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Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on September 18 1931. It began when the Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria after the Mukden Incident. (It ended in February 1932). The conflict in Manchuria was thought to benefit Japan. Railroads were attacked with explosives and destroyed. It affected the economy in Japan. -
Appeasement
Appeasement is a diplomatic policy of making political concessions to avoid war. The term is applied towards Nazi Germany (from 1933) Appeasement of Nazism and Fascism played a role in French foreign policy. -
Italian invasion of Ethiopia
It was a war of aggression, fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. Occurred before the outbreak of World War II. 200,000 Italian soldiers attacked from Eritrea. Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini put General Pietro Badoglio in his place. Both sides committed war crimes. -
Japanese Invasion of China
(Also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)) This war was mostly between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. China fought Japan with support from the Soviet Union and the United States. This war caused the majority of casualties in the Pacific War. The United States supported China by boycotting against Japan. It led to Japan announcing war on the United States. -
Rape of Nanjing
(Also known as the Nanjing Massacre) It was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Imperial Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing. The massacre occurred over a period of six weeks. Around 40,000 to over 300,000 Chinese were killed. Information about the massacre is said to have been exaggerated. -
Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk was fought around the French port between the Allies and Nazi Germany. Other German attacks failed and Germans threatened to capture British and French ports. More than 330,000 Allied troops were rescued. British and French military were forced to abandon their equipment causing around 16,000 French soldiers and 1,000 British soldiers to die during the evacuation. The British Expeditionary Force lost around 68,000 soldiers during the French campaign. -
Pearl Harbor
A surprise attack on the United States by the Japanese Navy. It occurred on December 7, 1941. The United States joined the war the next day after the attack. Bombs were dropped in two waves killing 2,403 Americans. -
Genocide
A genocide is killing people from a certain ethnic group to try and destroy them. The Holocaust was a genocide where six million Jews were killed. Germany followed Adolf Hitler and continued to kill Jews and create concentration camps. -
The Siege of Leningrad
A military blockade by Nazi Germany against the Soviet city of Leningrad. The Finnish army invaded from the north with the Germans It was one of the most destructive blockages in history. -
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign with strategic fighting. The German strategic offensive is named Operation Typhoon. The Soviet forces conducted a strategic defence of the Moscow Oblast that brought troops from the Siberian and Far Eastern Military Districts. Germans had a major setback. Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch's position was replaced by Hitler. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
A major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. It took place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. The Japanese attempted to strengthen their defensive position. Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi in May. Ships and aircraft were destroyed. -
Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt. In August 1942, East Command and his successor, Lieutenant-General William Gott was killed on his way to replace General Claude Auchinleck. Axis forces went onto the defensive after failure of the offensive. -
Tunisia Campaign
The Tunisian campaign was also known as the Battle of Tunisia. It was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign (between Axis and Allied forces). The German and Italian forces were successful until there was a supply interdiction. Over 250,000 German and Italian troops were taken as prisoners of war, including most of the Afrika Korps. -
D-Day
(The Normandy landings) It was the largest seaborne invasion in history and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. The invasion took months to plan and they were sure to mislead the Germans on a time and location. The weather on D-Day caused a delay in plans. The most casualties were in Omaha. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were documented for at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.