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Japanese invasion of China
Conflict that broke out when China began full-scale resistance to the expansion of Japanese influence in its territory began in 1931. In an effort to unseat the nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese occupied large areas of eastern China in 1937–38. Japan’s defeat in that by the Allies in 1945 ended its occupation of China. -
Germany's invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the invasion was a defensive action, but Britain & France were not convinced -
German Blitzkrieg
German term for 'lightning war,' blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces & locally concentrated firepower. German forces tried out the blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands & France in 1940. The blitzkrieg was also used by German commander Erwin Rommel during the North African campaign of World War II -
Fall of Paris
On this day in 1940, Parisians awake to the sound of a German accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening-as German troops enter & occupy Paris -
Operation Barbarossa
On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Germany to fight a two front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources -
Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. It lasted just two hours, but was devastating: the Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, The day after the assault, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States. -
Wannsee conference
On January 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss & coordinate the implementation of what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." -
Bataan Death March
After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II, the approx. 75,000 Filipino & American troops on Bataan were forced to march a 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat & were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March. -
Battle of midway
6 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 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. -
Battle of stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad during World War II. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War, & most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union & 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 causalities. -
Operation Gomorrah
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day in its own “Blitz Week.” Britain had suffered the deaths of 167 civilians as a result of German bombing raids in July. -
Allies invasion of Italy
The British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery begins the Allied invasion of the Italian peninsula, crossing the Strait of Messina from Sicily. On the day of the landing, the Italian government secretly agreed to the Allies’ terms for surrender, but no public announcement was made until September 8. -
D-day
On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of French coastline, to fight Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” The cost in lives on D-Day was high. More than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded, but their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 Soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe, to defeat Adolf Hitlers troops. -
Battle of the Bulge
In 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 stem the German advance -
Operation thunderclap
the proposal was to bomb the eastern-most cities of Germany to disrupt the transport infrastructure behind what was becoming the Eastern front. Also to demonstrate to the German population, that the air defences of Germany were now of little substance and that the Nazi regime had failed them. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The American invasion of Iwo Jima during World War II stemmed from the need for a base near the Japanese coast. Following elaborate preparatory air and naval bombardment, three U.S. marine divisions landed on the island in February 1945. Iwo Jima was defended by roughly 23,000 Japanese army & navy troops, who fought from an elaborate network of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground installations -
Battle of Okinawa
Last & biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82 day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties; including 14,000 dead. -
VE day
On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after they had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world’s first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, & another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout. -
VJ day
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victory over Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.”
