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Japanese Invasion of China
The Japanese Invasion of China was a conflict fought between the China and Japan. It started with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident where a group of Japanese citizens blew up a bridge in Japan and blamed it on the Chinese as a way for a fight to start. The Japanese military power was very powerful so millions of lives were lost.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/japan/nanjing-massacre -
German Blitzrieg (1939-1940)
The Blitzrieg was first tried out in Poland the later used in Berlin, the Netherlands and France. The tactic was used to disorganize the enemy and therefore make it easier to defeat. It was used because it was a new way to fight that the Germans came up with. The effect it had was, because it was so successful, that many places were defeated and taken.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Germany’s Invasion of Poland
The Ivasion of Poland occurred when Hitler gave the command to the military. This was the first military involvement of WWII and made a lot Hitler’s followers question him and his ideals as dictator of Germany. The war continued because Hitler dismissed his generals’ concerns and believed his enemies, and their armies, to be weak and the war would be short and easy. It resulted in Poland being overtaken by Germany.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/invasion_poland_01.shtml -
Fall of Paris
The Fall of Paris was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries. Germany took over because they had an advantage in the air and in ideas of how to conquer other countries. France was divided in two, where the leader of France had control of the south and the north was overtaken by Germany.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ff2_fallfrance.shtml -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler sent his army to Russia to fight the battle that would later be the turning point in WWII where Nazi Germany’s failure in this battle would make them have to fight a two-front war against very strong powers. This battle happened because Hitler ordered it because he was confident in the strength of his army.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attacked a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack was the result of many years of hostility between the two countries. Lost in the attack were 20 naval vessels, more than 300 airplanes and about 2,400 Americans were killed, while around 1,000 were injured. This attack also resulted in the U.S. joining WWII.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Battle of Stalingrad (1942)
The Battle of Stalingrad was a long bloody battle between Russia and Nazi Germany and Axis Powers. The year long battle was brought on because Nazi Germany had been claiming Russian land. The conflict resulted in the Allied Powers gaining the upper hand in WWII. Around 2 million people either died or were injured in this battle where tens of thousands of those were Russians.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Wannsee Conference
Nazi officials met to talk about specific issues of the “Final Solution” of the “Jewish question.” The meeting discussed that there would be work camps that Jews would be sent to and those who made it through whatever went on there, would be “treated accordingly”. The effect of this conference was that everything went in to action and caused millions to be murdered.
Source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Battle of Midway
The Battle if Midway was a battle between the U.S. and Japan. A while after Pearl Harbor, the Japan were going to attack the United States again. The U.S. learned of their plan and was able to prevent it by first attacking Japan. Four fleet carriers, 322 aircraft, a heavy cruiser, and over five thousand sailors were lost from the Japanese. America lost 147 aircrafts and about three hundred sailors.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Allied invasion of Italy
The Allied Powers landed on mainland Italy. Allies began their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, off mainland Italy. There was little resistance from the people of Sicily so they were able to easily surround the island on the coasts. 150,000 Allied troops were ashore.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ff6_italy.shtml -
Operation Gomorrah
Operation Gomorrah was the plan for Britain to bomb Germany. This attack brought on because Germany had bombed Britain a while before. The British also had a tactic that saved about 150 out of 170 of their aircrafts where they dropped strips of aluminum foil to make the Germans believe their were more aircrafts around than there actually was. The result was a successful attack for the British.
Source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
Operation Thunderclap
In Dresden, Germany, a massive bombing raid was dropped on the city. It left the city in piles of bricks and dirt and fires were burning everything else that was left. About 135,000 people were killed in this attack. The bombing is known as the most destructive bombing that occurred during WWII.
Source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/firebombing-of-dresden -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion-1944)
The Allied Powers sent naval, air and land troops to take back Nazi-occupied France. More than 425,000 of both Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the Battle of Normandy. The battle took place in order to take back north-west Europe from Germany. 16,714 deaths in the air forces, and 37,000 dead of those who were on the ground.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of the Bulge
This battle was started when Germany wanted to split the troops of the Allied Powers. To combat this, the Allied troops formed a bulge like shape so the German troops could not spilt them apart. The effects this event had was a very large number of casualties, numbering about 100,000 deaths.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle started when the U.S. marines invaded a Japanese island. It occurred because the Japanese were falling and the U.S. saw the chance to get inland and start attacking there. There were around 21,000 casualties on the Japanese side while America lost around 7,000 soldiers.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest battles fought and one of the last battles of WWII. The war in Europe was ending while the Pacific front was continuing but the U.S. was defeating the Japanese. The battle happened because this was the final struggle to try and overtake and suppress the Ryukyu Islands. The Americans lost 36 ships, 763 aircrafts, and 4900 men. 4800 men were injured and 368 ships were damaged.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
VE Day
This day was the victory day of the Allied Powers in Europe. The attack to end the war, in Europe, took place because past bombings in Germany opened up an opportunity to attack so the Russians did attack. The outcome was the celebration of the Allies’ victory in the gruesome war.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ff7_veday.shtml -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Soviet soldiers liberated concentration camps toward the end of the war. First, the Majdanek camp in Poland was liberated and the rest were later liberated. This event happened because, as the Allied Powers took back land from Nazi Germany, they were able to scare off the Germans. The result was the release and saving of millions of lives.
Source: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/liberation-of-nazi-camps -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
Japan was demolished by the U.S. when two atomic bombs were released on two Japanese cities. The U.S. attacked because Japan did not surrender in the war so America had to threaten and then follow through with the terrifying action. The first atomic bomb killed more than 70,000 people and destroyed 5-square-miles of the city. The second killed 40,000.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
VJ Day
VJ Day was when Imperial Japan surrendered in WWII. The Japanese surrender occurred because when the government refused to surrender, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan cities which killed more than 110,000 people.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
