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Pearl Harbor
The Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the United States in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States was completely unprepared for the attack because they thought of themselves as invincible and Japan as inferior. Japan's main reason for the attack was that they wanted to expand into the Pacific and saw the United States moving their U.S. Pacific Fleet into Hawaii as a threat to that. As a result, Japan declared war on the U.S. and the U.S. was now involved in WWII. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway, just six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, was where the United States defeated Japan. Just before this, Japan defeated all of its enemies from the Pacific and Indian oceans. But due to major advances in code breaking, the United States was about to counter Japan's planned ambush and beat the Japanese. The American victory was a turning point in the Pacific War. -
D-Day (Normandy Landings)
D-Day was part of a massive military operation that included over 150,000 Allied soldiers that landed in Normandy, France. This invasion was the largest air, land, and sea invasion in history and the goal was to surprise Germany, in order to defeat them. Though Germany was not taken by surprise, it was the beginning of the end of World War II. -
Battle of the Bulge
In December 1944, Adolf Hitler attempted to spilt and push back the Allied forces by the use of surprise blitzkrieg. On December 16, three German armies launched the deadliest battle of the war. As a result of the Battle of the Bulge, German defeat and the end of WWII in Europe came sooner. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Because any attempt to invade Japan would result in an abundance of American casualties, President Harry S. Truman ordered a new weapon in order to bring the war to an end. On August 6, 1945, the world's first deployed atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, which had an important military base. The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, which was a major shipbuilding city and a large military port. As a result, Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
On April 11, 1945, U.S. forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, liberating more than 20,000 prisoners. In the following months, British forces liberated many concentration camps in northern Germany. Many of those liberated resembled skeletons and told of the terrible conditions they faced in the Nazi camps. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The American invasion of Iwo Jima, Japan was put into action because of the need of a base near the Japanese coast. This land was used by Japanese fighter planes in order to attack American bombers that were on their way to Japan. After long preparation for the invasion, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island and wiped out the Japanese forces after a month of fighting. The capture of the island of Iwo Jima helped in the American effort toward the Japanese homeland. -
VE Day
On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated the defeat of Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Reich, it was also celebrated as a national holiday. This meant that nearly six years of war had finally drawn to an end. Many people were very happy and rejoiced in the news that Germany had finally surrendered, even though the war was not totally over as the war against Japan did not end until August 1945, -
Potsdam Declaration
The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, released by the United States, Britain and China, called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during WWII. The document stated that if Japan did not surrender, it would face destruction. -
VJ Day
VJ Day is the day that Imperial Japan surrendered in WWII. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was performed in Japan. Japan's surrender marks the end of WWII.
