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Japanese invasion of China
9 Sept 1945
The Japanese captured China's key ports and industry centers, also including China's largest cities. Many Chinese were killed in bombings. Japan wanted China's vast natural resources and to find their weakness. Japan did not win this war and the Chinese were not able to get Japan out of their country.
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Rape of Nanking
1938
The Chinese capital, Nanking, was taken over by Japanese forces during the Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese general had ordered Nanking to be destroyed. The Japanese butchered at least 150,000 male "war prisoners," massacred an additional 20,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls, many were mutilated or killed in the process. After WW2, the Japanese General was found guilty of war crimes and was then executed.
www.historyworldwar2.com & www.history.com -
Germany's invasion of Poland
6 Oct 1939
A German ship fired on Polish troops at Westerplatte Fort, Danzig. This was the first military engagment of World War 2 & 62 German divisions along with 1,300 aircrafts began the invasion of Poland. Hitler believed this invasion would end in a victorious war since he thought the British &French prime-ministers were weak &indecisive &would rather settle for peace than war. East Prussia became attatched to German territory & the port of Danzig was under German control. www.history.com -
German Blitzkrieg
1 Apr 1941
In 1940, the German army had used a tactic called "lightening war" or blitzkrieg in Poland and they crushed the combined forces of France and the Low Countries. This then led to mass distruction and deaths of the people that were in the countries being invaded.
www.history.com -
Fall of Paris
25 Jun 1940
One this day, German tanks rolled into Paris so the Geeman Gestapo could make arrests, interrogations, and soy of the French. 2 million Parisians had already fled, knowing Germany was coming. The Remaining Parisians that were trapped, cheered as they saw the Canadian troops come in offering their city the hope that they will be free. President Roosevelt froze the American assets to Germany and Italy.
www.militarypost.com & www.history.com -
Operation Barbarossa
7 Jan 1942
Operation Barbarbossa was started to begin the German invasion of the Soviet Union. This was the largest military operation in history which covered a distance of 2,000mi. The failure of this operation forced Nazi Germany to fight a 2-front war against possessing superior resources. This then was the turning point of the war.
www.history.com -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, an American naval base, was attacked by Japanese fighter planes. The japanese had destroyed nearly 20 naval vessels, 8 large battleships, over 300 aircrafts, killed 2,000 Anericans and left 1,000 wounded. FDR got approval from Congress to delcare war on Japan, and 3 days later, Japanese allies Germany & Italy also declared war on the U.S. The Japanese had wanted to expand into it's neighbor's territory & take over its import market.
www.history.com -
Wannsee Conference
This was a meeting held by the Nazi Party lead by Reinhard Heydrich, second command in the ss. This was planned to attempt to exterminate all of the Jewish population in Europe. The plan was to take te Jews to concentration camps and work them to death. If that didnt happen, they brought out the "gas vans" killing thousands of Jews a day, which was an efficient way for them to kill large groups at one time. www.history.com -
Bataan Death March
Approximately 75,000 Filipino &American troops on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines were forced to make a 65-mi march to prison camps after the U.S. surrendered to the Japanese. During this march, there was intense heat &harsh treatment by Japanese guards causing thousands to perish. If they survived, they were taken prisoner of war camps, where thousands more died from diseases &starvation. In Feb 1945, the U.S-Filipino forces took back the Bataan Peninsula.
www.pbs.org & www.history.com -
Battle of Midway
7 Jun 1942
The battle of midway happened between the U.S. and Japanese navies from Japan's desire to sink the American aircrafts carriers that did not get destroyed during Pearl Harbor. The Japanese had planned when the U.S. would counterattack but a Pacific Fleet commander figured out the Japanese plans and had ships lined up waiting for them.
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Battle of Stalingrad
2 Feb 1943
This battle had stopped the Germans from advancing into the Soviet Union. This was one of the bloddiest battles and greatest battles with nearly 2,000 casualties. The German Sixth Army had started invading but the Russians had already built up their defense. This victory for the Soviets was a big humiliation for Hitler because it was important for Germany. Hitler became more distrustful while Stalin had gained confidence.
www.ww2today.com & www.history.com -
Operation Gomorrah
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany with 2,300 tons of bombs. More than 1,500 Germans were killed. When it was all over, more than 9,000 tons of bombs had been dropped, killing over 30,000 people, & destroying more than 280,000 buildings. Not only did this effect Germany, it also effected Hitler. He refused to visit these cities since they reminded him that the war was coming to an end for him since they were so burned down. German officials began to come to the term of defeat.
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D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
This invasion began when over 155,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five different beaches along the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region which is around a 50 mile stretch. The German's suffered confusion since Hitler believed it was just a distraction so they wouldn't attack north of the Seine River. The Allied forces then prepared to enter Germany, and the Germans had been removed from northwestern France, ending the Battle of Normandy (D-Day.) www.history.com -
Battle of the Bulge
25 Jan 1945
The objective of this was to split the Allied armies by a surprise blitzkrieg. The Americans were caught off guard and had fought desperate battles as the German's drove deeper. The Germans suffered from a fuel shortage which proved fatal for Hitler's to win the Allies in the west. This battle was the costliest action by the U.S. army with over 100,000 casualties.
www.pbs.org & www.history.com -
Operation Thunderclap
15 Feb 1945
The Allie's had firebombing raids against Dresden, a German city, killing over 135,000 people by dropping more than 3,400 tons of explosives.This citiy was known for war-production and manufacturing, so they wanted to bring the Nazi war machine to a stop. Germany was already on the verge of surrender so with a lot of strategy, this was one of the most distructive bombings in the war, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki. www.history.com & www.ww2today.com -
Battle of Iwo Jima
26 Mar 1945
Iwo Jima had around 25,000 Japanese soldiers guarding it and was attacked by 3 marine divisions. This was a good place for the B-29's to land so the Japanese couldnt escape. The Japanese were fighting back in caves, tunnels, and underground installations that were hard to find and destroy. The entire island was wipped out except for 1, 083 prisoners
that didnt surrender until 1951. www.history.com -
Battle of Okinawa
22 Jun 1945
287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army vs. 130,000 of the Japanese Thirty-second Army were all part of this last battle. At stake were the air bases that were very important to the invasion of Japan. This area was heavy in civilian population which is why there were over 100,000 civilian casualities. after 82 days, more than 77,000 Japanese soldiers were killed, and the Allies had more than 65,000 casualties, including the
14,000 that died. www.history.com -
VE Day
This day is the day we rejoice in the defeat of the Nazi's. The Germans surrendered and it was recognized as a final cease-fire. Russians took approximately 2 million German soldiers as prisoner as they tried to escape after the fighting in CCzechoslovakia ended.
www.history.com & www.news.bbc.com -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
9 Aug 1945
An American B-29 dropped a bomb on Hiroshima wiping out 90% of the city and killing 80,000 people, many thousands die a few days later from radiation exposure. 3 days later, another B-29 was dropped on Nagasaki, killing around 40,000 people. Japan's Emperor then confessed his coutries surrender to World War 2. Hiroshima was selected a target because it had nearly 350,000 people in one manufacturing center. Their surrender lead to the Victory of Japan. www.history.com -
VJ Day
Japan had formally surrendered from the war on the U.S.S. Missouri. This day, Americans celebrated the win over Japan, that ended the lon gbloody conflict. The reason Japan decided to surrender was because of the "new and most cruel bomb” on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
www.history.com
