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Rape Of Nanking
In 1937, imperial Japanese Army forces murdered thousands of people. About 20,000 to 80,000 women were sexually assaulted. There was never a official number of people who died but the true nature of the massacre has been disputed and exploited for propaganda purposes by historical revisionists, apologists and Japanese nationalists. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
1.5 million German troops invaded Poland. The German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. Hitler declared that the invasion was a defensive attack. -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. -
Pearl Habor
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, and was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. They managed to destroy and damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and over 300 airplanes. 2,400 Americans died. -
Death March
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners. The surrendered Filipinos and Americans soon were rounded up by the Japanese and forced to march 65 miles. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Residents of the Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. More than 400,00 were confined to an area of the city that was little more than 1 square mile. -
Gomorrah
The explosive power was the equivalent of what German bombers had dropped on London in their five most destructive raids. More than 1,500 German civilians were killed in that first British raid. -
D- Day (Normandy Invasion)
Roughly 160,000 Allied troops crossed the English Channel, supported by seven thousand ships and boats, and landed on the coast of Normandy. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. On December 16, three German armies (more than a quarter-million troops) launched the deadliest and most desperate battle of the war in the west in the poorly roaded, rugged, heavily forested Ardennes. -
Battle Of Okinawa
The largest landing in the Pacific theater of World War II. Resulted in the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 casualties for the Allies. -
VE Day
Great Britain and the United States celebrated victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
Marked the end of WWII, the United States had been working on developing an atomic weapon, after having been warned by Albert that Nazi Germany was already conducting research into nuclear weapons. By the time the United States conducted the first successful test (an atomic bomb was exploded in the desert in New Mexico in July 1945) -
VJ Day
Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. -
Battle Of Iwo Jima
A major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
