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Japanese Invasion of China
During this time, Japan and China were in several skirmishes, such as the "Marco Polo Bridge" incident, which eventually sparked a full blown conflict, known as the Second Sino-Japanese War. The conflicts were results of the Japanese territorial encroachment on China. -
Rape of Nanking
The Japanese Imperial Army marched into the capital city of Nanking in China and killed 300,000 of the 600,000 citizens and soldiers in the city. The six-weeks of carnage became known as the Rape of Nanking and represented the worst attrocity in all of WWII. -
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
This was a non-aggression pact signed by the Soviet Union and Germany. It allowed HItler to invade western Poland and Stalin to take eastern Poland without the two sides fighting a war. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
After only a few weeks, the Polish army was defeated. Germany annexed former Polish territories to create more of a barrier for German borders to stop invasions. -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg, a German term meaning "lightning war", was designed to create disorganizations between enemy forces. Germany first used this tactic against Poland in 1939, then in 1940 against France and The Netherlands. This tactic was leter adopted by U.S. General George S. Patton. -
Fall of Paris
Germany marched into Paris and took over after over 2 million citizens of Paris fled the city. On this day, President Roosevelt froze the American assets of the Axis powers, Germany and Italy. -
Operation Barbarossa
Germany pushed into the Soviet Union with a massive invasion, but due to a large underestimation of the Soviet Union, Germany suffered their first long defeat, showing that they weren't the impenetrable force that they were thought to be. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese soldiers bombed the U.S. Naval Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. This was the first attack on the U.S., officially bringing them into the war. -
Wannsee Conference
This conference was held between high ranking Nazi Officials and German government officials to determine the final plan of action against Jews. This was where Hitler legalized the scheme for Jewish mass murder. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
This was a major revolt because it caused the death of 12 German soldiers at the hands of Jewish prisoners. This ghetto was then demolished three days later by the German army. -
Operation Gomorrah
This was known as "Blitz Week" in which British bombers bombed Hamburg, Germany during the night while Americans bombed it during the day. This was the beginning to the stop of Germany's invasions. -
D-Day Invasion
Allied invasion of France led by American forces. -
Battle of the Bulge
This was the last German offensive of WWII, resulting in the retreat of German forces toward Germany. -
Operation Thunderclap
This operation was under Allied consideration for a long time before execution. The Allieds bombed the German city of Dresden that killed over 60,000 people. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The island of Iwo Jima was a key spot in the ocean for a navy base, and the U.S. went to battle Japan for it. However, this ended up being the battle with the largest number of casualties the U.S. faced in the war. In this battle is where the famous flag raising photo came from. -
V-E Day
V-E day was the day of Allied victory over the forces of Europe. This was the day of surrender for the German forces. -
Battle of Okinawa
The battle was fought over a key area of land for air bases for a pending attack on Japan. Both sides suffered extreme casualties as well as losing the commander of each side. -
Potsdam Decleration
This decleration, or procclamation, defined the terms for Japanese surrender of all forces in the war. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The United States used atomic bombs on Japan's city Hiroshima, decimating the place, later forcing the Japanese surrender. -
V-J Day
The Japanese finally surrendered and the Americans had claimed victory over them.
