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Invasion of Manchuria
Japan has now been a well developing country with a large growing population for their small country and expansion was a reasonable idea. The Chinese still being split up had barely any defenses against the growing Japanese. The shores were not directly attacked instead waited for an excuse and when one finally popped up the Japanese invaded and took a large portion of China on its shores with almost no resistance or back lash from the other nations. -
Invasion of Manchuria Why?
The Japanese were a very advanced and growing country with this came a massive population so they decide invading and taking land was the only reasonable way to solve this knowing the Chinese were still split waited for them to give the Japanese a reason to invade. The Chinese at the time still had dynasties and were broken apart and fighting one another but in the end this harmed them as the numbers had no match for the Japanese and their modern military. -
Blitzkrieg into Poland
This was the first major invasion Germany decided upon and lead to the start of the war as allies told Germany prior that an invasion into Poland would be an act of war. Germany wanting to rule Europe invaded anyway splitting the land between them and Russia. Germany had no problem with the declaration of war as this gave them an excuse to continue their capturing of countries. The method they used was the blitzkrieg it was a fast mobile invasion that allowed the Germans to conquer land fast. -
Blitzkrieg into Poland Why
The Germans wanted to control Europe and they found taking small countries was a good start but they needed to expand so they used the Blitzkrieg to rapidly capture Poland which was a large chunk of land allowing the Germans to create many of their camps and gain several resources. They choose Poland secondly due to Poland's lack of a modernized military. -
Battle of Britain
These were the several attempts to have Britain surrender or at least weaken their strength. These bombing lasted till May 1941 when German forces have given up. Due to the strong willed public and the British air force that absolutely dominated the skies and forced Germans to give up on the idea of a land invasion on Britain. These battles gave hope not only to Britain but all allies even sparking the attention of the United States. -
Battle of Britain Why?
The Germans had one country left in Europe that they wanted to control and that was Britain. The only issues was Britain was an island so a land invasion would be impossible without weakening their defenses. With all this Germans decide to bomb Britain to rumble but were unable to fully due to Britain powerful air force allowing the British to fend of most attacks making a land invasion of Britain impossible forcing the Germans to give up. -
Dunkirk
Dunkirk was a continuation of German invasion that split French and British forces that left thousands of soldiers trapped in Dunkirk and having no escape and soon to be collapsed on by a powerful German force. Lucky commercial sailors and any ships in the area allowed the British forces to retreat to Britain before the Germans could invade. The territory was lost due to this quick invasion and major forces leaving allies no choice but to loose that land. -
Dunkirk Why?
Dunkirk was a scare tactic by the Germans with the ability to split the two allies and leave thousands of British soldiers out in the open. The Germans knew that is they destroy those forces retreating in Dunkirk they could heavily cripple the British military allowing for a future easy invasion. This lead to the final capture of northern France letting the allies know they have no match against the strong German army. -
German Invasion of France
This was a continuation of their plan to rule Europe. The Germans scoped out France and noticed a similar defense to the one in the first war so they went back to their original plan and invaded northern France and crushed their defenses with speed and their modern military. The Germans new if they can reach Paris, France would fall and so with this invasion all forces were sent towards Paris and ended up capturing Paris and France soon surrendered with the fall. -
German Invasion of France Why?
They wanted their rival from the first world war to fall as soon as possible to show their strength so they new an invasion of France was needed. They later used this land to control communications and gain resources. They invaded France quite easily due to improper placement of defenses on the French behalf. With this Germany captured France by invading the northern half and capture Paris as they wanted to in the first world war. -
Germany takes Greece
The Italians were on the pursuit to invade and take Greece but luckily Greece managed to push them back. Hearing of this Germany new they must help their fellow axis members so invasion was immanent but this time the Italians plus the Germans heavily out wade the Greece forces and made for a relatively capture. The Axis would hold Greece for 4 years of the war. This left the Italians in charge of former land and allowed for a strong defenses. -
Germany takes Greece Why?
