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German Blitzkrieg
Germany tried this lighting war against Poland in 1939. Blitzkrieg led to the development in Germany of a doctrine using mobility to prevent the attritional deadlock of WWI. The Blitzkrieg was a successful execution for short military campaigns for Germany. Tanks, aircraft, and motor trucks were regarded as force multipliers facilitating traditional operational approaches. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes bombed Pearl Harbor and destroyed 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. There were more than 2400 americans who died during this attack. Japanese started this, because the americans responded to Japan with economic sanctions and trade embargoes, supplies like oil.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
Heydrich met with Adolf Eichmann, chief of the Central Office of Jewish Emigration, and 15 other officials, this was to find a final solution to the Jewish question. All their ideas they had were to time consuming, so they gas vans in Chelmno, Poland and were killing 1000 people a day, this was their solution.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Bataan Death March
American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The troops marched in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands of troops perished. -
Battle of Midway
The U.S. preempted Japan's planned ambush of its aircraft carriers, the U.S. left permanent damage on the Japanese Navy, this was a very important turning point in the Pacific Theater. The Japanese later would prepare to retaliate and attack Pearl Harbor trying to draw out the American fleet.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Battle of Stalingrad
This was a military campaign between Russian forces, Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. This was one of the longest modern warfares in history. There were almost 2 million killed and injured, this included thousands of Russian civilians.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Allied invasion of Italy
Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery leads his British 8th Army and begins the Allied invasion of the Italian peninsula.On the day of the landing, the Italian government secretly agreed to the Allies terms for surrender, but there was no announcement until September 8.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland -
D-Day
156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of France’s Normandy region. This invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history. The Allies conducted a large-scale campaign mislead the Germans of their invasion. Late August 1944, northern france has been liberated, and the allies defeated Germany.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by using blitzkrieg strategy. This happened, because the Germans wanted to repeat what they did 3 times previously on September 1870, August 1914, and May 1940. Three German armies had more than a quarter-million troops launched the deadliest war in the west. The U.S. suffered over 100000 casualties. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This battle was a campaign between U.S. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan. American forces invaded Japan's island and the war lasted for 5 weeks. 21,000 Japanese forces on the island were killed and 7000 marines were killed. The americans won the attack, then they went through the island’s jungles, finding and killing Japanese who refused to surrender and to fight. -
Battle of Okinawa
This was the last major battle of World War II, and one of the bloodiest in history. April 1 the Navy’s Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa. The troops quickly secured both Kadena and Yontan airfields.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
Liberation of concentration camps
The U.S. Seventh Army’s 45th Infantry Division liberated Dachau, the first concentration camp established by Germany’s Nazi regime. Americans found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies and with each body in different states of decomposition. Their were 30,000 survivors inside the camp. German citizens of the town Dachau were forced to bury 9,000 dead inmates found at the camp. The U.S. later liberated 4 other camps.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dachau-liberated -
VE Day
On this day, the United States and Great Britain celebrate victory in Europe Day. They were celebrating the defeat of the Nazi war machine. Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists. 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended. May 9, the Germans finally surrendered. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
August 6, 1945, American bomber Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb over the Japanese city Hiroshima. This bomb killed 80000 people instantly and thousands more dying from wounds and radiation poisoning. Three days later, another atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, killing almost 40000 people. A few days later Japan announced its surrender.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
V-J Day
This day celebrates victory of Japan, when they surrendered aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, in Tokyo Bay, and the United States ending WWII. V-J Day also stands for Victory of Japan day. Through the years, V-J Day celebrations fell out of favor, because people were concerned about being offensive to the japanese.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
