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Rape of Nanking
The Rape of Nanking occurred during the Sino-Japanese War. This event was ultimate to crush the spirit of the Chinese because Japan had just taken over the capital of their country. So Japan decided to burn and destroy Nanking. Thousands of people were murdered, imprisoned and raped due to this event. -
Japanese invasion of China
The Second Sino-Japanese War was an invasion of China by Japanese forces. Japan decided to strike at this time because China was weak from warlords. Japan justified their reasoning to be a movement of peace and they would be the only force to bring western imperialism through East Asia. -
German Blitzkrieg
The German Blitzkrieg tactic was a way Germany would fight in battles by using a concentration of offensive weapons. This tactic was also known as Lighting War. This way of fighting helped them defeat most of Europe in a very short amount of time. -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
The Molotov pact was an agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union a few days before the start of WWII. This divided Europe into two different spheres of influence. Hitler used this pact to ensure that the German forces would be able to invade Poland undisturbed. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Germany invaded Poland because there were rumors that Poland had been plotting to dismember Germany along with its allies, Great Britain, and France. In response to this Germany invaded Poland and they were defeated within weeks, Germany then advanced to Warsaw which led to Britain and France declaring war on Germany. -
Fall of Paris
On this day the Germans had invaded Paris and had troops all over the city. The French leaders wanted help and assistance from the United States, but the US knew that Hitler would take their assistance as a declaration of war. -
Operation Barbarossa (1941)
Hitler launched an attack against the Soviet Union and invaded them with a mass amount of troops. The invasion was from the North Cape to the Black Sea, a distance of two thousand miles. The Germans had serious defenses but had really underestimated their opponent. The Germans had not prepared correctly for this attack. -
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise bombing by Japan on the US Navy. This killed many people and destroyed many ships. Japan decided to attack the US because they were worried that they were going to strike on them, so they struck before the US could even get a chance. Japan thought that by taking out their navy boats that it would disarm the US, but it did the opposite and we declared war the next day. -
Bataan Death March
During WWII the US had surrendered to Japanese forces in the Philippine island of Luzon. Japan had forced around 75,000 American and Filipino troops to march near 65 miles to prison camps, most people died along the way. The survivors of the march were taken by rail from San Fernando to prisoner-of-war camps -
Battle of Midway (1942)
The island of Midway, Japan became the next target for US forces. When the United States arrived at Midway to respond to the invasion on Alaska, it would be destroyed by the Japanese fleet waiting unseen to the west. The Americans ended up anticipating the attack. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was between the Nazi Germany forces and the Soviet Union during WWII. This is one of the largest and longest battles of WWII. This battle ultimately turned the tables in favor of the allied forces. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting between the Nazi officials. These officials were discussing the "final solution", or what they were going to do with all of the Jewish population. They came to the conclusion that they would deport the Jews eastward and make them work in labor forces. -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising was an uprising by Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland. This uprising inspired many other revolts against the Nazis. When Germany had invaded Poland they had compacted thousands of Jewish people into areas of the city that weren't bigger than 1 square mile. Some Jewish people fought back against Germany, but most were defeated and sent to extermination camps. -
D-Day
D-Day was an invasion of Normandy, France. France was being invaded by the US, Britain, and Canadian forces. After France was liberated the forces wanted to drive through onto Germany to put a stop to the Nazi party. This invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history and required a lot of planning. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major offensive attack the Germans had on the allies from northern France to northwestern Belgium. The Germans had over 250,000 soldiers fighting for them in this battle. The battle lasted for over three weeks and the US had lost most of their soldiers that were positioned in northern France. The war would not end until there were better weather conditions that would allow American aircraft to bomb Germany. -
Liberation of concentration camps
As the allies made their way across Germany they came across concentration camps which were camps with dead or dying prisoners from the Nazis. There were millions upon millions of deaths caused by these camps, because of the poor conditions these people were forced to be living in. The mortality rate of these prisoners was over 60 percent of what the allies discovered. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
America was still fighting with Japan and decided to drop an atomic bomb on them to make it an easier end. The US dropped the bomb on the city Hiroshima, Japan. This made the United States the first and only nation to use atomic weapons during wartime. This was the end of WWII but some think it is what started the cold war. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a battle between American and Japanese forces, located off the coast of Japan on the island of Iwo Jima. The US invaded Japan and the battle lasted for about five weeks. This was said to be one of the bloodiest fights of WWII, but at the end of the battle there was questioning of the value of the island of Iwo Jima. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the last battle of WWII and was another one of the bloodiest battles. On April 1st of 1945, the US made their last push against Japanese forces and this last push was on the island of Okinawa. By this time all of the allies were weeks away from having the German forces surrendering. This battle lasted for over two months ending with all of the Japanese troops either committing suicide or surrendering to the US. -
VE Day
On this day, the US and Britain celebrate the victory of defeating the German Nazi war machine. On this day Germany had finally surrendered to the Soviet forces and put down their weapons. There were documents that Germany was required to sign to show that they had surrendered. -
VJ Day
This Victory over Japan day was the day that Japan had surrendered and was the final day of WWII.
