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Japan invades Manchuria
Japan invaded Manchuria, China for her natural resources. Since Japan is just a series of small islands it is hard to get resources from their own territory and is expensive to import resources. For this reason Japan invaded and controlled Manchuria for her oil, rubber, and lumber. China asked the League of Nations for help but they did not do enough, the Japanese occupied Manchuria until February 27, 1932 when the Soviet Union arrived in China. Japan evacuated Manchuria in fear of the Soviets. -
Munich Pact
After Hitler annexed Austria to Germany, Hitlers next goal was take control of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Britain and France were scared that if Hitler did not get what he wanted another world war would start. In response to the fürth's demands prime minister of Britain Neville Chamberlain and French prime minister Édouard Daladier met with Hitler in Munich. Here they came to an agreement that if Hitler would stop his advance after the Sudetenland then France and Britain would allow it. -
Germany invades Poland/Blitzkrieg
At 4:45 AM Hitler invaded the outskirts of Poland with 1.5 Million troops. While his troops were marching other German forces bombed Polish airfields and naval bases leaving the Polish army crippled. This strategy of blitzing the enemy is called Blitzkrieg, attacking in full force with lots of troops, vehicles and artillery. Because Hitler violated the Munich Pact the invasion Poland was the start of WWII. -
North Africa
Allied and Axis forces pushed back and forth across the desert. Italy invades Egypt after declaring war on the Allied Nations, September, 1940. An operation called Operation Torch brought thousands of U.S. & British troops to help fight the Axis forces. The North African Campaign came to an end in May of 1943. -
Battle of Britain
This battle took place after Germany had conquered France. Germany still on their blitz was heading for Britain. Germany came in full power with lots aircraft and troops. Britain was fighting with their backs against the wall. This is probably why they put up such a good fight. This battle raged on all summer and into the fall. The battle ended when Britain won on October 31, 1940. both sides suffered severe casualties. -
Battle of Alantic
1941 Germany is inventing new U Boats trying to stop one of the biggest invasions of history. The Germans have already sunk more than 200,000 tons of ships. The Germans tried to stop the Americans before they were ready and as far out as they could. -
Germany invades Russia
Germany attacked Russia because Hitler thought that the communist and other political members would hurt the Nazi Party. This ended the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. Because Germany attacked Russia, Germany made many more enemies and turned the Russia army against them. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan bombs Hawaii Naval base, Pearl Harbor and kills more than 2,000 military civilians and destroys 18 naval ships. In retaliation, the United States joined WWII. -
Stalingrad
Germany drops bombs on the Soviet city of Stalingrad. Rapid dropping of bombs crumbles Stalingrad but the Soviet Union and civilians hold their ground. As winter came the Germans started to slow down as they were running out of ammunition. By 1942 the Soviets surround the Germans in the city. As Germany is trapped they surrender on February 2, 1943. The bloodiest battle in modern history ends with more than 2 million deaths. A key battle for the downfall of the Third Reich -
D-Day
U.S. troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. It is said that, they are the most brave group of men that you will ever see. This was a big start of crippling German forces. -
Battle of the Bluge
Battle of the Bulge became known as one of the biggest and bloodiest battles of WWII. Adolf Hitler attempted to split the Allied forces by surprise. The Americans were caught off-guard and fought many desperate battles to hold off the German's advance. After the Germans drove deeper, the Allied forces took on the appearance of a bulge, which gave this battle it's name. Despite heavy casualties, the Allied forces lead to the neutralization of the German counteroffensive on January 25, 1945. -
Battle of Okinawa
The bloodiest battle of the Pacific war, the Battle of Okinawa happened at the tail end of WWII. Allied forces invaded the island of Okinawa as a part of Operation Iceberg, a plan to invade and occupy the islands of Ryukyu. The battle raged on for over 2 months but ended on June 6th, 1945. -
Atomic Bombs in Japan
The bombing of Japan August 1945 was so powerful that if you were far enough away to just see the blast it would be the last thing that you ever saw. Being that far away you would receive the same amount of radiation that you would from 100 chest x-rays. These big blasts had a large impact on Japan and resulted in the end of WWII. Some people say that these bombs were too much, but we dropped the atomic bombs on Japan because of Pearl Harbor and the war they brought us into. -
The Death of Hiitler
Hitler and his newly wed, Eva Brown, went down into his bunker and took their own lives, by gun. No photos or bodies were recovered from the crime scene and that lead to many questions revolving around the death of Adolf Hitler. Did he actually die? -
Germany Surrenders
Germany signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces. Dwight Eisenhower demanded they surrender all forces, not just forces fighting western Allies, which is what General Alfred Jodl wished. On paper the war was over, but there was still fighting for another day. -
Japan Surrender
At the end of June, the Americans had captured the Japanese island of Okinawa. On August 6, 1945 a U.S. bomber plane dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima killing about 80,000 and injuring thousands more. Then on August 8, 1945 the U.S. dropped another atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki. The next day, Hirohito, the Japanese Emperor sent a message declaring peace, within the next few days Japan surrendered, and the war was over.
