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Japanese invasion of China
A conflict that broke out when China began full-scale resistance to the expansion of Japanese influence in its territory. A stalemate then ensued, and Japanese forces were diverted to Southeast Asia. -
Rape of Nanking
There was - citywide burning's, stabbings, drownings, strangulation's, rapes, thefts, and massive property destruction and it lasted for about six weeks, from mid-December 1937 through the beginning of February 1938. Young or old, male or female, anyone could be shot at any time by any Japanese soldier for any reason. Corpses could be seen all over throughout the city. The streets of Nanking were said to be run red with blood. -
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German Blitzkrieg
A German term for “lightning war,” blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. Its successful results in short military campaigns, which preserves human lives and limits the artillery. German forces tried out the blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German controlled territory. German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, starting World War II. -
Pearl Harbor
A surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese. The United States to respond that same month by freezing Japanese assets in the United States and declaring an embargo on petroleum shipments and other cargo's. -
Bataan Death March
The U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II. Approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made it through intense heat and were exposed to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March. -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Resistance by Polish Jews under Nazi occupation in 1943 to the deportations from Warsaw to the Treblinka extermination camp. The revolt began on April 19, 1943, and was crushed four weeks later, on May 16. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
Operation Overlord also known as Normandy invasion was during World War II. The Allied invasion of western Europe, which was launched on June 6, 1944, with the landing of U.S., British, and Canadian forces on five separate beachheads in Normandy, France. By the end of August 1944 all of northern France was liberated, and the invading forces reorganized for the drive into Germany, where they would eventually meet with Soviet forces advancing from the east to bring an end to the Nazi's. -
Battle of the bulge
Germany attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise attack through the Ardennes to Antwerp. American units were caught off-guard and fought desperate battles to stem the German advance. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes. The Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name. The third Army to Bastogne proved vital to the Allied defense, leading to the neutralization of German counteroffensive. -
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Battle of Iwo Jima
The American invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II was for the need of a base near the Japanese coast. Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought from an elaborate network of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground installations. Despite the difficulty of the conditions, the marines took out defending forces after a month of fighting. -
Battle of Okinawa
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign involved 287,000 U.S. troops against 130,000 Japanese solders. By the end of the 82-day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties—including 14,000 dead. -
Liberation of concentration camps
Allied troops moved across Europe and they began to encounter tens of thousands of concentration camp prisoners. Many prisoners had survived forced marches into the interior of Germany from camps in occupied Poland. These prisoners were suffering from starvation and disease. -
VE Day
Tuesday 8 May 1945 was Victory in Europe (VE Day) and it marked the formal conclusion of Hitler's war or world war Two. With it came the end of six years of misery, suffering across the world. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
An American bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people, tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, another A-bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II. -
VJ Day
Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victory over Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.”
