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Japanese invasion of China (1937)
Japan had been expanding since 1931, but then lead to invade it China later in 1937. The expansion soon leads to the a military treaty with Germany bringing Japan into the axis power. This alliance is what kept Japan in the war and brought them to the Axis Power side. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
Germany started World War II by invading Poland on September 1, 1939. In response to Germany's invasion, France and Britain declared war on Germany. Poland was eventually defeated within the month due to Blitzkrieg tactic and took Poland. Germany split Poland with Russia. -
German Blitzkrieg (1939-1940)
Known as the "Lightning War", the Blitzkrieg was a tactic used to create chaos within the enemies lines. The first trial run of Blitzkrieg was in 1939 in Poland. In 1940, they successfully used the Blitzkrieg tactic against Belgium, the Netherland, and France. This tactic was so advanced it allowed Germany to take down four nations. However, when trying to use it on the Soviet Union it did not work because the scale had been tip so far back. -
Fall of Paris
The fall of the army only took the Germans a matter of six weeks and was one of the most remarkable campaigns ever. The French and British planned to recreate a version of 1914-18, only the French had suffered major losses. The attack began with a German air raid and went to a race to the coast for a counter attack. The French had collapsed suddenly, the surrender of France on June 26 to Germany was complete humiliation on French's part. -
-Pearl Harbor (1941)
On December 7th, 1941 Japan carried out a devasting bombing on the U.S naval base Pearl Harbor. This attack killed many Americans both soldiers and civilians. It was the straw that drew America to officially declare war on Japan, now entering World War II. -
Bataan Death March
After a U.S surrender on April 9, 1942, on the main island of Luzon, 45,000 American troops taken prisoner and were forced to watch 65 miles to prison camps. Thousands died on the intense march, the conditions were hot and were treated poorly by Japanese soldiers. America eventually avenged all those that were killed and taken hostage by returning to the phillipines, re-claiming, and liberating the surving troops. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was when senior Nazi officials discussed how to kill the European Jews. The code for this was "The Final Solution", they were trying to find an efficient systematic way to do so. After the conference sometime later Hitler authorized "The Final Solution" and so began the killing of the Jews. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad is an infamous battle between Russia and Germany in WWII. It was Hitler Vs Stalin, who can out-tactic the other. When taking Stalingrad Hitler killed all the men and deported all women. Despite the Russians surrounding Stalingrad, the city went into ruins. The Russians cut-off all their supplies in the harsh Russian winter, in which the Germans were not prepared. Slowly starving and freezing the soldiers. Ending in a Russian victory and a German surrender. -
Operation Gomorrah
Otherwise known as the Battle of Hamburgh marks the campaign that lasted seven days and eight nights. It was an air raid on Germany that was later compared to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It is also the heaviest assualt of aerial warfare, killing over 40,000 people. -
Allied invasion of Italy
The two leading Allied powers at the time, U.S and Britain, we're looking for a way to bring the Nazi party down once and for all. They decided that invading Italy would be the best option. It began with the invasion of Sicily. The Allied invasion went forward throughout and began to cripple the Italian fascist regime. Eventually, the Allied powers were able to arrest Mussolini, after the arrest Italian force began to retreat. Germany was told to make contingency plans. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion - 1944)
Before D-Day even happened the planning was months before by trying to deceive the Germans into thinking the attack was going to be in a different place. The initial date was delayed due to weather oddly enough, but that didn't stop 5,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft carriers mobilized. On June 6th, 1944, the Normandy Invasion began and stormed the beaches. Any opposition was crushed, a week later the beaches were taken. Creating a turning point and eventually led to Germany's surrender. -
Battle of the Bulge
The battle began when Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies and used a blitzkrieg attack. Catching Americans off guard and they tried to keep them back as much as possible. The Allied armies came on a bulge and tried to push them back. The German armies launched a desperate attack through the heavily forested Ardennes. Shortage of German supplies in the cold forest with the American pushing them back lead to a draw. This was the costliest battle killing over 100,000 Americans. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap was the code name for the plans to bomb the city of Dresden in Eastern Germany. This city was completely unimportant, which caused controversy considering it hadn't suffered a major attack until this air which reduced the city to a pile of rubble. It was thought that it was relating communications between the axis powers. It is unknown how many civilians perished. The attack was completely devastating and didn't bring the Germans closer to surrendering. -
The Dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima And Nagasaki
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the two Japanese cities that were hit by the first atomic bombs. America did warn the people by dropping warning from planes to tell them of what's to come. On August 6th, the first ever atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, but Japan didn't give in and surrender. This then leads to the bombing of Nagasaki on August 14th, which led to the end of World War II. This was the first time an Atomic bomb was used in warfare and the world never turned back. -
VJ Day
After the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that eventually led to the surrender of Japan. After this August 14th and 15th were then known as, "victoryover Japan day" otherwise known as "V-J day". This was thought of as the day that fasicm died, Americans took it to the streets to express their joy for peace. It was popular for a while until it became offensive when America and Japan became close allies. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps (1945)
The Liberation of people from concentration camps was a melancholy affair. The people that had survived the camps were already half dead, they were all sick, dehydrated, and hungry. Soldiers once tried to feed them food that wasn't soup and ended up killing more of them. Because all the people were in close corridors it was a breeding ground for diseases that spread throughout all the camps. There were also over 20,000 dead naked unburied bodies around the camps. Imagine the horror. -
Potsdam Declaration
In the Potsdam Conference, the three huge influencers of the war Stalin, Churchill, and Truman all sat down to discuss the war. They were making agreements on what to do with Germany, and discussed how they wanted Japan's "unconditional surrender". This was when the news of the first successful atomic bomb was given to Churchill and Truman. This news was left out for Stalin, because of this success he was rendered less useful and gave the Americas unprecedented power. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
When American troops landed on the mountainous region of Iwo Jima there were complications. The entire region was difficult to walk on and driving vehicles. The Japanese waited for the Americans to come to them so they could attack. The American's were believed that their first attack went well and weakened them. Then the Japanese fired their artillery on the American troops who were struggling to gain a stance. Japan was running low on supplies though. No one really won Iwo Jima, it was brutal. -
Battle of Okinawa (1945)
The Battle of Okinawa took place on April 1, 1945, and was the last major battle of World War II. It was also the bloodiest war, killing over 12,250 Americans, 110,000 Japanese, and between 40,000 and 100,000 Okinawa citizens died during this battle. different types of warfare were used such as Kamikaze attack. Or suicide attacks. The Allied victory put them in a position close enough to Japan, allowing them to drop the first atomic bombs and finally closing the Japan chapter of the war. -
VE Day (1945)
This is known as Victory of Europe day. This was the date that Winston Churchill declared a holiday after the Nazi defeat. It was also the end of Hitler. It is a day to celebrate
