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Japanese Invasion of China
In 1937, the skirmishing between Chinese and Japanese troops led to the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. This caused the second Sino-Japanese war. The KMT and CCP decided to temporarily join forces to drive Japan out of China. -
Rape of Nanking
Matsui, a Japanese war general, ordered the destruction of Nanking to crush Chinese spirit. The japanese burned most of the city, killed almost 200,000 male civilians, and raped about 20,000 women. -
Invasion of Poland
The spark that lit the second World War was Germany's invasion of Poland. Poland only lasted a few weeks before becoming overtaken by Germany and the USSR. This was partially because of Hitler's Blitzkrieg tactic, which focused on hitting the enemy quickly and very hard. -
German Blitzkrieg
A war tactic focused on rapid campaigns. It consisted of forcing the enemy to break formation and enveloping the isolated groups. Germany was able to take Poland in less than six weeks and get to the gates of Moscow in six months. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was the Japanese bombing of the U.S. pacific naval fleet on December 7, 1941. Nearly the whole fleet was moored at Ford Island, Hawaii. At 8 a.m., the Japanese bombers attacked and killed about 2,000 sailors and injured almost 1,000. -
Bataan Death March
Americans stationed in the Philippines lasted three months against the Japanese army. General Edward King Jr. had finally surrendered and the soldiers were forced to march 65 miles to the Japanese death camps. Thousands died on the march due to the brutality of their captors, starvation, and disease.