With Italian now wanting to control the Mediterranean and all countries around one big one that stood out to them was Greece. Greece was knowing that an expanding Italy would mean trouble so they prepared defenses and managed to repel the Italians but the Germans heard of this news and wanted to help the Italians so they combined troops and slammed the Greek defenses fully controlling the area for 4 years of the war. The Italians manage to fortifies the land heavily. -
Operation Barbarossa
This was the German invasion of Russia. This was going against the treaty created by the two nations. With an unexpected attack the Germans steam rolled through a heavy portion of the Russian land. The Russians had heavy losses and were desperate to stop this massive push. The Germans having the military power the Russian numbers absolutely out numbered the German they managed to stop the power house Germans through numbers and a rough Russian winter turning the tide of the war. -
Operation Barbarossa Why?
The Germans from the start wanted to take over Russian. They wanted land, resources and most of all destroy communism like they did in Germany. The Germans after realizing invading Britain would be a challenge the Germans turned to Russia knowing they still believed they would keep their promise in the treaty. The Germans used their blitzkrieg strategy again to quickly invade and gain a massive amount of land. They were eventually stopped by an unprepared Russian winter destroying their push. -
Pearl Harbor
This was the first major attack on United States territory the Japanese will take. They sent over 300 planes to bomb a port in Hawaii housing many american soldiers in the end their attack will be a success and cause the United States to declare war on the Axis powers. This attack sinks several of our ships crippling our navy heavily. This attack was planned out for several months and was perfected. Lucky our carriers were out of the port at the time. -
Pearl Harbor Why?
This was an attack by the Japanese as revenge for aiding China and the stoppage of goods to Japan. The Japanese found this as an act of war so they planned for months perfecting the attack and on December 7th they bombed and crippled the USA navy knowing that many ships were ported their due to many spies and planes allowing this to be a perfected attack to stall the USA while they captured several territories and other countries. -
Philippines 1942
The Philippines at the time was American territory. The Japanese still on their conquest to expand went after the Philippines. This was a strong hold for any forces on the Philippines but were over turned and ran out of supplies and on May 8th 1942 the Philippines fell under Japanese control and forced american troops to retreat. This gave Japan control of a very major island for attacks and resources. -
Philippines 1942 Why?
The Japanese wanting to expand they started to capture USA territories due to their recent attack on pearl harbor allowing them to capture island like the Philippines with ease due to no back up or extra resources leaving anyone on the islands on their own. This attack also gave the Japanese resources and establish several ports for future attacks. This later became a hard island to capture as Japanese having time allowed for easy fortification. -
Bataan
Was a battle fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against Japan. The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines this later lead to an march know as the death march where thousands of Philippine soldiers walked to war camps by force many of them were executed before reaching the camp. This was devastating for the Philippines and angered the american public. -
Bataan Why?
The Japanese wanted to take the Philippines and nothing was going to stop. They also wanted to threaten all islands and countries that japan will target. The Japaneses decided to create a fear so they made the military men walk to the prisons and along the way they executed all that went against them to show their strength and that they are ready to show no mercy to anyone going against their ideas. -
Doolittle Raid Why?
The US was down at this point of the war and needed a booster. The military decided to attack Japan directly to show they are no easy target an d we are coming for them. This definitely worked very well Japan defiantly felt threatened and gave a big boost towards the american people. This raid gave our military new strategies and in all boosted the american power towards this war. -
Doolittle Raid
These were several bombings on Japan early in the war. They used modified planes that were able to bomb Japan but not come back so they had to land in China. These were successful and put fear into Japan.This was mostly successful due to the fact Japan never expected direct attacks to them and the first attacks would come from smaller islands. This forced Japan to be on their toes and waited for the next attacks. -
Coral Sea
This was a major territory the Japanese wanted to unleash their attack on Australia. This was also the first pure carrier-versus-carrier battle in history as neither surface fleet sighted the other. It was an important turning point in the war in the Pacific because, for the first time, the Allies had stopped the Japanese advance. This was a major air battle that truly tested american flyers. The death tolls of the Japanese almost doubled american. -
Coral Sea Why?
This needed to be a victory for the US due to territory issues and and invasion and control of Australia could change the war completely. This also became the turning point of the war in the pacific and started the steam roll of island take overs leading to the end of the war. This was massively a turning point because of the loses were massive on the Japanese side and stopped and future attacks on this territory. -
MIdway
This was one of the two major ports the USA had. The Japanese numbers almost tripled that of the US but in a long battle american aircraft were able to take out the Japanese forces and severely crippling their navy. The worst was the loss of japan's 4 carriers. This made japan severely weak. Carriers at this time were the power houses of the navy and losing 4 caused a massive problem in the Japanese defenses. -
Midway Why?
