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Japanese invasion of China
The Japan-China War started in July 1937 when the Japanese claimed that they were fired on by Chinese troops at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. Using this as an excuse, the Japanese launched a full-scale invasion of China using the conquered Manchuria as a launching base for their troops. The onslaught of the Japanese was relentless. Within 5 months, 1 million Chinese people were under Japanese control. All of the major cities in China were captured by the Japanese by the end of 1937. -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
A non-agression pact. Promising not to attack one another. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. From East Prussia and Germany in the north and Silesia and Slovakia in the south, German units, with more than 2,000 tanks and over 1,000 planes, broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on Warsaw in a massive encirclement attack. After heavy shelling and bombing, Warsaw surrendered to the Germans on September 27, 1939. -
German Blitzkrieg (1939-1940)
Blitzkrieg, or “The Lightning War”, was an operating concept developed as a solution to the trench warfare of World War I. While American, Russian, British and other armies developed similar concepts, only the German generals received support for their operational plans prior to World War II. Germany's Blitzkrieg tactics overwhelmed Poland in September 1939, then, after a pause, crushed Denmark, Norway, and the Low Countries in April-May 1940, and finally France in June 1940. -
Fall of Paris
The French army was a very powerful group. One of the most powerful actually. But it only took six weeks for them to be over ran. This was due to the German troup adding around 5,000 soldiers each day, The French couldn't handle that. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the name given to Nazi Germany’s invasion of Russia on June 22nd 1941. Barbarossa the largest military attack of World War Two and was to have appalling consequences for the Russian people. Operation Barbarossa was based on a massive attack based on blitzkrieg. Hitler had said of such an attack that “when the attack on Russia starts the world will hold its breath.” -
Pearl Harbor
Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. -
Wannsee Confrence and "The Final Soulution"
On January 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss and coordinate the implementation of what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." -
Bataan Death March
The prisoners that were captured and were forced to walk 85 miles in six days. The only things provided for them was one meal of rice during the entire march. Hundred of Americans had died. And many more Filipinos died as well. -
Battle of Midway
The United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Atoll, marking a turning point in the war in the Pacific theatre. After this battle, American forces retired. American resources would begin to overwhelm the Japanese Navy. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Soviet forces counter-attacked during the Battle of Moscow and successfully drove the German Army from the environs of Moscow. -
Operation Gomorrah
On this day in 1943, British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day in its own “Blitz Week.” Britain had suffered the deaths of 167 civilians as a result of German bombing raids in July. Now the tables were going to turn. The evening of July 24 saw British aircraft drop 2,300 tons of incendiary bombs on Hamburg in just a few hours. -
D-Day Normandy Invasion
This day is made for Allied forces invaded northern France by means of beach landings in Normandy. -
Battle of the Bulge
A major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. This ending of this "battle" was the beginning for the final military phase for Hitler. -
Battle of two Jima
The capture of Iwo Jima was part of a three-point plan the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East. "The tiny island had taken America over one month to take. The Marines lost 6,891 men killed and 18,070 wounded. Out of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island, only 212 were taken prisoners." -
Battle of Okinawa
The capture of Okinawa was part of a three-point plan the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East. This battle had taken a toll on both sides. -
VE Day
The day marking the Allied victory in Europe in 1945. The Germans had surrendered, and the British rejoice. And this day drew a line under the past, ending an era. -
Dropping Atomic Bombs
A uranium gun-type atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed by a plutonium implosion-type bomb on the city of Nagasaki on August 9. 42,000–93,000 people died, based on the amount of dead bodies -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap was the code for a cancelled operation planned in August 1944 but shelved and never implemented. -
VJ Day
The day in 1945 on which Japan ceased fighting in World War II, or the day (September 2) when Japan formally surrendered.
