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Japanese invasion of China
War began in 1937 after the Japanese claimed that they were being attacked by the Chinese at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. The Japanese then launched a full scale invasion on China. When the Japanese army attacked they faced some resistance, then China fell, the Japanese ransacked and kill tens of thousands as they went. Within 5 months 1 million Chinese people were under Japanese control. All major cities in China were captured by the end of 1937. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/chin -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Warshaw surrendered to the Germans on September 27,1939 after heavy shelling and bombing. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. Poland faced a problem going up against Germany, because Germany had a better armed forces compared to Poland. An effect of Germany's invasion was the creation of concentration camps. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the invasion was a defensive action.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-his -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is a military tactic to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. The quick attacks helped to overrun Poland, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Beligium, Luxembourg, and France. The purpose of Blitzkreig is to serve as a method of quick, silent, genocide for the German Nazi group. The Blitzkrieg strategy had no effect had no effect on the war.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarrossa was a German invasion of the Soviet Union. The failure of Operation Barbarossa arguably resulted in the eventual overall defeat of Nazi Germany. Some effects were it took pressure off of the UK, it bogged down the Germany army forcing them to direct valuable resources to that battle front in a wasted cause. The loss of manpower, ammunition irreparably harmed the Nazi war effort causing an earlier end to World War II.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1761.html -
Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack lasted 2 hours and the Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels. The attack on Pearl Harbor was intended to neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet. One effect was the Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps for the rest of the war. http://military.laws.com/results-of-the-attack-on-pearl-harbor http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
1942 Nazi meeting that settled the "Jewish question" by making genocide official German policy. The meeting was to decide what to do with the Jews, and their solution was termed the "Final Solution". Everyone at meeting all agreed to this, and so millions of Jews were sent to ghettos in the east and then murdered. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/wannsee_conference.htm
http://www.projetaladin.org/holocaust/en/history-of-the-holocaust-shoah/the-killing-machine/the-wannsee-conference.html -
Operation Gomorrah
Allied bombing run that included the German city of Hamburg and destroyed most of the people and killed tens of thousands of German citizens. Gomorrah happened because Britain had suffered the deaths of 167 civillians as a result, so Britain started to drop bombs on Hamburg. Destroyed a significant amount of Hamburg, killing 40,000 - 50,000 civilians. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/aerialcampaigns/p/gomorrah.htm -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
Allied invasion of France led by American forces. The Allies decided to launch their invasion from Normandy because that region ws less well defended than the area around Calais. D-Day was a huge success with the exception of the American landing at Omaha Beach. Most of the landings were free from major casualties.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/DDay_June_1944.htm -
Battle of the Bulge
The last German offensive of WWII, resulting in the retreat of German forces toward Germany. Hitler had convinced himself that the alliance between Britain, France, and America wasn't strong and that a major attack and defeat would break up the alliance. So he ordered a massive attack against what were primarilt American forces. The Americans lost 81,000 men while the Germans lost 100,000 killed, wounded or captured.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_the_bulge.htm -
Operation Thunderclap
Allied bombing run over the German city of Dresden that killed thousands civilians. The cause for this is due to a suggstion by Sir Charles portal the chief of the air staff he said "wait until the military falls to its low then we bomb them this would make it a surrender". Over 60,000 German civilians were killed during this operation. http://ww2orc.tripod.com/id15.htm -
Battle of Iwo Jima
It was the only large engagement of the war in which Allied forces suffered more casualties (dead plus wounded) than their Japanese counterparts. To the Japanese the loss of Iwo Jima would bring the Allies close to the Home Islands. Combat on Iwo Jima was perhaps the most brutal, tragic, and costly in American history.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070325/NEWS/703250339/-1/NEWS35 http://www.historynet.com/worth-the-cost-justificaton-of-iwo-jima-invasion.htm -
Battle of Okinawa
The US tried to take control of Okinawa thinking it would give them a base large enough for an invasion of Japanese home islands. Over the next month the battle raged on land and sea, with the Japanese troops and fliers making Americans pay for everything. June 18, General Buckner was killed by the Japanese, three days later his Army reached the southern coast of the island, the next day Japanese resistance finally came to an end. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-okinawa-ends -
VE Day
VE Day officially announced the end the end of World War II in Europe. VE Day happened because the war in Europe was over and people were so glad that they celebrated around the world. VE Day had a big impact on countries that were against Germany in World War II, mainly Great Britain and the United States.
https://sites.google.com/a/ismanila.org/wwii/home/the-war-s-end/ve-day
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ve_day.htm -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The first atomic bomb dropped was on Hiroshima. A total of 175,000 people were wounded or killed when the bomb was dropped. Aug. 9, the second atomic bomb dropped in Nagasaki, resulting in Japan's surrender. President Harry.S.Truman wanted to bring the war with Japan to a speedy end so he decided that the atomic bomb was the best way to do that
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-is-dropped-on-hiroshima
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-nagasaki
