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Rape of Nanking
Nanking was land that Japan wanted in China, so their leader Chiang Kai-Shek ordered that all Chinese troops were to leave the city as the Japanese were approaching to take it. Along with this, he did not allow the evacuation of the citizens there. While some left anyway, 200,000-300,000 Chinese citizens were raped and/or murdered.
https://www.history.com/topics/japan/nanjing-massacre -
German Blitzkrieg
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Period: to
German Blitzkrieg
The direct translation of blitzkrieg is "lightning war". As the name would suggest, a blitzkrieg was a quick attack that the Nazis would use against other nations to breach their defenses. The goal was to force a quick surrender without using too many resources. Blitzkriegs were used in Poland, Denmark, France etc.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/blitzkrieg-lightning-war -
Miracle at Dunkirk
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Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
Because Germany didn't want to fight a two-front war, they signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact with the Soviet Union for non aggression towards each other. This allowed Germany to invade Poland without angering the Soviet Union. Adolf Hitler did end up breaking this pact however, which he planned to do in the first place. He essentially used the Soviet Union for more land.
[https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-soviet-pact] -
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Miracle at Dunkirk
The miracle was the mass evacuation of the allied forces on the beaches of Dunkirk. German Panzers had been stationed at those beaches, ready to slaughter the soldiers who would have been stranded there. The saving of almost 400,000 people was one of the largest successful maritime rescue missions.
https://www.hoover.org/research/miracle-dunkirk -
Wannsee Conference
Nazi party and Government officials from Germany gathered together to discuss how the Jews were going to be dealt with. After coming to the decision that removal wasn't going to be easy, they decided to have a mass extermination of the Jews, totaling to about 6 million.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/wannsee-conference-and-the-final-solution -
Bataan Death March
Atfer the bombings at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese set out to conquer the Philippines. The U.S. eventually retreated to the Bataan peninsula in the Philippines, where the Japanese soldiers would ultimately force them on a 65 mile march to prison camps after surrendering. Being near the equator, there were harsh conditions of heat but also maltreatment from the Japanese.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Period: to
Battle of Stalingrad
With Hitler breaking promises throughout the war, this battle broke another which was a treaty with the Soviet Union. Germany had suffered no defeats from any of their attacks, but this battle was the first and turning point in the war. The Germans expected a quick battle just like their past victories, but as the battle got into winter, they ran out of resources and the Soviet Union was able to stop the German front.
[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-battle-of-stalingrad] -
Battle of Stalingrad (End)
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Period: to
Battle of Iwo Jima
While U.S. bombers were attempting to attack Japan's home islands, small planes from and island known as Iwo Jima were intercepting them before they could attack. To stop these interceptins, the U.S. decided to siege Iwo Jima. After the island was taken, it was an emergency landing area for American planes.
[https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-07/iwo-jima-fact-sheet.pdf] -
Flag Raising at Iwo Jima
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Tokyo Fire Raids
To attempt to get the Japanese to surrender in the war, the U.S. set fire to Tokyo in what would be more deadly than the atomic bombs dropped later that year. The Japanese forces were inneffective at stopping the planes from setting fire to the city, whicb caused of 100,00 deaths in Tokyo.
[https://thediplomat.com/2019/02/tokyo-march-10-1945-the-day-of-the-deadliest-attack-in-the-history-of-human-warfare/] -
Potsdam Declaration
After Germany surrendered, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin gathered together to find a solution for what would happen to Germany and Japan. Germany was decided to be split into four zones being handed out to the allies, and Japan was given a choice of surrender. Japan denied which would ultimately lead to the atomic bombs just one month later
[https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/potsdam-declaration/]
