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Japanese Invasion of China
The Japanese invasion of China was the result of Japanese-Chinese tension, and Japan's desire to gain territory. On July 7, 1937 the Japanese Army fought with the Chinese army outside of Shanghai, this started the second Sino-Japanese War in which Japan launched an invasion of China. They had already captured Manchuria in 1931, but they desired more land and power. This invasion began a war which lasted several years, and eventually even involved the Russians. -
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World War II
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German Blitzkreig
Blitzkreig is the German word for "lightning warfare" and the Germans used it as a military tactic which emphasized speed in order to avoid the attritional deadlock of trench warfare. Using this form of warfare swiftly uses artillery and bombing to cut enemy supply lines, and then the enemy army is surrounded by their own. This limits casualties and allowed Germany to swiftly capture Poland, Belgium, The Netherlands, and France within the first few years of war. -
German Invasion of Paris
On June 14, 1940 the French government sued for peace with Germany, and Paris was occupied by the Germans. Two million Parisians fled the city and/or country, but those who were not fortunate enough to escape before the German tanks rolled in were held in the city, as the Gestapo went from door to door interrogating the citizens. As a result, France became occupied by the Germans, and would not be liberated until 1944 -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the codename for Germany's invasion of Russia. They desired to enslave Russian Slavs and kill Russian Jews, so Hitler decided to break his nonaggression pact and invade Russia. However Germany had underestimated Russia's power and after many initial victories, the harsh Russian winter proved fatal to the German troops and they were pushed back to the border. This was Germany's first major loss, and it left them facing two large armies on two fronts. -
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crucial moment of WWII. On December 7. 1941 the Japanese air force attacked Pearl Harbor in order to destroy the U.S. Navy and prevent the U.S. from interfering with Japanese interests in the Pacific. Over 2000 Americans died that day, which enraged many U.S. citizens. In response the United States declared war on Japan and one of the U.S. war in the Pacific began. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a secret meeting of Nazi officials to discuss the "Jewish Question" and decide on a "Final Solution". The "Jewish Question" is a wide-ranging debate that pertaining to the role of Jews in society, and the "Final Solution" that they decided on was to wipe out the Jews by sending them to concentration camps and working them to death. The Nazi's did this because they saw the Jews as lesser, and directly after the Conference construction on concentration camps began. -
Bataan Death March
On April 9th, 1942 U.S. General Edward King Jr. surrendered his 75,000 troops to the Japanese. These men were stationed in the Philippines when Japan invaded, and had been on the run ever since. The men were taken 100 at a time across the Bataan Peninsula in what is known as the Butaan death march. The death march resulted in thousands of deaths due to the harshness of Japanese captors, thousands more died at the POW camps. Vengeance came in 1944 when Gen. MacArthur retook the Philippines. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was one of the most decisive naval battles of WWII. Thanks to advances in codebreaking the U.S. military was able to prepare for a Japanese sneak attack on America's aircraft carriers, and inflicted permanent damage to the Japanese Navy. The Japanese lost hundreds of planes, five of their best ships, and five thousand of their most well trained pilots and mechanics. Some say this was the turning point of the War in the Pacific -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the Soviets successful defense of the city of Stalingrad from Nazi forces. This halted Germany's advance and changed the tide of the war. The battle lasted for months, and in the end there were nearly two million casualties. The Soviet army encircled the Nazi's and eventually were victorious. Germany desired Stalingrad because it was a strategic point on the Volga River, but their failure was a turning point on the Eastern Front. -
Operation Gomorrah
On July 24, 1943 the British launched a large counter-offensive against Germany. They were angered by Germany's bombings of London, so in just a few hours the British dropped 2,300 tons of incendiary explosives on Hamburg, killing 30, 000 Germans. This nearly destroyed Hamburg, and it also crippled German officials morale, including Hitler's -
Allied invasion of Italy
On September 3rd, 1943 British forces landed on the Italian peninsula, beginning the Allied Invasion of Italy. The Italians officially surrendered to the Allies on this day, but the public announcement was made five days later. This invasion occurred because of Italy's goal to build Fascist Italy into a New Roman Empire. This goal was never achieved as they became a mere puppet of their Axis colleague Germany. As a result all German forces in Italy had surrendered by May, and Mussolini was dead. -
D-Day
D-Day is the name of the day in which 150,000 Allied soldiers landed in Normandy France, in order to begin liberating France. The Allies knew that in order to defeat Germany they would need to liberate Western Europe, and the liberation began on D-Day. D-Day was a huge success, and it was one of the world's largest amphibious military assaults ever. This day is known as the "beginning of the end of the war" and following it, France was liberated, and the Nazi's fell. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was Germany's desperate final charge in the Ardennes mountains of Belgium. Germany knew that the end of the war was approaching so they launched a final blitzkreig against U.S. troops in Belgium. Initially the German force swept from town to town, until the Allies borders took the shape of a bulge, but finally due to German lack of supplies and Patton's leadership, Germany failed. This resulted in Germany's final major loss. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was one of the most decisive battles in the Pacific, and one of America's greatest victories. America needed a base of operations closer to Japan for their bombers to land, so they choose the island of Iwo Jima as their target. After weeks of artillery fire three U.S. marine infantry units landed on shore, and fought Japanese forces that were hiding in elaborate tunnels and underground bases. Finally after many casualties the U.S. captured the island. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the final and largest Pacific battle of WWII. The U.S. needed to capture the large island due to it's strategic location, and airstrips, so they launched 287,000 soldiers against 130,000 Japanese soldiers. The Japanese fought to the death and used kamikaze attack methods against the U.S. ships and units, and after much bloodshed the Americans were victorious. -
VE Day
On May 7th, 1945 Grand Admiral Donitz of Germany surrendered to U.S, British, Russian, and French officers. The Russians had held Berlin under siege for weeks, and once Hitler killed himself the Germans finally surrendered. This was a massive day for celebration, as the huge conflict was finally over and millions of Europeans could begin rebuilding their lives and homes. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was the final meeting of the "big three" Allied leaders, Churchill, Truman, and Stalin. They met in Berlin to discuss the handling of postwar Europe, and to demand an "unconditional surrender" from Japan. The leaders came to various agreements on reparations, war crime punishments, and established a Council of Foreign Ministers consisting of the Big Three, France, and China. They also set all of the rules that would govern Germany's economy for years to come. -
Bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima
Japan refused to surrender after Okinawa and claimed that they would fight to the last man. So in order to prevent the predicted one million U.S. deaths that would occur in a mainland invasion, President Harry Truman decided to drop an atomic bomb on the military city of Hiroshima. The city was nearly leveled, and around 75,000 civilians were killed instantly. After Japan still refused to surrender, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. This forced Emperor Hirohito to surrender to the Allies. -
V.J. Day
V.J Day, otherwise known as Victory in Europe Day, is a minor holiday celebrated on August 14, which is the day that Emperor Hirohito surrendered to the Allies. After the dropping of the atomic bombs the emperor had no choice but to surrender, and the U.S. then got involved with Japan's government.
