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Period: to
World War II
World War II events from 1937-1947 -
Japanese invasion of Chine
The war between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan was the result of a decade-long Japanese imperialist policy that had tried to dominate China both politically and militarily. China had vast raw material reserves and other resources that Japan wanted. A wave of nationalism and self-determination flood through China giving them an extra boost of confidence which led to them fighting back.
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Second-Sino-Japanese-War -
Rape of Nanking
Japan's Army marched into China's capital Nanking and proceeded to murder 300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers that lived in the city. The six weeks of carnage would be known as the Rape of Nanking and represented the single worst atrocity during the World War II era in either the European or Pacific theaters of war. http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Poland had received some of Germany's land due to the Treaty of Versailles which angered many Germans. Hitler negotiated a nonaggression pact in 1939 with the Soviet Union called the German-Soviet Pact. This pact stated that Poland would be partitioned between the two powers. This then enabled Germany to attack Poland without worrying about the Soviet Union intervening. The land would bring living space for the German people during WWII.
https://ushmm.org/wcl/en/article.php?Moduleld-10005070 -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg was a new military tactic also known as lightning war. This tactic required offensive weapons (tanks, planes, artillery) along a narrow front. This tactic would allow a breach in the enemies defenses which would allow tanks to make their way and roam around enemy lines. The first time Germany successfully used this tactic was in September 1939 against Poland. Also against Denmark and Norway in April 1940.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?Moduleld=10005437 -
Fall of Paris
In Paris in 1940, Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening-as German troops enter and occupy Paris. Winston Churchill had tried for days to convince the French government to hang on because America would enter the war and come to its aid. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler launched 3 million soldiers, 150 divisions, and 3 thousand tanks eastward toward the Soviet Union. Barbarossa was a really important battle in WWII because it was a turning point in the war. Its failure had forced the Nazis to fight a two-front war against the Soviets who had possession of a lot more resources. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan attacked an American navel base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack left 2 thousand American soldiers and sailors dead, and 1 thousand wounded. The day after the assault we declared war on Japan, officially joining WWII.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
German government officials and high-ranking members of the Nazi Party met to discuss the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." The final solution was the deliberate extermination of the Jewish race. The purpose of the conference was to inform and secure support from government ministries and to disclose to the participants. They didn't talk about whether the plan should be undertaken or not, they talked about how to implement it.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005477 -
Bataan Death March
U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II , the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad in the U.S.S.R. during World War II.Nearly 2 million civilians and military officers dead.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Warshaw Ghetto uprising
the German authorities deported or murdered around 300,000 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. SS and police units deported 265,000 Jews to the Treblinka killing center and 11,580 to forced-labor camps. The Germans and their auxiliaries murdered more than 10,000 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto during the deportation operations. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005188 -
Operation Gomorrah
167 civilians died when Germany bombed Britain in July. So on July 24, 1943 Britain aircraft dropped 2,300 tons of bombs on Hamburg, Germany. More than 1,500 German civilians were killed. Britain lost only 12 aircraft in the raid because a new system they had installed which confused the German radar and diverted the attention away from the bombers.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
D-Day
Bad weather caused the operation to be postponed 24 hours. 156,000 America, British, and Canadian forces landed on 5 separate beaches on the coast of France's Normandy region. This invasion was one of the biggest military assaults in history. -
Operation Thunderclap
It was supposted to be a massive attack on Berlin in the belief that would cause 220,000 casualties with 110,000 killed, many of them key German personnel, which would shatter German morale. However, it was later decided that the plan was unlikely to work, so it was canceled. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The U.S. marines landed and took over the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army. The goal was to capture the whole island, along with the 3 Japanese-controlled airfields. It was controversial because the land wasn't very valuable to the U.S. Naval base.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
Last and biggest 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. It was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
Ve Day
On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, might have also started the Cold War http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
VJ Day
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. and thats where VJ Day comes from http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Battle of the Bulge
Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe. The suprise attack caught the Allies completely off guard. The battle depleted German armored forces on their western front.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge
