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Rape of Nanking
The Japanese imperial army marched into China's capital city of Nanking to murder 300,00 out of 600,000 civilians and troops. The Chinese put up a strong defense against the troops. Woman in the city were raped by the soldiers and then killed. This brought light to what the Japanese were capable of doing.
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German Blitzkrieg
The Germans effictively used this quick attacking idea to win several battles. They showed to be very useful with the successful invasions at Belgium, the Netherlands and France. This changed the war for the Germans because they were able to take terrortories quick and effectively.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg
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Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
On this date Hitler and Stalin signed a non-agression pact. Within in the pact, Poland would be sectioned off into 3 terrortories. The Warthland area bordering Germany would be annexed to the German Reich. This is important to the germans because they had a lot more land to control now.
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Fall of Paris
The Germans troops invaded Paris and took over the city. Churchill told the French premier to hold on to the city for as long as possible so them and the U.S. could send reinforcments to help. Whne the German tanks came in 2 million citizens of Paris had already left the city. This was a major event in that the Germans were showing they could do what they wanted.
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Pearl Harbor
On the morning of Dec. 7th hunderds of Japanese fighter planes bombed the American naval base in Honolulu, Hawaii. This attack destroyed close to 20 vessels and more than 2,000 American soldiers. This attack caused the US to join the war nearly 2 years later.
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Wannsee Conference
On this date 15 high ranking Nazi Party and German government officals met in Berlin and decided what the "final soloution" would be for the European jews would be. Hitler ordered for the mass suicide of millions of jews. This was a huge impact on the war because the nazi party wanted to completly wipe out the Jewish population in Europe.
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Battle of Midway
Japan had a desire to sink the American aircraft carriers that had escaped the destruction at Pearl Harbor. Admiral Yamaoto Isoroku, chose to invade a target close to Pearl Harbor. This was an incredible turning point in the Pacific theater of the war it is a very important battle in the war.
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D-Day(Normandy Invasion)
On this date more than 160,000 allied troops were deployed along a 50 mile stretch of a French coastline. The allied troops were able to gain a foot-hold in Continental Europe. This battle was significant because it started the allied forces advancement to defeat Hitler across Europe.
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Operation Thunderclap
The Allied commanders wanted to bomb the eastern so that they could disrupt the transport of the eastern front. These German target city's were major points because of the poor air defense. This would give the allied troops an advantage for the bombing. This showed that allies would do whatever it took to win the war for their side.
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Battle of the Bulge
On this date Hitler tried to seperate the Allied armies in Northwest Europe by using their infamous tactic blitzkrieg. The American units fought desperate battles to fend off the German troops. The impact of this event is that it was the costliest action ever fought by the U.S. Army with more that 100,00 casualties
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Liberation of Concentration Camps
The soviets were the first to find the concentration camps. When this happend the Germans tried to hide all the evidence of mass murder. They burned many of the camps in order to not get caught. This allowed everyone around the world to see the awful torture the jews were put through during the war.
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Battle of Iwo Jima
The U.S. needed a base near the Japanese coastline, on the day of Feb. 19th, 1945 they attacked the coastline. The coastline was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops. Within a month of fighting the Marines were able to take control of the coastline and set up a base. With the taking of this coast the U.S. was able to land B-29 bombers closer than going all the way to the Marianas.
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VE Day
Both the U.S. and Great Britain celebrate victory in Europe day. In both nations banners and flags were put up to celebrate the victory over the Germans. With this event more than 13,000 British POWs were sent back to Great Britain. This allowed the U.S. and Great Britain to celebrate a very large victory over the Germans.
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Dropping of the atomic bombs
On this date the U.S. droped atomic bombs on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. They became the only nation to use atomic weaponary during the wartime. Albert Einstein had informed the U.S. that the Germans were already conducting research on using atomic weaponary. By this time the U.S. had already finished their research and testing. Three days later they also dropped a bomb on Nagaski. This was a important event because it ended the war with the Japanese.
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VJ Day
It was announced that the Japan troops had surrendered to the Allies which in turn ended WWII. This ended a decade of numourous battles fought during the time period. This ended the Nazi regin and the ending of Adolf Hitler. This will always be and important date around the country marking the end of a horrible and deathly war.
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