The reason for the Japanese to attack was to destroy a main port and crippling the American navy. This would also allow the Japanese to quickly attack Hawaii and eliminating all major ports and would put fear in the United States of a land invasion. On the other half the US needed at least to stall so they can gain forces but the Japanese left 4 carriers unguarded caused a turn in the battle and the war. -
Operation Torch Why?
Americans knew an invasion straight into Europe would have massive losses for the allies so invading Africa with a much smaller resistance would be a smarter option eventually moving into Italy and pressuring Germany directly. This operation worked well as resistance and reinforcements in Africa were low and gave a good positioning fort the Allies to attack Italy. The Germans were in Africa to gather oil as the modern military grew the oil was very crucial. -
Operation Torch
The american forces invaded north Africa with ease and managed to push through Africa with ease and now prepared to move towards Italy with an end goal to aka light a torch under Germany to make them scared. The Germans did however put up a fight in Africa as th troop went around trying to gather oil. The Germans did master the battle strategies there so combat had to be learned but eventually lead to an ally victory and started the push towards Italy which started to grow attention in Germany. -
El Alamein
Was primarily fought between two of the outstanding commanders of World War Two, Montgomery, who succeeded the dismissed Auchinleck, and Rommel. The Allied victory at El Alamein lead stopped any further movement into Egypt, stopped a major oil flow for Germany and lead to the retreat of the Afrika Korps and the German surrender in North Africa in May 1943. -
El Alamein Why?
On the German side they wanted to advance and gain control of oil and other resources. While not fully geared the Germans knew how to fight in Africa and knew they would have no problem steam rolling. The United States wanted to push from Italy a weak point in the axis powers. They first had to defeat the Germans in Africa to gain access to Italian shores. This lead to the battle of El Alamein and the capturing of north Africa. -
Stalingrad
This was the largest confrontation of World War II, in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. The battle from August 1942 to February 1943. This battle left about 1.25 million causalities and leaving the city in rumble. In the end the battle was won by the Russians and was a major turning point for the removal of Germans in Russian territory and the turning point of the war. -
Stalingrad Why?
At this point the Germans have turned against the Russians and now are invading and have captured a chunk of Russian land and plan to continue one major city is Stalingrad through there they can head to Moscow. The Russian new they must defend this land so they sent all their forces to stop any more advancement and to stop the invasion of a city that morally means a lot to Russian and their leader. -
Guadalcanal
This battle was based in the Solomon Islands. This was the first island fight the USA had faced against Japan. With long prep time the Japanese were able to reinforce the island and make the fight and liberation of the island very difficult and it forced the US to learn jungle warfare. All this combined the battle lasted around 6 months. In the end the USA proved and could gain access to several useful information centers for local islands and Australia. -
Guadalcanal Why?
The Japanese still had the idea of attacking Australia so this island was used as a very useful post and airport for that. They knew the US would try something so they fortified the island and were always ready. The Japanese held the US military for so long due to jungle warfare a brand new form of combat. Where the Japanese would hide in the jungle attack quickly doing some heavy damage then run away and lose any pursuing troops in the jungle. The US simply were going and liberating islands. -
Kursk
The battle was a good example of what modern military looked like with a battle primarily fought by tanks and planes. It was the largest tank battle in history with a total of 6,000 tanks. This battle saw big losses on both sides but in the end lead to a Russian victory and ended Hitlers dream of invading Russia. The terrain benefited the Russians as they were able to out number German tanks to due dust and other cover that stopped German planes from attacking their tanks. -
Kursk Why?
The Russians at this point wan to fully push the Germans out of Russia. They decide to bring all armored forces to push the Germans back. The Germans on the other hand wanted to continue to move troops into Russia so they used a large amount of armored military power to push on the two units meet and leads to an extensive battle in which neither wants to lose but the supply and vehicle loses were devastating as the battle went on. -
Anzio
This was a battle in lower Italy that was one of the starting attacks in the goal to liberate Italy and move into lower Germany. The allies had to fight Germans as they took control of Italy after the surrender. This battle took 80,000 causalities and left lower Italy damaged. This would turn into a tough fight as the city were heavily defended and left the two sides in a stand still that lasted 4 months. This would end in a victory for the allies. -
Anzio Why?
