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Japanese invasion of China
When: July 7, 1937
What happend: Japanese invaded China
Why it happened: Japan wanted to expand occupying up China's land.
Effects: Japan was defeated and they moved off China's territory.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Sino-Japanese-War-1937-1945 -
Rape of Nanking
When: December 13, 1937
Why it happened: in 6 weeks Imperial Japenese Army forces brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of people/ including gboth soldiers and cilivans in the Chinese city of Nanking.
What happened: between 20, 000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted
Effects: Matsui and his liteutant Tani Hisao were tried and convicted for war crimes
www.history.com -
Germany's invasion of Poland
When: September 1, 1939
What happened: Germany invaded Poland
Why it happened: Hitler claimed it was a defensive action
Effects: Britain and France declared war on September 3rd.
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-invade-poland -
German Blitzkrieg
When: May 10-June 21, 1940
Why it happened: to create disorganization among enemy forces
What happened: Germans tried it out on Poland and then went on to successfully attack and invade Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
Effects: Germans were successful
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris
When: June 14, 1940
Why it happened: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had tried for days to convince the French government to hang on, not to sue for peace, that America would enter the war and come to its aid
What happened: German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million Parisians had already fled, with good reason
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Operation Barbarossa
The German invasion of the Soviet Union began on June 22, 1941. Over the next four years - from the initial invasion and sweep of the German army through the western Soviet Union, through the siege of Leningrad and the battle for Stalingrad - over 20 million Soviet citizens perished.
https://www.dzancbooks.org/our-books/barbarossa-sonnets-by-jonathan-fink -
Pearl Harbor
When: December 7, 1941
Why it happened: Japan and the US were already edging toward war
What happened: Japan bombed US naval base
Effects: US declared war on Japan
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
When: January 20, 1942
Why it happened: To discuss the "final solution of the Jewish question.
What happened: Months later, the “gas vans” in Chelmno, Poland, which were killing 1,000 people a day, proved to be the “solution” they were looking for–the most efficient means of killing large groups of people at one time.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Battle of Midway
When: June 4, 1942
Why it happened: Japanese wanted to finish off the rest of the American carriers
What happened: Simultaneously, Midway‐based U.S. aircraft attacked his ships, but none gained a hit and most were shot down
Effects: Japan had gained possession of two barren islands in the Aleutians
www.encyclopedia.com/places/australia-and-oceania/pacific.../battle-midway-1942 -
Battle of the Bulge
When: July 17, 1942
Why it happened: to stop the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies
What happened: Soviet forces surrounded and crushed an entire German army under General Friedrich Paulus, emulating Hannibal’s encirclement and destruction of a Roman army under Aemilius Paulus in 216 B.C.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Battle of staingrad
When: July 17, 1942
Why it happened: to stop the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies
What happened: Soviet forces surrounded and crushed an entire German army under General Friedrich Paulus.
Effects: The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million.
www.history.com -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
When: April 19, 1943
Why it happened: The Jews were tired of being treated poorly and of the Germans take
What happened: staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps
Effects: Warsaw ghetto uprising inspired other revolts in extermination camps and ghettos throughout German-occupied Eastern Europe. -
Operation Gomorrah
When: July 24, 1943
Why it happened:Germany bombed London.
What happened: British bombed Germany.
Effects: More than 1,500 German civilians were killed in that first British raid.
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion - 1944)
On June 6, 1944 Allied forces crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France to liberate Western Europe from the occupation of Nazi Germany. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade. With 176,000 troops arriving by landing craft and ships, as well as 14,000 aircraft, the Allied forces were able to secure Northern France within 3 months. There were 9,387 men who died. -
Operation Thunderclap
When: February 13, 1945
Why it happened: To disrupt the transport infrastructure behind what was becoming the Eastern front. Also to demonstrate to the German population, in even more devastating fashion, that the air defences of Germany were now of little substance and that the Nazi regime had failed them
The proposal was to bomb the eastern-most cities of Germany Yalta Churchill had promised to do more to support the Soviet forces moving west into Germany.
http://ww2today.com -
Battle of Iwo Jima
When: February 19- March 26, 1945
Why it happened: U.S. Marines invaded Iwo Jima
What happened: The US overwhelmed the Japanese extremely
Effects: US took Iwo Jima
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
When: April 1, 1945
Why it happened: The capture of Okinawa was part of a three-point plan the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East
What happened: The Japanese navy and army mounted mass air attacks by planes. The Japanese also sent their last big battleship, the Yamato, on a similar mission with a few escorts.
Effects: The Allies won and occupied the terriost
history.com -
dropping of the atomic bomb
When: August 6, 1945
Why it happened: President Harry S. Truman, discouraged by the Japanese response to the Potsdam Conference’s demand for unconditional surrender
What happened:There were 90,000 buildings in Hiroshima before the bomb was dropped; only 28,000 remained after the bombing. Of the city’s 200 doctors before the explosion; only 20 were left alive or capable of working. There were 1,780 nurses before—only 150 remained who were able to tend to the sick and dying.
www.history.com -
VJ Day
When: August 14, 1945
Why it happened: the Allies were consistently bombarding Japan from air and sea, dropping some 100,000 tons of explosives on more than 60 Japanese cities and towns
What happened: Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies
Effects: ending World War II
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
VE Day
When: May 8, 1945
Why it happened: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark the German surrender was realized in a fire. Documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.
What happened: both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day
www.history.com
