worked because it weakened the Japanese garrison.The battle provided a springboard for General MacArthur to later successfully advance into the Philippines and the Netherlands East Indies -
Anzio
It took place until June 5th. It was an attempt to draw out German troops off the Gustav Line during Operation Shingle. Led by US Major General John P. Lucas, an expeditionary force secured a beachhead near Anzio on Nettuno on Italy’s west coast. His divisions were quickly contained by German FIeld Marshall Albert Kesselring. Both sides had many casualties over the four months with no movement. The Allies finally broke out in late May and the battle of Anzio led to the capture of Rome. -
Gilbert and Marshall Islands
January 31st, 1944, the US Marine and Army troops launched an assault on three islets in the Kwajalein Atoll. The Kwajalein Atoll is a ring-shaped coral formation in the Marshall Islands where the Japanese have control over. The first Marshall Islands to be captured by the US troops were Roi and Namur. This allowed the Pacific Fleet to invade the islands towards the Philippines and the Japanese homeland. -
D-Day
The Allied forces invaded Western Europe as the invasion of Normandy. Before the invasion, 1,000 bombers a day were hitting German targets such as railroads, bridges, and airfields. The Germans did indeed know the invasion was coming but they were not aware as to where it was occurring. While the bombing was going on, underground member of the French Resistance sabotaged the Germans by destroying railroads and cutting telephone lines. -
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon went on in Southern France between the Allies and the Germans. Many leaders argued about proceeding with this operation and the execution including Churchill. But after the Normandy landings proved success, the operation began. The first attack confused the Germans which forced them to move further inland. On August 29th the Allies forced the Germans out further which freed France from German occupation. The Germans left by retreating through the Vosges Mountains. -
Philippines 1944-45
It eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy’s ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. In the first Battle the US had to retreat but General Douglas Macarthur knew he was going to return, and he did. MacArthur came ashore on the Philippine island of Leyte. In January 1945, American troops invaded Japanese forces. The capital Manila fell in March and by June General MacArthur announced the end of the battle with an Allied victory. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The naval and aerial battle started when the Allied forces invaded the Philippines.The Japanese anticipated the invasion so the fleet command ordered its forces to sea at the first sign of Allies.Aircrafts made more powerful attacks on the Japanese, which forced Kurita to leave Philippine waters. Leyte Gulf is significant because it destroyed a lot of the remaining Japanese surface fleet and ended the ability of Japan to move resources from Southeast Asia to the home islands. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of Bulge was on December 16th, 1944 to January 25th, 1945. It was the Germans final attempt to get the Allies out of the mainland in Europe. The weather was cold and snowy but the Germans tried to quickly advance. It was the small troops of American soldiers who stood their ground and held out until reinforcements could come that won the battle of Bulge for the Allies. It sealed the fate of Hitler and the Nazi’s in World War 2. -
Bastogne
General George S. Patton invaded Bastogne which is located in Belgium. The German offensive through the Ardennes forest to further their expansion. Germans did not believe that the American troops could hold out due to lack of food, medical supplies, and other resources eroded as bad weather. Patton broke through German lines with his 3rd Army with a sharp 90 degrees counterthrust movement and the Allies entered Bastogne. It pushed the Germans east across the Rhine. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference occurred on February 4th, 1945 to the 11th. It was a meeting of Soviet premier Joseph Stalin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and British prime minister Winston Churchill. World War 2 was winding down as these three men met. Stalin broke his promise of free elections in Eastern Europe and installed governments dominated by the Soviet Union. -
Iwo Jima
It was a strategic location because the US needed a place for bombers and fighter planes to land and take off when attacking Japan. The island is only 8 square miles in side and mostly flat except for a mountain called Mount Suribachi. The Japanese were hiding in tunnels all over the island waiting for a certain amount of American soldiers to reach the island to attack. After we secured the island, US soldiers placed a flag on top of Mount Suribachi claiming our territory. -
Okinawa
This battle was the last and biggest battle in the Pacific. By the 82nd day Japan had lost 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had 65,000 casualties, including 14,000 dead. The Japanese navy and army had mass air attacks known as one-way “suicide” missions. The civilian causalities of the island were up to about 100,000 and equal losses for the Japan army. American general Simon B. Buckner died from artillery fire and the Japanese general, Ushijima Mitsuru killed himself during the battle. -
Hitler's Suicide
The dictator of Germany consumed a cyanide capsule and shot himself with a pistol in his refurbished air-raid shelter. Eva Braun, Hitler’s wife of two days, also consumed the cyanide pill and alongside the two lay Adolf Hitler’s dog, Blondi. It is said that Hitler tested the pills on his dog and her pups for effectiveness. Hitler committed suicide because he was warned by officers that Russians were only a day or so from overtaking the chancellery. -
German Surrender
General Alfred Jodl signed the surrender document because their dictator, Hitler, was dead. The surrender document had four versions, English, French, Russian and German. After Jodl signed the document he said, “... In this war, which has lasted more than five years, they both have achieved and suffered more than perhaps any other people in the world. In this hour I can only express the hope that the victor will treat them with generosity.” -
China Falls to Japan
September 9th, 1945 was when China finally fell to Japan. China fought off Japan with help from the Soviet Union and USA. Burma roads were built over the Himalayas to support China. The Chinese successfully push out the Japanese. -
Potsdam
The Potsdam Conference was on July 17th to August 2nd, 1945 when the “Big Three” met. The “Big Three” are President Harry S. Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. The leaders had different agreements for Germany’s economy, punishment for war criminals, reparations, and land boundaries. They all also discussed the “unconditional surrender” from Japan. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6th, 1945 the US dropped the “Little Boy” on the town Hiroshima in Japan. “Little Boy” was an atomic bomb that the US were not even sure worked. No one knew we had this weapon except our allies but we did not tell them how to do it. Three days later the “Fat Man” was dropped over Nagasaki. The “Little Boy” was the first atomic bomb. The “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” were the only nuclear weapons ever used in war. The US used them to get the surrender they needed from Japan. -
Japanese Surrender
On August 15th, 1945, the Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the Allies. This day is also known as VJ Day. The surrender was announced by Emperor Hirohito on national radio. The official surrender was signed on the USS Missouri, a battleship that had seen considerable action in the Pacific and was named after Truman’s native state. The ceremony for the surrender was on September 2nd so that all the major Allied powers had time to arrive. Later on, the Cold War begins.
