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Japanese Invasion of China Jul 7, 1937 -- Sep 9,1945
The battle lasted from July 7, 1937 to September 9, 1945. Japan began looking in China for vast supplies in 1931. In 1937, Japanese and Chinese troops skirmished. The skirmishing became known as Marco Polo Incident. the Japanese quickly captured all key Chinese ports and industrial centres Many thousands of Chinese were killed in the indiscriminate bombing of cities by the Japanese air force. The battle was also known as the Sino-Japanese War. By 1940, the war descended into stalemate. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland Sep 1, 1939
Germany’s invasion was also known as September campaign. 1.5 million German troops invaded Poland. It was 4:45 am, September 1, 1939. Polish people were taken over within a few weeks. The invasion Initiated World War II. On September 3, Hitler began annexation of Austria. -
German Blitzkrieg 1939 -- 1940
Blitzkrieg was another word for Lightning Warfare. Had successful execution. It was tried out in Poland in 1939. The tactic became successful with Belgium, France and the Netherlands in the months, April and March of 1940. It was used by German Commander Erwin Rommel during the North African campaign in WW2. It was later adopted by US General George Patton. In less than six weeks of being in effect, the German Army destroyed the four nations. -
Fall of Paris
The Prime Minister of Britain, Winston Churchill, tries to ease the French by telling them how America would join the war and help drive Germany out of Paris. Paul Reynaud telegraphed Franklin Roosevelt asking for any or all help possible. Roosevelt and Secretary of state, Cordell Hull, decide to help but to not make it formal and public. 2 million Parisians flee before Germany comes into Paris. The U.S. decides to send Canadian troops to France. But France would surrernder on Jun 17, 1940 -
Operation Barbarossa Jun 22, 1941 -- Jan 7, 1942
Operation Barbarossa was an invasion of the Soviet Union by Hitler and Germany. They invaded on June 22, 1941. Panzer armies encircled the Soviet forces at Minsk and Smolensk. This invasion covered a two mile radius from the North Cape to the Black Sea. It was also a crucial turning point of the war. The invasion was deemed the “largest German military operation of World War II”. The Operation lasted from June 22, 1941 to January 7, 1942 -
Pearl Harbor attack
Pearl Harbor was the Japanese attack on an American naval base on December 7, 1941 near Honolulu, Hawaii. The bombardment lasted for about two hours but the aftermath was a travesty. The Japanese destroyed about 20 naval ships, this included about eight battle ships and around 300 airplanes were destroyed as well. About 2,000 soldiers and sailors were killed with about 1,000 wounded. This provoked President Franklin D. Roosevelt to declare war on Japan, in which the Congress approved. -
Wannsee Conference
On January 20, 1942, 15 elite Nazi and German government officials met up to discuss the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.” “Final Solution” was code for the elimination of European jewish citizens. Many officials were already aware that there was some annihilation of Jewish citizens and other German civilians. Reinhard Heydrich estimated that a total of 11,000,000 Jewish citizens would fall under the Final Solution.He went on to explain that they’d be deployed and separated by gender. -
Battle of Stalingrad 1942 -- Feb 2, 1943
Historians believe that Stalingrad had been the turning point of World War II. It was the most significant battle in the Soviet Union and the bloodiest battle in history as it ended with more than 2 million casualties. Army A and B were on their way to the Caucasus in south-west Russia when Hitler called for an attack on Stalingrad. The battle for Stalingrad began in the winter of 1942 and prolongeduntil February 2, 1943. Germans began by bombing. -
Warsaw Ghettto Uprising
From April 19th to May 16 in 1943, the inhabitants of a Jewish ghetto concentration camp in Warsaw, Poland, revolted against the deportation of extermination camps. By April 19th, Himmler sent in SS forces and artillery to calm the ghetto. By May 16th, the Nazis had maintained its full control of the camp. The Germans blew up the Warsaw synagogue as a symbolic message. Over 7.000 Jews died during the uprising while the other 50,000 were sent to extermination camps. -
Operation Gomorrah
On July 24, 1943, there were bombing raids that lasted until August 3rd, where the last raid took place. This was Operation Gomorrah, an aerial bombing that was led by British bombers in an attack on Hamburg, Germany. Over 30,000 people were killed and 280,000 buildings were destroyed. Britain had only lost 12 out of 791 aircraft once the raid was over. Post-raid, the attacks on Hamburg continued from Britain until November of the same year. Hitler refused to visit these cities. -
