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Second-Sino Japanese War (Japanese Invasion Of China)
The Second Sino-Japanese War started in 1937 when China began a full-scale resistance to the expansion of Japanese influence of its territory which began in 1931. In July 1937 practically all Chinese regional military and political groups had railed to support the nationalist government and Chiang Kai-Shek in their decision to oppose Japan by every means. -
The German Blitzkrieg
The Blitzkrieg (Lightning war) was Germany’s strategy to avoid a long war in the first stage of World War II in Europe. This new military tactic of Blitzkrieg utilized tactics that required the concentration of offensive weapons such as Tanks, Planes, and Artillery. These forces would drive a breach in enemy defenses, permitting armored tank divisions to penetrate rapidly and roam freely behind enemy lines. -
The Fall Of Paris
On June 10, 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France. Reynaud had already left Paris for Tours, and there seemed to be no concrete military purpose in defending the city. Maj. Gen. Victor Fortune and 10,000 men surrendered to the Germans and the Germans captured a high ranking British officer. On June 14 the French army evacuated Paris, and the Germans entered the city later that day. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the codename for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which was launched on June 22, 1941. The failure of German troops to defeat Soviet forces in the campaign signaled a crucial turning point in the war. On June 22 the German offensive was launched by three army groups under the same commanders as in the invasion of France in 1940. Operation Barbarossa had begun to miscarry in August 1941, and its failure was patent when the soviet counteroffensive began. -
Wannsee Conference
On January 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government gathered at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss and coordinate the implementation of what they called “The final solution of the Jewish question.” The “Final Solution” was the codename for the systematic, deliberate, physical annihilation of the European Jews. At the Wannsee Conference, most participants were already aware that the Nazi regime had engaged in mass murder of Jews. -
Battle Of Stalingrad
The battle of Stalingrad was a brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. The battle is infamous as one of the largest, longest and bloodiest engagements in modern warfare. From August 1942 through February 1943, more than two million troops fought in close quarters and nearly two million people were killed and injured in the fighting. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
On April 19, 1943, the Warsaw ghetto uprising began after German troops and police entered the ghetto to deport its surviving inhabitants. Jewish insurgents inside the ghetto resisted these efforts. This was the largest jewish uprising by Jews during World War II and the first significant revolt against the German occupation in Europe. By May 16, 1943, the Germans had crushed the uprising and deported surviving ghetto residents to concentration camps and killing centers. -
Allied Invasion Of Italy
May 13 the Axis forces in North Africa surrender to the Allies. Some 250,000 Germans and Italians are taken prisoner. July 9-10 Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, begins when the US Seventh army lands on the southern coast of Sicily. Operation Husky was one of the largest amphibious operations of the entire war, with more than 3,000 ships under British command, transporting more than 150,000 Allied troops. -
Operation Gommorah
In July 1943 RAF Bomber Command determined a northern German city a worthy target. Planning to strike Hamburg, a center of industry, Harris ordered a 10 day long campaign targeting Hamburg, code-naming it Operation Gomorrah, a reference to the biblical rain of ruin and fire coming from above. 791 British bombers took off under the cover of darkness. They bombed in six waves, each wave composed of 100-120 aircraft, hoping to focus on as much damage as possible. -
D-Day (Allied Invasion Of France)
D-Day was the name given to the June 6, 1944, invasion of the beaches of Normandy in northern France by troops from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries during World War II. On June 6, thousands of paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground behind enemy lines, securing bridges and exit roads. Despite their success, some 4,000 Allied troops were killed by German soldiers defending the beaches. In August 1944, All of France had been liberated. -
Battle Of The Bulge
The battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes region of Belgium was Adolf Hitler’s last major offensive against the Allied forces and the Western Front. Lasting 6 brutal weeks, from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945, the assault, also called the battle of the Ardennes, took place in frigid weather conditions, with some 30 German divisions attacking the battle-fatigued American troops through 85 miles of densely wooded Ardennes forest. -
Battle Of Okinawa
On April 1, 1945, more than 60,000 soldiers and US Marines of the US Tenth Army stormed ashore at Okinawa, in the final island battle before an anticipated invasion of mainland Japan. The battle for Okinawa drug out over nearly three months and included some of the worst kamikaze attacks of the war. By the time Okinawa was secured by American forces on June 22, 1945, the United States had sustained over 49,000 casualties including more than 12,500 men killed or missing. -
Battle Of Iwo Jima
Shortly after its attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Japan gained control over much of Southeast Asia and the central Pacific. The Japanese sphere of control extended west to Burma (Myanmar), south to the Dutch East Indies (now Malaysia) and New Guinea, and east to Wake Island. However, the United States assumed command of Allied forces in the Pacific theatre and mounted a counteroffensive that incorporated a strategic combination of land, air, and naval assaults. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe, the official end of the fighting in Europe in the Second World War was celebrated on 8 May 1945, after Germany's unconditional surrender. In cities and towns across Canada, a war-weary nation expressed its joy and relief at the news. In Halifax, the celebrations erupted into looting and rioting. The war was not over, as conflict with Japan continued. -
Dropping Of The Atomic Bombs
Hiroshima, a manufacturing center of some 350,000 people located about 500 miles from Tokyo, was selected as the first target. The more than 9,000-pound uranium-235 bomb was loaded aboard a modified B-29 bomber christened Enola Gay. The plane dropped the bomb known as “Little Boy” by parachute at 8:15 in the morning, and it exploded 2,000 feet above Hiroshima in a blast equal to 12-15,000 tons of TNT, destroying five square miles of the city.