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Theme: Tanks and Airplanes
Tanks first appeared during World War I and quickly proved their worth in battle. Their all-terrain mobility made them ideal for going over ground impassable to other vehicles. That every country that fought in World War II had tank regiments speaks to their effectiveness. Aerial warfare existed well before World War II. Planes performed aerial bombardments during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911-12. -
Theme: Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is a method of warfare where an attacking force, led by a dense concentration of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations with close air support, breaks through the enemies' line of defense by short, fast, powerful attacks and then dislocates the defenders, using speed and surprise to encircle them with the help of air superiority. Through the employment of combined arms in maneuver warfare. -
Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese wanted to expand their empire, at this time the already controlled Korea, but they wanted more, they wanted Manchuria; In Manchuria they controlled the main railroads. In September of 1931 the Japanese claimed that the Chinese Sabotaged their railway and then began to attack China. BY February of 1932 Japan was in control of Manchuria. -
2nd Sino-Japanese War
This war was fought between The Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. It began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937 in which a dispute between Japanese and Chinese troops escalated into a battle. -
Japanese Invasion of China
Japan invades China, 1937. Marco Polo Bridge Incident. In July 1937 Japanese soldiers provoked local Chinese soldiers into a fight near Beijing. The Japanese Claimed that the Chinese had started shooting first, then the Japanese attacked their bases around Beijing and then occupied the city itself. -
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
In August of 1939 the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a no fighting pact that would last the next 10 years. Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin signed so he would have time to build his army. -
Western Desert Campaign (Desert War)
The Western Desert Campaign, took place in the deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main area of interest in the North African Campaign during WWII. The campaign began in September 1940 when the Italians invaded Egypt. Operation Compass was a British five-day raid that led to the destruction of the Italian forces. Benito Mussolini sought help from Adolf Hitler, who responded with a small German force sent to Tripoli. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was a US Military base in in the Harbor of Honolulu in Hawaii. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, killing hundreds of people. This is the main event that brought the US into the war. -
Tunisia Campaign
The Tunisian Campaign was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign in WWII. The Allies in Tunisia consisted of British Imperial Forces, including Polish and Greek detachments, with American and French units. The battle began with initial success by the German and Italian forces but the Allies ended up winning in Tunisia. -
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
Near the end of WWII, the US dropped 2 nuclear bombs on 2 Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. The United States dropped the bombs after obtaining the consent of the United Kingdom. The two bombings killed 129,000–226,000 people, most of them were civilians.
