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Germany's Invasion of Poland
This was the start of WWII. Germany invaded Poland for more land. The response from Britian and France was the declaration of war on Germany.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005137 -
Period: to
WWII
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Japanese Invasion of China
The Japanese began their expansion into East Asia. They are expanding because they believe they are superior to the Chinese and they need more resources. They begin their expansion with the invasion of Manchuria. After the initial invasion of China, Japan joined the Axis in WWII.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005155 -
German Blitzkrieg
The literal meaning of Blitzkrieg is "lighting war" but to the Germans, blitzkrieg was a military tactic. This tactic was designed to cause disorientation among the enemy through firepower and mobile forces. This tactic was used by the Germans in the Netherlands, France, and Belgium in 1940.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris
On June 14, 1940, German troops began to occupy the city of Paris. Before the infiltration, nearly 2 million Parisians fled the city to avoid the German Gestapo. The French government fled and Paris was declared an "open city". France surrendered to the Germans a few weeks later. The fall of the French would ruin the balance of power, and changed the tide of the war.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/fall_france_01.shtml -
Operation Barbarossa
On June 22, Hilter invaded Russia in what is called "Operation Barbarossa". The initial advance was swift, with the fall of Sebastopol at the end of October, and Moscow coming under attack at the end of the year. Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base, was attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. In the morning hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. The U.S was now in WWII.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Battle of Midway
Thanks in part to major advances in code-breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Wannsee Conference
A German meeting where the agenda was simple and focused: to devise a plan that would render a “final solution to the Jewish question” in Europe. Various gruesome proposals were discussed, including mass sterilization and deportation to the island of Madagascar. Evidence and words from this conference later provided key evidence during the Nuremberg war crimes trials as well as determined many Jews' fates.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Battle of Stalingrad
Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Operation Gomorrah
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day. Britain had suffered the deaths of 167 civilians as a result of German bombing raids in July. Now the tables were going to turn. The operation was devasting for German morale.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
Allied Invasion of Italy
Beyond their goal of crushing Italian Axis forces, the Allies wanted to draw German troops away from the main Allied advance through Nazi-occupied northern Europe to Berlin, Germany. The invasion was series of Allied beach landings and land battles from Sicily and southern Italy up the Italian mainland toward Nazi Germany. As Allied armies severed the German-Italian Axis and threatened Germany.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/italian-campaign -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II, and one of the bloodiest. More than 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. The invasion was part of Operation Iceberg, a complex plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
Plans were being prepared for an Allied invasion of Japan, but fears of fierce resistance and massive casualties prompted Harry Truman to sanction the use of an atomic bomb against Japan. On 6 August one of them was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later another was dropped on Nagasaki. No country could withstand such attacks, and the Japanese surrendered on 14 August.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ww2_summary_01.shtml#eight -
Battle of the Bulge
n December 1944, Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Caught off-guard, American units fought desperate battles to stop the German advance. The Battle of the Bulge was the costliest action ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
The New Year saw the Soviet liberation of Auschwitz, and the revelation of the sickening obscenity of the Holocaust, its scale becoming clearer as more camps were liberated in the following months.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ww2_summary_01.shtml#eight -
VJ Day
Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. Coming several months after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan’s capitulation in the Pacific brought six years of hostilities to a final and highly anticipated close.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Operation Thunderclap
In the final months of WWII, Allied forces bombed the historic city of Dresden, located in eastern Germany. The bombing was controversial because Dresden was neither important to German wartime production nor a major industrial center. By February 15, the city was a smoldering ruin and an unknown number of civilians—estimated at somewhere between 35,000 and 135,000–were dead.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-dresden -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was attacked because of the U.S. need for a base near the Japanese coast. Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army and navy troops, who fought from an elaborate network of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground installations. Despite the difficulty of the conditions, the marines wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
VE Day
On April, 30th, 1945, Hitler killed himself. It was followed two days after Mussolini had been captured and hanged by Italian partisans. Germany surrendered unconditionally on 7 May, and the following day was celebrated as VE (Victory in Europe) day. The war in Europe was over.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ww2_summary_01.shtml#eight
