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Rape of Nanking
In late 1937, Imperial Japanese Army Forces brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of people. The six weeks time period was considered Nanking Massacre or Rape of Nanking. 20,000 to 80,000 women were sexually assaulted.
http://www.history.com/topics/nanjing-massacre
http://www.travelphotoreport.com/2012/04/14/rape-nanking-memorial-nanjing/ -
Japanese Invasion of China
Japan declared the eight year war with China in 1937, when China was weak and torn apart fighting against warlords. The Marco Polo Bridge incident lead Japan to the incursion. The war proceeded with a series of incidents between the Japanese and Chinese. The conflict became part of World War II. Japanese officials justified their actions in China by presenting themselves as the only ones to drive out imperialism and Russian Communism.
http://factsanddetails.com/asian/ca67/sub426/entry-5329.html -
Germany's invasion of Poland
The German Soviet Pact stated that Poland was to be partitioned between two powers. Which enabled Germany to attack Poland without fear of the Soviet intervention. September 1st, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of invasion.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070
https://www.sutori.com/story/germany-57d2 -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is a German way for saying "lighting war". Blitzkrieg is a military tactic to create disorganization among enemy forces. Germans tried the tactic in 1939 before employing it on other countries. It was tested in Poland first before using it on other countries.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris
German accented voices announced over loudspeakers that a curfew was being given for 8 that evening, as German troops enter and occupy Paris. By the time German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million Parisians had already fled, with good reason. President Roosevelt froze the American assets of the Axis powers, Germany and Italy.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Hob12J7-lho/TFXBG46bmqI/AAAAAAAAACM/TrVMdqYmztk/s1600/hitlerinparis.jpg -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base in Hawaii, December 7,1941, a surprise attack by Japan occurred. Japanese fighter planes managed to destroy or damage 20 American naval vessels, including 8 enormous battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 20,000 Americans died, including civilians, and left 1,000 wounded. The day after President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor
http://fortune.com/2017/12/06/pearl-harbor-day-2017/ -
Bataan Death March
After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula. Approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march
http://www.wkow.com/story/35106809/2017/04/Sunday/remembering-bataan-death-march-in-janesville-75-years-has-passed-since-brutal-march -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan. The United States was able to prepare and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign. The battle was fought almost entirely with aircraft.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway
www.midway42.org/images/tbd_mission2.jpg -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad. Most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d_tV0xeRma4/UUUletgVP1I/AAAAAAAAGJ8/fbE7OYeIeyU/s1600/BattleofStalingrad.jpg -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Residents of the Jewish ghetto occupied Warsaw, Poland. They staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. The Warsaw ghetto uprising inspired other revolts in extermination camps and ghettos throughout Germany.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising -
Allied invasion of Italy
On the day of the landing, the Italian government secretly agreed to the Allies’ terms for surrender, but no public announcement was made. Montgomery’s 8th Army began its invasion of the Italian mainland. The Italians would be treated with leniency if they aided the Allies in expelling the Germans from Italy.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/1f/85/2c/1f852cb7531806afeb118a33f8662695.jpg -
Battle of the Bulge
Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe. American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge
https://www.legion.org/magazine/225538/battle-remembered -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Japanese sought to converge three naval forces on Leyte Gulf, and successfully diverted the U.S. Third Fleet with a decoy. The U.S. Seventh Fleet destroyed one of the Japanese forces and forced a second one to withdraw.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-leyte-gulf -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The Battle of Normandy, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe.The invasion was one of the most amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. The Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. All of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day
https://www.historyonthenet.com/d-day/ -
Liberation of concentration camps
The Red Army liberated Auschwitz in south-western Poland. Auschwitz was one of six Nazi extermination camps, and was the last one still operating in the final months of the war. The German regime had constructed the six sites containing gas chambers and large crematoria.
https://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/DachauLiberation/LiberationDay.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/liberation_camps_01.shtml -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Japanese defenders were, as always, prepared to fight to the last man, the battle for Iwo Jima was ferocious. Iwo Jima is a small dot on the map and it was within fighter range of the Japanese capital.Two U.S. Marine divisions began taking heavy losses, pinned down on the crowded beaches under artillery and machine gun fire.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Battle-of-Iwo-Jima -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II. It was also one of the bloodiest. Navy’s Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops descended onto the island Okinawa for their final push towards Japan. The battle was part of Operation iceberg.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa -
VE Day
Both Great Britain and the United States celebrated victory in Europe Day. German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists. Cities in both nations put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe
http://www.mlggazettes.co.uk/commemorate-celebrate-and-party-its-the-70th-anniversary-of-ve-day/ -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
An American bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion immediately killed 80,000 people and wiped out 90 percent of the city. Three days later, another bomb landed in japan, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan surrender in World War II in a radio address.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
https://static.topyaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Hiroshima-bombing-Enola-Gay.jpg -
VJ Day
Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Several months after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan brought six years of hostilities to a final and highly anticipated close.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
