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Japanese Invasion of China
July 7th, 1937 marked the start of Japans brutal invasion of China. Japan had few natural resources, being an island nation, so they began to take over China. This involved a series of brutal attack in which nobody was left alive. Nanjing Massacre in particular, left 80,000 women sexually assaulted and killed along with men and children. This eventually led to the US declaring war on Japan, entering World War Two.
history.com -
Rape of Naking
During the Japanese invasion of China for natural resources, Japanese Soldiers were complete savages. They killed everyone, including children, in their path. They were taught that the Chinese were hardly human and they were the superior race. This made doing these things acceptable. They raped and killed an estimated 80,000 women and burned 1/3 of the cities buildings. An estimated 200,000-300,000 people were killed. This helped convice the US to join the war. http://www.history.com/topics/rape -
Blitzkrieg Developed
Blitzkrieg, or "lightning war", was a new military tactic introduced in World War 2 by the Germans. The tactic consisted of 3 parts, air, tanks, and infantry. Fighter planes and bombers were first sent in to disrupt communication and cause havoc. After that, tanks rolled in and broke through the lines, and then in a combination with infantry secured the area. It was an effective new strategy that brought many German victories.
history.com -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
On September 1st, 1939, Germany invaded Poland for more "living space". They had Poland surrounded. It took only 1 month for Poland to fall to the 1.5 million Nazi Soldiers. Germany then split Poland with the Soviet Union. 2 days after the invasion, France and Britain declared war on Germany.
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Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union. They had to invade the Soviet Union to exterminate Communism and the Jews, who Hitler thought created communism to take over the world. The Germans threw 3 million soldiers and 3,000 tanks at 2 thousand miles of Soviet border. The Germans under estimated the Soviets and took a crushing defeat. This was a crucial turning point as Germany now had enemies on both sides of them.
(http://www.history.com/too many words -
Pearl Harbor
The goal was to eliminate the US and become the top naval power in the pacific. Hundreds of Japanese planes attacked pearl harbor, dropping bombs targeting our Battleships. A 1,800 pound bombed sunk the USS Arizona, and torpedoes sunk the USS Utah. Nearly 2,500 sailors were killed, 20 ships damaged, and 300 aircraft destroyed. Luckily none of the air craft carriers we in port at the time of the attack. This led the US to join WW2. http://www.history.com/topics/world- -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a German conference held to discuss the "Final Solution." There were 17 Nazi officials in attendance, and they discussed the most effective method for killing the Jews. They decided on gassing them to death. The minuets kept at this conference provided evidence during the Nuremberg Trials. -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was a 65-mile march that POWs were forced to take to a prison camp. It was executed by the Japanese when they invaded islands with Filipino and American troops. Participants were treated harshly and stragglers were shot. 75,000 troops were forced on the march, many of which died before arriving at the prison camp. Troops were later liberated in March by US troops, who made good on their word.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the war in the Pacific. Due to advances in code breaking, US ships were able to plan an attack on Japanese ships, sinking 4 carriers and a cruiser, at the price of 147 aircraft and over 300 sailors. The Japan really suffered due to the loss of trained mechanics and ground crew. The US now went on the offensive, island hoping towards Japan.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of the war. It occurred when Germany tried to invade the Soviet Union to eliminate communism and Jews. This is considered the greatest battle in all of WW2, and the bloodiest. It took the lives of 2 million soldier and civilian combined lives. The Soviets surrounded the Nazis, who were ordered to stand their ground at all cost, they ended up surrendering. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest ghetto in Poland. Thousands of prisoners died each month of disease and starvation. In July of 1942, the Nazis started to "resettle" prisoners to labor camps and concentration camps. Small underground groups of prisoners trained and stockpiled weapons for a revolt. In January, Nazis came for another transfer, and that is when they were ambushed by these underground groups. Fighting lasted a month before the Nazis withdrew. This led to other uprising. history.com -
Operation Gomorrah
Operation Gomorrah was a planned bombing operation. This was payback for the 167 civilians killed by German bombings in Britain. New radar jamming tech allowed for these mass bombings. By the time the week of bombing was over, 17,000 planes had flown. They dropped 9,000 tons of explosives on German cities and industrial plants, killing 30,000 people and 280,000 factories and other buildings. This caused a major loss of production and German moral.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/opera -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap was a plan to bomb most East coast cities, disrupting transportation infrastructure and demonstrating to the Germans that the Nazis had failed them and no longer could fight back. This plan was cancelled and instead, many smaller bombing operation took place. -
D-Day
D-Day, or Operation Overlord, was the most ambitious planned military attack of its time. It involved 156,000 allied troops from 3 countries, to start, and 5 miles of beach. By the end of the week, 326,000 troops, 50,000 vehicles, and 100,000 tons of supplies had landed on the beach. Forces had pushed up all the way to Germany, liberating Italy, and meeting with the Soviet forces. This lead to the surrender of the Nazis and Hitler's suicide.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a German attack on the allies, in attempt to split two armies apart. They attack the middle of the lines, but couldn't break through (just bulge it!). Harsh weather conditions arrived during the battle, and hit the unequipped allies hard. They didn't have gloves, coats, or good foot wear. As the weather cleared, the allies pushed the Germans, who eventually ran out of munitions, gas, and other supplies to continue the fight.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/ -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was on the Japanese Island of Iwo Jima. It was a rough island with dangerous terrain. There were 23,000 Japanese soldiers defending it via underground tunnels, caves, and dugouts. No Japanese soldier surrendered as it was a disgrace in their culture. 5,900 Americas died and 17,000 were wounded in the fight that lasted nearly a month. This provided another base in the Island Hopping strategy of the US.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
This battle marked the last battle in the pacific. 287,000 US troops landed on the Island of Okinawa, faced by 130,000 Japanese soldiers. There were significant air bases on the island, key to Japans expansion. It was an 82 day battle, and Japan lost 77,000 soldiers. The allies suffered 14,000 dead and 65,000 wounded. Assisting the ground troops were naval vessels, who had to deal with suicide pilots.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa# -
VE Day
VE Day, or Victory in Europe day, marks the day of the victory of the allies in Europe. 13,000 POWs were released back to Britain. There was celebrations in both Nations after the hard fought victory.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
To prevent the death of massive amount of US troops, a new weapon was deployed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war. It packed the power of 15,000 tons of TNT, instantly killing thousands and leveling blocks. In Hiroshima, 80,000 were killed instantly, and thousands more from wounds and radiation poisoning. A few days later, another was dropped on Nagasaki killing 40,000 more people. This lead to the surrender of Japan and the end of the war in the pacific.
http://www.history.com/ -
VJ Day
V-J Day, or Victory over Japan day, celebrates the victory the US had over Japan. The fighting lasted 6 years, with millions of deaths. It was a hard fought battle on both sides, but after the use of the atomic bombs, Japan surrendered.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