This battle was caused by allies entering Italy in hopes to control it due to recent Italian surrender but ended up meeting face to face with German forces. This would last so long due to lack of power on both sides while both had power both sides were more invested in northern France and the ally invasion that would take place. The two sides found them selves very evenly balanced making the battle take 4 months. The allies will prevail due to constant pressure and lack of forces in Italy. -
D-Day
This was a massive ally invasion on northern french beaches from Britain. This was an easy task on some of the beaches but others were a bloodbath as allies found themselves running head first into machine gun fire as Germans gunners were set in bunkers on top of cliffs raining bullets on allies with no cover. Its estimated that 10,000 soldiers fell that day. This would end in a bloody but successful battle for the allies and would start the liberation of France. -
D-Day Why?
This was a massive invasion of French shores that was prepared for months and was chosen so the location would have less Germans. This invasions was know but not know where so Germans tried to predict it and were unsuccessful leaving their beaches unprotected and left allies to a relatively easy invasion. The problem and reason why so many fell that day was due to the preparation by the Germans and the way they set their bunkers to have a total defense against several beaches. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
This battle was considered the largest naval battle in history. This battle involved 200,000 personnel. The US funneled Japanese ships and obliterated many of them with this but some did meet face to face and this caused many ships to sink and lives lost. This was a the first battle the US faced suicide bombers. These bombers would cause massive damage and if placed correctly they would sink a ship very fast. This not only did damage physically but psychologically as well. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf Why?
The American forces now trying to liberate all islands from the Japanese moves its army in a large bulk. it so happens that the Japanese wanted to defend with a large bulk of ships leading to this massive battle. With the US knowing that they cant go to them they lured ships into a funnel and sank them quickly. With Japan become very weak now had volunteers to pack their planes with explosives and when shot to slam into American ships causing massive damage and saving bombs. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germans now realizing a great threat in the allies tried to split them like they have done with France and Britain in the past they decided to send their superior troops and they managed to plow a giant bulge in the allied front line. This army managed to gain a large amount of land in a short period of time. Unfortunately never fully worked and the armies were collapsed on leaving Germans best soldiers dead or captured. -
Battle of the Bulge Why?
As the war continued German government new that they would be at their doorsteps soon so in a last ditch effort they sent all their top soldiers to attack a stronghold and gain supplies and at the same time splitting the allies like they did at the start of the war to gain a split in power. They successfully made a strong push with their use of highly trained soldiers and a powerhouse of armored vehicles. This was a last attempt at the end of the day if this failed Germany would fall. -
Yalta conference
This was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. This discussed several land controls and what will happen to some countries after the fighting is done one big measure was that after the European war Russia would help in the pacific war while Russia agreed they wanted to control and help all smaller countries to help them re build the US had to say yes. -
Yalta Conference Why?
The allies knew that last time they created rules after a world war it lead to a second so they had to do it right before the war was even over. The allies knew punishing countries could not be allowed. One big thing was the war in the pacific. The US new they might need help invading Japan so they asked for Russia help. The Russians agreed but they wanted to expand their control so they told the US the only way they would is if they got to control the smaller countries. -
Iwo Jima Why?
The Japanese new the US was planning on invading them but they knew if they keep the US out of Iwo Jima they could never fly planes over without bringing their carriers close to Japan so fortifying Iwo Jima was a no brainier. The Americans knew exactly what Iwo Jima can do for their bombers so they needed control to defeat the Japanese once and for all but when arriving in Iwo Jima they did not expect the force waiting for them. With the island fully fortified the liberation becomes a challenge. -
Iwo Jima
This battle was know as one of the most difficult battles in the fight against Japan. This battle lasted a month and had a rough victory for the allies. The Japanese had fortified this island heavily. This forced the US to bring all their might even with this they lost countless lives. Making this battle the only time the Americans suffered more losses than the Japanese. After a month of ruthless fighting the Americans managed to control the island and save several pilots with a new airfield. -
Hitler’s Suicide & the German Surrender
As the allies approach the Germans grew weaker and weaker to the point that they looked like a militia and not an army. The German soldiers began to surrender and leaders fled or killed themselves. With that said the Hitlers suicide was the smartest decision as the allies would show no mercy and if he was handed to the Russians he would be put through the most painful death imaginable. Shortly after the announcement of his death the Germans surrendered. Ending the war in Europe. -
Hitler’s Suicide & the German Surrender
The Germans after sending their final attack with the bulge battle the Germans were left weak and exposed so most German soldiers were found that surrendering now was a better idea than fighting till death when a week later the war would end. The German soldiers looked to be captured by Americans because most would become prisoners as the Russians were on the other side of Germany showing no mercy. With this news Hitler was left no choice and with no leader the Germans surrendered. -
Battle of the Atlantic
The battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle in the war lasting the entire war. This battle was for the control of the Atlantic a straight path to Europe from the Americas. Thousands of ships and men were lost during these years. The USA would transport goods to Europe by convoys to help the chances of a safe arrival. Even with the convoys many American ships were sunk during this period. The Germans also surrounded coasts of Europe to keep any from escaping the controlled countries. -
Battle of the Atlantic Why?
