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Japanese Invasion of China
What Happened? The Japanese launched a huge invasion of China using a conquered base and fought against little resistance. Why did it happen? The Chinese fired at the Japanese near Bejing. Effects/Impact: The capital of China fell and Shanghai was destroyed. The largest cities in China were all captured and over 1 million people were under Japanese control. Facts: 60 million Chinese people were left homeless after the war and 4 million were dead. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/china_war.ht -
Germany's Invasion of China
What? 1.5 million German troops invade Poland bombing Polish fields while warships and U Boats attacked polish naval forces. Why? The invasion was claimed to be defensive by Hitler. Effects? Poland declared war on Germany, Germany and the soviet union agreed to divide Poland. Facts: Nazi troops wore polish uniforms to stage an invaion of Germany.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-invade-poland -
German Blitzkrieg
What: It was used to create disorganization among troops from the other countries. Why: It was used to invade Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Effects: More nations were destroyed with less innocent deaths. Facts: It was first tested when Germany invaded Poland and used successfully in 1940. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris
What? The germans had come to occupy Paris. 2 milliion parisians had already fled. Why? So the French could no longer attackc Germany. Effects? Nazis arrested and interrogated citizens. Facts? This day Roosevelt froze assets of Germany and Italy.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Operation Barbarossa
What? Hitler sent over 3 million german soldiers to invade the Soviet Union. Why? They wanted to extermine all Jews and capture the slavic population. Effects? The Germans didn't expect the Soviet Union to have enough resources.Facts: The soviet union had more than 3x the aircrafts and tanks than germany. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
What? The American Naval Base in Hawaii was attacked by Japanese fighter pilots. Why? The US wasn't happy with the Japanese's attitude towards China so they got rid of trading and put economic sanctions on oil.Effects?2,000+ soldiers were killed and eight battleships were destroyed.Facts? 2 years after WWII the US joined http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
What? The Nazis and Germans met to discuss what was "The Final solution of the Jewish Question" Why? To exterminate all European Jews. Effects? 11 million Jew were predicted to fall during this conference. Facts? Germans were unaware that the SS were already killing Jews in Serbia. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005477 -
Bataan Death March
What? 75,000 Filipino and American troops were forced to walk 65 miles. Why? To get them to prison camps. Effects? Guards treated them harshly and it was too hot. Thousands died on the way there. Facts? It took five days to complete the march.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
What? 300,000 jews were transfered to different camps and the surviving created an organization, the Jewish Fighting Organization. Why?The Jewish in Ghettos wanted to organize resistance against the Germans. Effects? 7,000 were shot and the rest were deported to concentration camps. Facts? The ghetto army was able to fight for a month.
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007745 -
Operation Gomorrah
What? British bombers raided Hamburg Germany. Why? The attacks were meant to demoralize the Germans. Effects? 30,000 people were killed and 280,000 buildings were destroyed. Facts? Hitler wouldn't visit the cities that were destroyed and more British bombers were lost during each raid.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
What? American, Canadian, and British forces landed on the beach of Normandy France. It was one of the larges military assaults. Why? It was the least defended area for the allied powers to attack. Effects? 4,000 were dead and 10,000 of the allied memebers suffered injuries. Facts? It was called Overlord and took years to plan.http://www.dday.org/history/d-day-the-invasion/overview
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Operation Thunderclap
What? The allied powers discused the bombing of eastern cities in Germany. Why? They wanted to disrupt transport and demonstrate that they had power when Germany didn't. It was planned for smaller attacks instead of one large attack. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
What? Us marine divisions landed on the island to invade. Japan had 23,000 army and navy troops all over the island to defend. Why? The americans had a three point plan to win the war in the far east and Iwo Jima was part of it. Effects? The entire army was wiped out and the americans had 5,900 dead. Facts? The Japanese fought from tunnels, dugouts, and caves. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
What? One of the major battles where the Americans were going to invade. Mulltiple attacks took place and the Americans underestimated Japanese forces but had enough troops with them. Why? Part of Americas three point plan. Effects? Almost 130,000 Japanese were killed and thousands were taken as prisoners. American suffered heavy losses and over 700 airplanes were destroyed. Facts? Okinawa was secured on July 2nd.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_okinawa.htm -
Potsdam Declaration
What? Declaration that called for the surrender of all Japanse armed forces. Why? To bring an end to World War II. Effects? All fighting stopped on Japans end. http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/c06.html -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
What? The soviets found the first camp but Germany destroyed the evidence. The US found Buchenwald in April and freed more than 20,000 prisoners. Effects? Many died weeks after liberation from the effects of malnutrition or disease. Facts? 14,000 pounds of human hair was found and over 800,000 womens outfits.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131 -
VE Day
What? Victory in Europe celebrated the the defeat of the Nazis. Both Europe and America celebrated. Why? Germans surrendered all throughout Europe and Germnas didn't want to be held prisoners. Effects? 13,000 British prisoners of war were set free. Facts? Russia took 2 millions prisoners in the period before and after the German surrender.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
What? The US are the first nation to use atomic weapons during war and marked the end of the war. Why? Invading Japan would be dangerous for the American soldiers with large casulaties so the atomic bomb would be a fast end to the war. Effect? 80 million people were immediately killed and the bomb that was dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed 40,000. Japan announced their surrender. Facts? It was possible this started the cold war. history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hi -
VJ Day
What? Victory over Japan day. Why? Japan had surrendered from the war. Impact? 2 days to honor the end of World War 2. Facts? Also used on September 2nd when Japan surrendered on the U.S.S. Missouri.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/15/newsid_3581000/3581971.stm -
Battle of the Bulge
What happened? Germany used Blitzkreieg force to split up allied forces Why?Hitler tried to split allied armies in the Northwest so they would leave France and go into Belgium. Effects? Germany had great military losses and it started to bring around the end of the war. Facts? It ruined the German army so they wouldn't be able to fight the allied forces again. At least 30,000 german soldiers were killed or captured. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge
