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Japanese invasion of China
The Japanese claimed they weer fired upon by chyinese troops at Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing, they used this as an excuse to launch a full scale invasion of China. The Guomintang put up little resistance against the Japanese. In Decemeber The apparent Rape of Nanking happened, whence The japanese established a total death toll of the Chinese at 250,000 deaths. After 5 months The jaopanese had control of 1 million Chinese. And by 1941 had 2 million Japanese troops stationed in China. -
Germanys Invasion of Poland
At 4:45 a.m., 1.5 million German troops invade Poland along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. The Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, Starting World War II. -
German Blitzkrieg
A German term for lightning war, blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. It has successful execution results in short military campaigns, which preserves human lives and limits the expenditure of artillery. German forces tried out the blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. -
Operation Barbossa
June 22, Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward ina giant invasion of the soviet union:three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. The invasion covered a frront from the North Cape to the black sea, a distance of two thousand miles. Barbossa's failure made Germany fight a war on two fronts against a far more superior in resources coalition. -
Pearl Harbor
Early on December 7, hundreds of Japanese planes attacked the naval base, Pearl Harbor which lasted 2 hours and killed 2000 men and destroyed 20 ships and 200 airplanes. Another 1000 U.S. Men were injured during this, directly after this the U.S. entered WW II, but didn't get involved until 1943. This attack by the Japanese marked a turning point in the war, becuase now the U.S. would get involved and eventually help win the war. -
Wannsee Conference
15 high ranking Nazi party and Govermment officials discussed and coordinated what they called "The Final Solution of the Jewish Questions." This meeting was to inform the Nazi officals about their policy to kill the Jews of Europe. Many were already aware and enacting this, but the Nazi General who was sent to attend went to make sure support of this plan was provided. An estimated 11 million Jews would be killed in this process and would result in an extinction of the Jews in Europe. -
Operation Gomorrah
Operation Gomorrah occured on the night of July 24, Britain had lost 167 civilians in German air raids over July. Because of this Britain bombed Northern Germany with 2300 tons of bombs. Killing 1500 German citizens. Bombing continued until November, killing a total of 30000 people, and 280,000 buildings. This hurt German morale, and showed them defeat was imminent. -
D-DAY Normandy Invasion
Codenamed Operation Overlord, D-Day Resembled the beginning of the end of WW II. One of the largest amphibious assaults as 156,000 Americans and allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy and by August liberated France from the Germans. After D-Day the force continued its conquest to liberate Western Europe and succeded, this occured from good strategy and bad planning by the germans. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge occured when hitler launched a counteroffense against the invading American force. Hitler used over a quarter million troops on a blitzkreig. With U.S. miscalculations on what Germany was doing, it left two U.S. divisions to defend against this huge army, but it bought time for more U.S. troops to come and fight at the Battle of the Bulge where the U.S. won but suffered over 100,000 casualties, the largest U.S. casualties in a battle ever. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation THunderclap was an event of which the U.S. air force bombed Eastern Germany and killed civilions in the eastern cities and towns. This showed to the citizens that the Nazi regime had failed them and also showed that the Nazi Airforce was very weak. This also helped bombing continue in the future as there was nothing left to fight against the bombing air forces. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
American invasion of Iwo Jima, as 3 marine divisions landed on the beaches of Iwo Jima, They fought over 23,000 Japanese forces over the period of a month capturing Iwo Jima and allowing for the U.S. to take a position on Iwo Jima and calling for a closing of the world war 2 which would come in the months following. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle on the pacific islands. The Japanese army held 130,000 troops where the U.S. had 277,000 troops. Both suffering major casualties the U.S. took Okinawa as the last major air base of Japan, Which would later allow for the dropping of the Atomic Bomb. -
VE Day
The Day the U.S. and Great Britain celebrated the vi tory in Europe from the Nazi Regime. Broadcasts eevrytwhere and banners and pennants flying marked the victory of WW II. Nazis surrendered after major casualties and fear from imprisonment or death. however most were taken prisoners anyways. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bomb
On August 6 1945 the first Atomic bomb was dropped (Besides Tests) ont he city of Hiroshima killing 80,000 people instantly and several thousand more in the next few weeks. 3 days later the next bomb was dropped in Nagasaki killing 40,000 Japanese instantly and marked the first and only times Atomic weeaponry would be used in warfare. -
VJ Day
On this day in 1945, Japan declared surrender unconditionally to the U.S. This happened inpart because they were the only ones still fighting, but also because the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs and threatned more. This marked the true end of WWII.
