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Japenese invasion of China
Japan invaded China due essentially to Japan's desire to be an imperial power, Japan had a desire for both an economic and a militaristic element. Japan wanted to prove that they were strong and could subjugate other countries. It was most important to subjugate China because they had been the power in East Asia. After, Japan expanded into Korea, Taiwan and Manchuria. -
Rape of Nanking
Imperial Japanese Army forces brutally murdered thousands of people–including both soldiers and civilians–in Nanking. The horrific events are known as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking, 20,000-80,000 women were sexually assaulted. Nanking,being the capital of China, was left destroyed. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
To Hitler, the invasion of Poland would bring living space for the German people. On September 28, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to German siege. Germany and the USSR concluded an agreement outlining their zones. Again, Poland was partitioned by its more powerful neighbors. -
German Blitzkrieg
A military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower, was called a Blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg traces to the development of a body of doctrine using mobility to prevent repetition of the World War I. -
Fall of Paris
Paris awakens to the sound of a German voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was imposed for 8 p.m. that night as German troops enter and occupy Paris. Millions of French fled the city, as the people trapped in the city cheered as Canadian troops rolled through their region, offering hope for free France. -
Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. The fight lasted just two hours, but it was devastating. The Japanese destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 3,000 soldiers were found wounded, or dead. The day after, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration. More than 2 years into the conflict, America decided they had to join WW2. -
Bataan Death March
After the U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula, the approximately 75,000 troops on Bataan were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers walked in intense heat and were treated harsh by Japanese guards. -
Battle of Midway
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. defeats Japan in one of the most decisive battles of World War II. Thanks to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
During World War II, residents of the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. More than 400,000 Jews in Warsaw were pushed to an area a little smaller than a mile. The ghetto was sealed off by brick walls, barbed wire and armed guards, anyone caught leaving the ghetto was shot. Disease and starvation killed thousands of the Jews monthly. -
Operation Gomorrah
In 1943, British bombers raided Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day. When bombing was over, bomber sorties dropped more than 9,000 tons of explosives, killing more than 30,000 people and destroying 280,000 buildings. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on beaches along the coast of France’s Normandy region.The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
Liberation of concentration camps
Allied Forces invaded Germany at the end of World War II, few of the veterans were prepared to cope with horrors they encountered during the liberation of the camps. The inhumane conditions and the torture of the prisoners further revealed the true cruelty and brutality behind Hitler’s leadership. -
Operation Thunderclap
The proposal was to bomb the cities of Germany to disrupt the transport infrastructure.Also to demonstrate to the German population, that the air defences of Germany were now of little substance and that the Nazi regime had failed them. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The invasion of Iwo Jima stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. Iwo Jima was defended by 23,000 Japanese troops, who fought from a network of caves, dugouts and tunnels. Despite the conditions, the marines wiped out the defending forces, and the battle was placed in American lore with the publication of a photograph showing the U.S. flag being raised in victory. -
Battle of Okinawa
Last of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. By the end of the cmpaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties—including 14,000 dead. -
VE Day
Cities in both nations, America, and Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Potsdam Declaration
Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
The United States becomes the first nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II. -
VJ Day
It was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. -
Battle of the Bulge
As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, creating the battle’s name. Its objective was to split the Allied armies by a surprise blitzkrieg through the Ardennes to Antwerp, repeating what the Germans had done previously.
