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Rape of Nanjing
-In late 1937, over a period of six weeks, Imperial Japanese Army forces brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of people–including both soldiers and civilians–in the Chinese city of Nanking (Nanjing).
-The event is significant because known as the Rape of Nanking, as between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted
-Japanese turned their attention towards Nanking. Fearful of losing them in battle, Nationalist leader ordered the removal of nearly all official Chinese troops from the city -
Kristallnacht
-was a pogrom against Jews throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938, carried out by SA paramilitary forces and German civilians
-The name Kristallnacht comes from the broken glass that littered the windows of Jewish-owned stores, and synagogues that were smashed
-this event is significant because 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps
-followed by economic and political persecution of Jews, and it is the beginning of the Final Solution and The Holocaust -
Battle of Atlantic
-was the longest battle of World War II.
-began immediately upon the British declaration of war against Germany in September 1939.
-The British had always been dependent on the seas for its economy, importing supplies. Germany knew this well. Too weak to directly challenge the British and French fleets, the German Navy used the surface ships, submarines, and aircraft to raid commerce shipping.
- this event is significant because it ended with Germany's surrender to the Allies in May 1945. -
Canada declares war on Germnay
-this event is significant because Canada declared war on Germany in 10 September 1939.
- the government and people were united in support of Britain and France. After Parliament debated the matter, Canada declared war on Germany
-Canada was unprepared for war. The regular army of 4500 men, possessed virtually no modern equipment. The air force had fewer than 20 modern combat aircraft while the navy’s combat potential consisted of only 6 destroyers -
Fall of France
-began on 10 May 1940, with German air raids on Belgium and Holland
-The French collapse was as sudden as it was unexpected.
-this event is significant because it ripped up the balance of power in Europe, and overnight left the strategic assumptions on which Britain had planned to fight Hitler completely obsolete.
-The German occupation of France would last four long years until in August 1944 -
Battle of Britain
-On 10 July–31 October 1940, it described as the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces
-The primary objective of the Nazi German forces was to compel Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement
- the air and sea blockade began with the Luftwaffe mainly targeting coastal shipping convoys, ports and shipping centers
-this event is significant because the failure to destroy Britain's air defenses to force an armistice is known to be the first major defeat of Nazi Germany in WW II -
Pearl Harbor
-On December 7, 1941, it was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory
-Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions
-this event is significant because the surprise attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into WW II in both the Pacific and European theaters. -
Invasion of Hongkong
-On 8–25 December 1941, Invasion of Hongkong was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II.
-On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the British Crown colony of Hong Kong.
-this event is significant because within a week the defenders abandoned the mainland and less than two weeks later, with their position on the island untenable, the colony surrendered. -
Final Solution
-On 20 January 1942, The 'Final solution' was a code name for the murder of all the Jews of Europe.
-Most Holocaust victims were murdered in six Nazi extermination camps.
-this event is significant because Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland was the largest and at least 1.1 million Jews were killed there before its liberation by the Red Army on January 27, 1945. In total 85pc of the Jewish population in Poland died -
Dieppe Raid
-its final official code-name Operation Jubilee, was an Allied attack on the German occupied port of Dieppe during the WWII
-it took place on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942
-Allied commanders were forced to call a retreat
-Objectives included seizing and holding a major port for a short period, both to prove that it was possible
-this event is significant because the raiding force was largely trapped on the beach by obstacles and German fire, troops had been killed by the Germans -
D-DAY
-The battle was taken in Normandy, France
- Code-named Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France
-resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control
-this event is significant because the invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning -
V-E day
-V-E day which is generally known as the Victory in Europe Day, was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces.
-this event is significant because it marked the end of World War II in Europe. -
Hiroshima
-On 6 August 1945, America dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima
-80,000 people were killed as a direct result of the blast. Even then, Japan didn't surrender. Another nuclear bomb was dropped in Japanese city of Nagasaki. Then Japan finally admitted defeat
-US President hoped the massive destruction it caused would shock the Japanese into realizing they had to surrender
-this event is significant because it was the first and only time that atomic bombs have been used in a war -
Nagasaki
-On August 9, 1945, an atomic bomb, "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, when the Japanese still won't surrender after Hiroshima was bombed
-The American president dropped the atomic bomb to save more lives because the Japanese fight to their lives for the Emperor, which would cause more death
-this event is significant because Japan’s Emperor Hirohito announced his country’s unconditional surrender in World War II on August 15, citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.” -
V-J day
-this event is significant because Victory over Japan Day generally known as V-J day is the day on which the Empire of Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect ending the war.
-August 15 is the official V-J Day for the UK, while the official U.S. commemoration is September 2.
-The name, V-J Day, had been selected by the Allies after they named V-E Day for the victory in Europe.
