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Rape of nanking
What happened: Nanking, the capital of China, fell to Japanese forces.
Why it happened: Japanese troops launched a campaign against the civilians in Nanking.
Effects: Many women and young Girls of all ages were raped. -
German Blitzkrieg
What happened: Germany tried out "blitzkrieg" warfare (lightning warfare) on Poland destroying a lot of land.
Why did it happen: Germany wanted to try out lightning warfare.
Effects: Much of Poland was destroyed. -
Battle of Britain
What happened: German and British Air Forces fought in the air over Great Britain.
Why it happened: Germany wanted to prove that their air fore had enough power to win the major battle.
Effects: 1700 German Air Force planes were destroyed. -
Fall of Paris
What happened: German troops took over Paris and many Parisians had to fight.
Why it happened: The Germans wanted to take over all of the land in Western Europe.
Effects: Many Parisians were take as prisoners. -
Pearl Harbor
What happened? Japanese planes attacked the United stated Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
Why did it happen? Japan wanted to destroy American fleet units.
Effect from the event? America joined WWII and it destroyed 20 of America's ships. -
Battle of Midway
What happened: The U.S. navy attacked Japan.
Why it happened: The U.S. wanted revenge on Japan.
Effects: It put the U.S. in a very strong offensive spot. -
Allied invasion of Italy
What happened: The British army allied and invaded the Italian peninsula.
Why it happened: Britain wanted to have as much land as posible.
Effects: Many Italians were taken in as British prisoners. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
What happened: About 156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces landed on beaches all across France's Normandy Region. It was one if the largest military assaults in history.
Why it Happened: Because many allied forces wanted to leave the role of Germany and the Nazi's.
Effects: Allies in Western Europe broke free form Nazi Germany's rule. Also, Allies had defeated the Germans. -
Battle of the Bulge
What happened: Germany launched Operation Mist, the last major offensive, to the war. It created a "bulge" in the Earth and that is why it is called battle of the bulge.
Why it happened: Germany wanted to have a good initial attack for WWII.
Effects: The bulge pushed through the American defensive line and then there was the largest battle on the western front. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
What happened: The U.S. invaded Iwo Jima in Japan. After a month the marines wiped out the defending forces in Japan.
Why it happened: It was caught so that America could capture the land.
Effects: America got the land of Iwo Jima and it left Iwo Jima wiped out and many dead. -
VE Day
What happened: Europe and America finally defeated the Nazi troops and the German surrender was finalized by a cease-fire.
Why it happened: Germany surrenders because soon the Soviets would reach Berlin and then it would be over.
Effects: Many Europeans and Americans celebrated, also more than 13,00 European prisoners were released. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
What happened: The U.S. used the only atomic weapon in WWII to bomb the city of Hiroshima in Japan.
Why it happened: Because the war on Germany was over and they were defeated, the U.S. wanted to end the war in the Pacific so they bombed Japan.
Effects: Some people say that it marked the end of WWI while others say that it made the Sold War begin. -
VJ Day
What happened: Japan surrendered (unconditionally) to its allies.
Why it happened: Japan wanted to surrender form the war.
Effects: It ended WWII -
Battle of Okinawa
What happened: The last battle of WWII. U.S. Navy went to attack the island of Okinawa.
Why it happened: It was on of the last invasions of Operation iceberg.
Effects: Being the last battle of WWII it led to the end and the island was almost destroyed. -
Potsdam Declaration
What happened: Japan surrendered causing America to put a halt on their atomic bombing.
Why it happened: The emperor of Japan wanted to do more during the war, so he surrendered.
Effects: Japan backed a little bit out of the war.