Allied invasion of Italy Sep 3, 1943 -- Sep 16, 1943
The British 8th Army under the Field Marshal who is Bernard L. Montgomery, stars the Allied invasion of the Italian peninsula. While crossing the Strait of Messina from Sicily and landing at Calabria-the “toe” of Italy. On the day of the landing of the Italian government secretly agreed to the Allies’ term of the surrender. But on the other hand, no public announcement was made until September 8. -
D-day 1944
The invasion of Normandy on Tuesday June 6, 1944, better known as D-day, was when the Allied powers of Great Brittain, France and the United States attacked Normandy, France to liberate them from four years of Nazi control. But the Allies couldn't just go into Normandy without a plan so, the Allies spent about 2 years planning the invasion. The troops had been trained by General D. Eisenhower, general who led the invasion.On this day, there were 5,000 casualties.France is freed on August 25,1944 -
Battle of the Bulge Dec 16, 1944 -- Jan 25, 1945
The Battle of the Bulge has had many names like Operation Mist and Ardennes Offensive. This is probably because it would be known as the last major German offensive attack against the Allied Nations. It was an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. As an effect of this, the Allied defences began to look like a bulge, where the battle got its name. It lasted from December 16, 1944 to January 25,1945. This would also be known as an Allied victory. -
Operation Thunderclap
The basic plan of Operation Thunderclap, also called the Firebombing of Dresden, is to bomb Germany’s eastern cities to disrupt transportation and to show citizens that the Nazi government was weak. The Allies planned to bomb Dresden on February 13, 1945. There were some things that would set them back like the weather, troops and their target. On this day more than 60,000 civilians were killed. -
Battle of Iow Jima
70 Years ago on February 19,1945 U.S. Marines hurried to the bombed island of Iwo Jima. Many of the marine invasion squad wondered if any Japanese were left alive on Iwo Jima. Aircrafts and others spent two and a half months pulverizing the volcanic outcropping with thousands of the high explosive leaving a smoldering place of charred boulders. It occurred because the U.S. was following a military strategy of island hopping. Even though the Allies won the battle the Japan planned propperly. -
Battle of Okinawa Apr 1, 1945 -- Jun 22, 1945
The battle of Okinawa begins in April 1,1945. The Japanese changed their tactics of the waters edge to a defensive. The Japanese start to do more air attacks with their navy and army. This battle known as Operation Iceberg was the largest Pacific shore battle of World War 2. It also resulted as the highest casualty rates which was over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 Allies casualties. This war also was the last effort of defence of the Japanese before the war ended on June 22, 1945. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps Apr 11, 1945
The U.S. forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany on April 11,1945 a couple of days after the Nazis began evacuating the camp. American forces liberated over 20,000 prisoners at Buchenwald. They also liberated Dora-Mittelbau, Flossenburg, Dachau, and Mauthausen. -
Victory In Eroupe (VE Day)
VE day Happened on the Friday of May 8,1945. On this day both the United States and Great Britain celebrate victory in Europe. The cities in both nations put out flags and banners because of the defeat of the Nazi. On the 8th of May the German troops finally gave up and surrendered. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not until May 9, 1945. On April 30 Hitler committed suicide and so Germany surrenders.The act of military surrender was ratified May 8th. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The first ever atomic bomb August 6, 1945 on Hiroshima, Japan.The bomb was released 8:16 a.m. Japanese time. The bomber was in a American B-29, which was also named the Enola Gay. Approximately 80,000 people were killed from the direct blast. Another 35,000 are injured from the blast. But at the minimum of 60,000 people would die at the end of the year from the effects of the devastating fallout. -
VJ Day
On August 14, 1945, it was said that Japan had surrendered unrestrictedly to the Allied powers. Which had also marked an end for World War ll. Ever since then August 14 and 15 is known as Victory Over Japan Day. Or just simply V-J Day, the term is also being used as September 2, 1945, when Japan formally surrendered on the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. After that several months later the Nazi Germany surrendered. This end to the war brought six years of hostilities to a final close.
