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Japan invades China
The Second Sino-Japanese War, also known as when Japan invaded China in WWII was when Japan invaded China, with the aid of Germany. After Pearl Harbor, China soon joined the Allies and declared war on Japan and all other Axis powers. The Second Sino-Japanese war was one of the largest Asia based wars of the 20th century. It also accounted for 90% of casualties in the Pacific. -
Munich Agreement
The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia. The settlement was in part due to the Allied power's appeasement policy. It is today though regarded as a failed appeasement act. Despite the Allied powers trying to appease Hitler, he later invaded and took over the rest of Czechoslovakia in March of 1939. -
Blitzkrieg
The Term Blitzkrieg was a German word meaning "Lightning war". It describes a method of warfare where you spearhead the defending opponet and cause chaos and confusion in short bursts of waves. The method of Blitzkrieg was highly effective in WWII and in part helped to secure many of Nazi Germany's victories. -
Germany Invades Poland
Germany invaded Poland from the north, south, and west, forcing the Polish to withdraw to more established defensive positions. After the Polish were defeated at the Battle of Bzura, the Germans gained the upper hand. On October 6th, Soviet and German forces gained full control of Poland. -
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Battle of Britian
The Battle of Britian was an air campaign by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against Britian in 1940. The Germans plan was to gain superiority over Britian's airforce (RAF). This was part of Hitler's plan to invade Britian and conquer the island nation. This proved to be a challenge as the RAF continuously fought back and mainanted air superiority. This in part stalled Hitler's plan to invade Britian over sea in his Operation Sea Lion. -
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The Holocaust
The Holocaust was a genocide which killed approximately 6 million jews by the Nazis. This was one of the largest genocides in history, with over 42,500 facilities throughout Germany and its territories that concentrated, and killed victims. Approximately 2/3rds of all Jews that lived in Europe were killed. This was all part of Hitler's "Master Plan". -
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Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the name for the Nazi Invasion of the Soviet Union. About 4 million soliders from the Axis powers invaded the Soviet Union, making it the largest invasion in history. Prior to the invasion both Germany and the Soviet Union signed non-aggression pacts. Despite Germany's success, they suffered large casualities and the offensive push was halted at the border of Moscow. After this Germany were repelled by the Red Army. -
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was a policy that helped to promote the defense of the United States. It did this by supplying many European countries with food, oil, and other materials. The deal was that the aid was free, in exchange for leases on bases in Allied territory during the war. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was a Japanese surprise attack that took place on December 7th 1941. The Japanese launched an airial and naval assult on the Hawaian Naval base of Pearl Harbor. Due to the surprise of the attack, many of the ships were not positioned for a counter attack. This is the event that eventually launched us into WWII -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was a march done by the Imperial Japanese Army. The reason for the name was because 2,500-10,000 soliders died while marching, before they reached their destination. The march was 60 miles, and the prisoners of war were denied food and water. They were also beaten and abused by the Japanese Army Officers. -
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Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a crucial naval battle in the Pacific. It involved 4 of 6 of the aircraft carriers that had a part in Pearl Harbor. The Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, were all sunk at the cost of an aircraft carrier The Yorktown and a destroyer. The Japanese inabilit to effectively replace their carriers made their losses much harder to bear in part to the industrial US and its abililty to replace lost ships. This ultimately lead to Japanese influence in the Pacific deteriorate. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a battle in which Germany fought for the Soviet Union city of Stalingrad. It was a battle of close-quarter combat, with constant air raids and bombings. Regarded as one of the bloodiest battles of the war, the huge lost of German solider lives was a major turning point for the Allies in the war. Near the end of the battle, the Soviet Union's Red Army launched various counter attacks against the weaker German ally nations. -
D-Day
D-Day was an Allied operation which consisted of Marine's supported by air support and naval ships, that stormed Normandy's Beaches. Nicknamed "Operation Overlord" this was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The weather being un-favorable, made for mass confusion and difficulty in the operations logistics. -
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Battle of Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was one of the final offensive attacks made by the Germans. The main attempt was to recapture the crucial port of Antwep. The suprise attack caught the Allied forces off guard yet were still able to hold the line. The US took the majority of casualties, yet they still managed to take out a large portion of German armor, which the Germans in part had trouble replacing. -
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Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major U.S. battle in the Pacific Ocean. The American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island of Iwo Jima. The five week battle was one of the bloodiest battles fought in the Pacific. This was the only battle in which US casualties outnumbered the Japanese. -
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Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was a major amphibious assult that took place on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa in the Pacific. After a long successful campaign of island hopping, the US forces planned to take Okinawa and use it for a staging ground in operations against the Japanese Mainland. The fighting was rather ferocious and was one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific with the Japanese losing 77k and the Allies losing 14k. -
Victory in Europe Day (VE Day)
Victory in Europe Day, also known as VE Day was a publically celebrated day that marked the official surrended of the Axis Powers to the Allies. The celebrations took place from Moscow to Los Angelos. The victory took place during President Harry Truman's 61st birthday. He regarded it as the "Most enjoyable birthday" due to the victory. -
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Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first and last time an atom bomb were ever used on a nation. Nicknamed the Manhattan Project, the U.S. were devising a way to end the war for good. The Japanese were not willing to ever give up. After the bombing of Hiroshima, the Japanese were still unwilling to surrender, which lead us to bomb yet another city. Finally after the last bombing, Japan surrendered. -
Victory over Japan Day
Victory over Japan Day, also known as V-J Day. Is the day in which Japan surrended to the Allied nations, ending WWII. The name V-J day was choosen in part because of its European counterpart V-E day. The surrend of Japan was in part by the Atom bombs dropped on 6th and 9th of August in 1945, which devistated Japan. -
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a collective defense treaty among eight communist states of Easttern Europe that existed during the Cold War. The Warsaw Pact was a direct response to NATO. The Soviets main goal was to have control over most of Central and Eastern Europes military forces. After the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, it was transformed into CSTO -
German-Soviet NonAggression Pact
The German-Soviet NonAggression Pact, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was a NonAggression Pact signed between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. In addition to non hostile relations, the treaty included a secret protocol that divided territories of Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland into German and Soviet "Spheres of Influence". The pact was broken in 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.