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Rape of Nanking
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. The horrific events are known as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking, as between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted. (https://www.history.com/topics/nanjing-massacre) -
Germany's invasion of Poland
The Germans bombed Poland on land by air. Hitler used the “blitzkrieg” strategy. The war began this day. -
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. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg) -
Barbarossa
Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union: three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa) -
Pearl Harbor
Just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and over 300 airplanes. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor) -
Bataan Death March
Approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camp.(https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march) -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Residents of the Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising) -
Allied invasion of Italy
The British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery begins the Allied invasion of the Italian peninsula, crossing the Strait of Messina from Sicily and landing at Calabria–the “toe” of Italy. (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland) -
Battle of the Bulge
Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Caught off-guard, American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and Bastogne. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge) -
Liberation of Nazi Camps
US forces liberated the Buchenwald, Dora-Mittelbau, Flossenbürg, Dachau, and Mauthausen.Many of these prisoners had survived forced marches into the interior of Germany from camps in occupied Poland. These prisoners were suffering from starvation and disease. (https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131) -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day) -
Battle of Iwo Jima
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. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima) -
Yalta Conference
This was the second wartime meeting of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
Operation Thunderclap
A series of Allied firebombing raids begins against the German city of Dresden, reducing the “Florence of the Elbe” to rubble and flames, and killing as many as 135,000 people.(https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/firebombing-of-dresden) -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II, and one of the bloodiest. More than 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa) -
VE Day
Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe) -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, many historians argue that it also ignited the Cold War. (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima) -
VJ Day
It was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victoryover Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.” (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day)
