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Rape of Nanking
During the Sino-Japanese War, Nanking, the capital of China, was taken over by Japanese armies. Lots of the city was burned and the Japanese killed approximately 200,000 men and raped around 20,000 women. Japanese General Matsui was found guilty after World War 2 and executed. -
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German Blitzkrieg
Germany quickly overran Europe using "Lightning War". Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons along a narrow front. These forces were far too strong for opposition armies, causing an easy Germany win. -
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Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa. Axis's invasion of the Soviet Union.Germany sends over 3 million soldiers and three thousand tanks into the Soviet Union. However, this attack backfired on Germany, who underestimated Russia's army. This battle resulted in a Nazi Germany loss. -
Attack of Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise missile attack by Japan's Navy Force on the American Naval Base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. The day after the attack, America declared war on Japan. -
Wannsee Conference
Wannsee Conference was a Nazi meeting to "find a solution to the Jewish question". Many terrible ideas were proposed, including mass sterilization and deportation to the island of Madagascar. Heydrich, German SS General, proposed simply transporting Jews from every corner Europe to concentration camps in Poland and working them to death. Months later, the “gas vans” in Chelmno, Poland, which were killing 1,000 people a day, was the solution they were looking for. -
Bataan Death March
The day after Japan bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines began. Within a month, the Japanese had captured Manila, the capital of the Philippines. For the next three months, the combined U.S.-Filipino army held out despite a lack of naval and air support. U.S. was forced to surrender their troops. The surrendered Filipinos and Americans were rounded up by the Japanese and forced to march from Mariveles to San Fernando. -
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Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway was a important naval battle between U.S. and Japan. The battle took place at Midway Island, one of U.S.'s naval bases. Hoping to replicate the success of the Pearl Harbor attack, Yamamoto, commander of Japan's navy decided to seek out and crush the rest of the U.S. Pacific fleet with a surprise attack aimed at the Allied base at Midway Island. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. More than two million troops fought in close quarters, and nearly two million people were killed or injured in the fighting. Hitler and the Wehrmacht set their sights on Stalingrad, because the city served as an industrial center in Russia. The battle goes on for over 3 months, resulting in a German and Axis side loss. -
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Allied invasion of Italy
The British 8th Army begins the Allied invasion of the Italian peninsula, landing at Calabria–the “toe” of Italy. Montgomery’s 8th Army came ashore on the southeast part of the island, while the U.S. 7th Army, under General George S. Patton, landed on Sicily’s south coast. In Rome, the Allied conquest of Sicily, led to the collapse of Mussolini’s government. Early in the morning of July 25, he was forced to resign by the Fascist Grand Council and was arrested later that day. -
D-Day(Normandy Invasion)
D-Day, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, when 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The following year, Hitler had completely fortified France's Northern coast with the Atlantic wall, a 2400 mile fortification with bunkers, landmines, and beach and water obstacles. -
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Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes region of Belgium was Adolf Hitler’s last major offensive in World War II against the Western Front. Hitler’s aim was to split the Allies in their drive toward Germany. Some 30 German divisions attacking battle-fatigued American troops across 85 miles of the densely wooded Ardennes Forest. The battle was the costliest ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties. -
The Liberation of Concentration Camps
The Liberation of Concentration Camps was when the Soviets liberated Auschwitz. They freed all prisoners and led them to safety. This was after World War II had ended. -
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Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a military campaign between U.S. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan. Located 750 miles off the coast of Japan, the island of Iwo Jima had three airfields that could serve as a staging facility for a potential invasion of mainland Japan. It’s believed that all but 200 or so of the 21,000 Japanese forces on the island were killed, as were almost 7,000 Marines. Although many Marine casualties, the Americans still won the battle. -
VE Day
VE Day( Victory in Europe Day) is the day that Europe celebrates the German surrender of armed forces. They had finally defeated the Nazi war machine and rejoice. It was the end of WW II in Europe. -
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The Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The Dropping of the Atomic Bombs was conducted by America onto Japan. The U.S. dropped two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The result of this was the hundreds of thousands of deaths, and Japans surrender of WW II. -
VJ Day
VJ Day(Victory over Japan Day) is the day that the United States celebrates their victory over the Japanese. After the atomic bombs, Japan surrendered. This brought an end to World War 2.
