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Japanese Invasion of China
The chinese suffered encroachment from the Japanese, using their Manchuria base. Japanese and Chinese troops on the frontier lead to what became known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. This sparked a full-blown conflict. The chinese nationalists and agreed to fight side by side against Japan. Virtually the entire country was engulfed by war. The national government was forced to move inland. Everyone was affected by the war. http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/sino-japanese-war -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
Nazi Germany invaded Poland, the act that started Worl War II. Britain and France declared war on Germany because they stood by Poland. The Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland on the 17th of September on the same year. To Hitler, the conquest of Piland would bring Lebensraum for the German people. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FdvRKFEaz8U -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg, or the "lightning war", is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and concentrated firepower. Germany overran much of Europe and was victorious. Additionally, Hitler wanted to teach Chamberlain a lesson and he wanted to prevent an anti-german alliance.
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Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The failure of German troops to defeat soviet forces in the campaign signaled a crucial turning point in the war. Hitler already had planned it in Mein Kampf. Hitler hated the communists. Germany aslo needed to feed its growing army and he sought out to use the soviet as a large collective farm to feed the army. http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/07/world-war-ii-operation-barbarossa/100112/ -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Peral Harbor near Hawaii. This was causes by American officials responding to Japan with trade restrictions. This made Jaoan more determined. The US after that used the first Atomic bombs on Japan, hitting both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pearl.htm -
Bataan Death March
US surrendee of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Phillippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II. The Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make and ardoys 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/qt/Bataan-Death-March.htm -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. The United States was able to counter Japan's planned ambush of it's 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 it's allies to movie into an offensive position. http://www.navy.com/battle-of-midway.html -
Battle of Stalingrad
This battle was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad in the USSR during World War II. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle. 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. http://www.2worldwar2.com/stalingrad.htm -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Residents of the Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and Poland staged an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. The Warsaw ghetto uprising inspired other revolts in extermination camps and ghettos throughout German-occupied Eastern Europe. http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-warsaw-ghetto-uprising.htm -
Operation Gomorrah
On this day in 1943, the worst British bombing raid on Hamburg so far virtually sets the city on fire, killing 42,000 German civilians. Hamburg was Germany's second largest city and major site of U-boat production. It was therefore a major target of the RAF. Ten square miles of the city were obilitrated, forcing 900,000 of it's inhabitants to flee. The horrific bombing runs affected Hitlers war machine. http://ww2today.com/4th-august-1943-the-horror-of-hamburg-resounds-around-germany -
D-day
American, British, and Canadian forces landed on the coast of France's Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history. Because after it's success, the Allied forces wanted to neter Germany, where they aould meet up with the Soviet troops moving in from the East. Also, it resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany's control. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/03/world/europe/d-day-fast-facts/ -
Liberation of concentration camps
Soviet soldiers were the first to liberate concentration camps prisoners in the final stages of the war. As for Germany, they had to leave behind prisoners that were very sick and exhausted and they returned in hasty. Many belongings were left behind as well. British, Canadian, American, and French troops aslo freed prisoners from the camps. https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007724 -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler had convinced himself that the alliance betwee Britain, France and America in the western sector of Europse was not strong and that a major attack would break up the allaince. Hitler launched a massive attack using three armies on the Allies which would destabilize their accord. It was the largest battle fought the Americans. The Americans lost 81,000 men while the Germans lost 100,000 killed, wounded and captured. http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge -
Operation Thunderclap
This operation had been under discussion within the Allied Command for some time, the proposal was to bomb the eastern-most cities of Germany. It's purpose was to disrupt the transport infastructure behind what was becoming the Eastern front. Also to demostrate ti the German population that the air defenses of Germany were now of little substance and that the Nazi regime had failed them. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/21/the-firebombing-of-dresden-archive-footage/ -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This battle was the United States capture of the island of Iwo Jima from Japan, producing some of the fiercest fighting on the pacific campaign. It was stimulated by the desire for a place where B-29 bombers gamGed over Japan could land without returning all the way to the Marianas. The battle was marked by changes in Japansese defense tactics so the troops no longer defended at the beach line but inland. http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-iwo-jima.htm -
Battle of Okinawa
This battle was also know as Operation Iceberg. It was the largest amohibious landing in the pacific theater of the Second World War. It was the last and buggest of the Pacific Islands. The Okinawa campaign involved 287,000 troops. The capture of Okinawa was part of America's three-point plan for winning the war in the far East. It also resulted in the largest casualties for Japan http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/the-pacific-war-1941-to-1945/the-battle-of-okinawa/ -
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a reasearch and development project that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War II. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom. Diercted by American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The project succeeded in developing three nuclear weapons in 1945. The result was that the US dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. http://gk12.rice.edu/trs/science/Atom/man.htm -
Potsdam Declaration
The Potsdam Declaration called for Japan's unconditional surrender and stated the terms of surrender, or Japan would face utter destruction, thus was after Truman heard about the successful test of the atomic bomb. Japan, the only major axis power, rejected these terms. http://www.britannica.com/event/Potsdam-Conference -
VE Day
This was the day the Allies celebrated the defeat of the Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Reich, formally recognizing the end of the Second World War in Europe. The Allies had begun to overrun Germany from the West during April as Russian forces advanced from the East. VE Day was not celebrated in Moscow until Stalin himself saluted a radio broadcast saying that "the war is over"
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/world-war-two-in-western-europe/ve-day/ -
VJ Day
On this day, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. The term has also been used for the 2nd of September, 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, Jaoans capitulation in the Pacific brought six years of hostilities to a final and highly anticipated close. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
