-
Rape of Nanking
The Japanese captured the capital of China at the time Nanking, and over 6 weeks massacred the civilians, raped women and girls, and looted. It was supposed to break the Chinese spirit and disrupts Sino-Japanese relations today. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-rape-of-nanking -
German Blitzkreig
A tactic employed by the Germans in the hopes of a quick victory and minimal casualties. Used in the Invasion of Poland in 1939, invasion of Norway 1940, invasion of Belgium 1940, forcing the English into Dunkirk, invasion of the Soviet Union 1941, ended in 1943 when Germany was forced to fight defensively. It used mobile warfare with air support. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Miracle at Dunkirk
The Germans had the French and British armies cornered at the city of Dunkirk next to the Pas de Calais really close to Britain. The miracle was the evacuation. The Royal Navy ships couldn't reach the shore, so troops were ferried by 800-1200 smaller boats, many of which were civilian volunteers. They rescued 198,000 British troops and 140,000 French troops. However, they left behind ammunition and left France vulnerable. (history.com) -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name of the axis invasion of the Soviet Union. They wanted to invade the western areas and populate them with Germans. This was the turning point in the war because it was when the Germans decided to fight a two front war leading to their demise. The resistance was brutal because of the ideological implications, they were not liberators they wanted to enslave the slavic people. (History.com) -
Battle of Midway
After the bombing of pearl harbor, the US was left with very few ships and planes in the pacific so it was really high stakes. There was a massive intelligence battle and the US did not know where the Japanese was going to hit next, but they ended up fighting and saving the US army base at the small island called Midway. (prior knowledge from the movie that was suuuper cool) -
Operation Gomorrah
The code name for the allied bombing of Hamburg. Strategic bombing of cities was used before, but the German city of Hamburg was having dry weather and the bombing created the biggest firestorm of the entire war. (history.com) -
D-Day Normandy invasion
At the time, all of northern France was occupied by Germany and the Germans had built the "Atlantic wall" of defenses all along the beaches. The British intelligence made the Germans think that there was more than one invasion to distract German forces and that the main invasion would be at the Pas de Calais instead of Normandy. The allies launched a massive invasion with many casualties but established a beach head, that led to them winning the war. (extra history videos) -
tokyo fire raids
Over the course of 2 days starting March 9th, the Americans dropped almost 2,000 tons of bombs, almost 16 square miles of the city were burned, 80,000-130,000 Japanese civilians were killed making it the most deadly fire bombing in recorded history. The planes had all artillery except the back turret taken off to increase speed and how many bombs they could carry. (history.com)