For the Germans this fighting was all about keeping the USA out of the European shores to make sure no supplies reached the allies. They also wanted no one to run and escape to the Americas. Later in the war the Germans just went after all American ships to destroy any back up. For the USA it was all about destroying any German ships/subs and giving resources to allies. The Germans getting in the way is what caused so many of these naval fights that last all the way till the end of the war. -
Okinawa
The three point plan had this island in sight for the US. They arrived on this small island with the idea of a small take over instead leads to the highest deaths on the pacific side of the war in one battle with about 100,000 Japanese and 50,000 Allies. This similar idea to the invasion of Normandy as allies were forced to storm beaches and use man power to over turn the Japanese. This battle ended with an ally victory. The allies also gained 4 crucial airports for the future attack on Japan. -
Okinawa
The capture of Okinawa was part of a three-point plan the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East. There were four airfields on the island that America needed to control. This would play into to their future plan of attacking Japan. The Japanese knew this island is crucial for the USA success so having a large force on the island was obvious this land also had 4 airfields allowed the Japanese to unleash attacks if needed. The numbers on both sides was a surprise and left many dead. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
These were the two cities targeted by the first two nuclear bombs used in combat. These bombs wiped the cities leaving nothing but rubble behind. This would go on to shock the world of the destructive power of these bombs. Both cities combined killed about 226,000 people the number is still unsure as many died after the bombing due to radiation and some were vaporized leaving no evidence of a human. This will lead to the surrender of Japan and the end of WW2. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Why?
With Japan being so stubborn and not willing to surrender. The Japanese announced the US would have to take the country. Knowing this they knew and invasion would have insane casualties on both sides. With the recent announcement of the surpassing exception test with their new bomb the US warned the Japanese one last time to surrender. The Japanese refusing this left the US no choice and bombed 2 cites that would scare the japans but not wipe millions away. -
Japanese Surrender
The Japanese after losing all their navy and having a slowly approaching American force. The Japanese still announced they would never surrender with the preparation of the whole country for a future invasion that concept was obvious that surrender was almost impossible. Then the US dropped the first nuke the whole country was shocked yet the Japaneses didn't make an immediate surrender but after the US drops the second and the threat that they would continue the Japanese had no choice. -
Philippines Campaign
This was a battle to liberate the Philippines which became a much bigger problem the expected. The allies moved in on October 20 1944 and it took more than a year to liberate the Philippines from Japanese control due to heavy Japanese defenses. The Japanese had kept using the same tactics they used on several other islands except this time with a lot more defenses and men. Many will fall during this time but most hit were the Philippians military taking thousands of more causalities. -
Philippines Campaign Why?
The battle for the Philippines meant more than defeat an enemy for the USA. This was an enemy that pushed out the US and massacred thousands of Philippine allies. With the general stating that he would return liberating the Philippines was a no brainier. The Japanese simply wanted to keep a close port and air field to Australia as well as communications with close islands. This later grew into an issue as the Philippines were inside and fighting against them so pressure was always high for them. -
Japanese Surrender Why?
The Japanese were a very pride powered country and with that the Japanese were not willing to surrender even if that meant the invasion of their country they were ready. They even prepared their schools to defend against the american military. Knowing this the US needed to do something other than invade because an invasion will have massive losses on both ends and with the recent research and testing they knew using this new weapon would save more lives in the future.
