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Japanese invasion of China
On July 7,1937 an invasion between the Japanese and China occurred. This was caused by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Chinese were defeated and Japan created a new government. The Japanese felt that since Chiang and the Nationalist government would not yield to their wishes they must be eliminated which began the war, and in 1945 Japanese surrendered. This caused a lot of damage to China and after the war, the two countries didn't reached any reconciliation. -
German Blitzkrieg
The German Blitzkrieg began in 1939 because the Germans wanted to avoid a long war. They wanted to use a series of short efforts by using Blitzkrieg which meant 'lightning war'. This strategy allowed mobile weapons and such as tanks and aircrafts.This gave the Germans the upper hand making them successful and the Germans quickly took over Europe for more than 2 years after that which occurred at the very beginning of WWII. -
Fall of Paris
On June 14, 1940 Paris fell to Nazi Germany. This was caused due to a month before when German Wehrmacht stormed into France. 8 days later France signed an armistice with the Germans. They also formed a government state that was set up with its capital at Vichy. The French collapse was sudden very sudden. It ripped up the balance of power in Europe, and left the strategic assumptions which Britain had planned to fight Hitler completely obsolete. -
Pearl Harbor Attack
The Pearl Harbor Attack began due to the Japanese who surprise attacked the U.S. naval base at the Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This was an aerial attack meaning they used their aircraft which caused much damage to the Pearl Harbor. 18 US warships had been sunk or damaged, 188 aircraft destroyed and 2403 americans were killed. This influenced the U.S. to participate in WWII and began an enemy relationship between the Japanese and America. -
The Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of the Nazi officials in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to plan a final solution. Their discussion finalized the idea to make a turning point in Nazi policy towards the jews. They were to round up all the Jews, transport them east and organize them into labor gangs. They all understood the strict rules and policy to succeed. This impacted many families and killed millions of Jews making a major dent in their population. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway occurred due to how well their Pearl Harbor Attack went, the Japanese Navy deciding to find and crush the rest of Americas fleet because they wanted to remove the US as a Pacific Power. Yamamoto a Japanese Marshal, surprise attacked the US allies base at Midway Island but lost due to their inability to construct enough new flattops after to renew the fleet. This ruined Japans hopes of neutralizing the US and began to turn the tide of WWII to the Pacific. -
Allied Invasion of Italy
The Allied Invasion of Italy occurred because the Allies wanted to remove Italy from WWII and take over the Mediterranean Sea. In Calabasas Morocco the Allied Leaders decided to use all their military resources in the Mediterranean to launch an invasion of Italy. They began their invasion of Europe with landings on the Island of Sicily and later an invasion began on the mainland of Italy where the Italian Government agreed to surrender. This impacted the German surrender in 1945. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
D-Day occurred by almost all of Germanys allies forces who came together and formed a plan to overthrow Nazi Germany and their leader after 5 years of WWII. This was one of the biggest military naval, land and air operations ever attempted. The airborne allied forces parachuted into drop zones across Northern France and the ground troops landed across five assault beaches. This caused the beginning of the end of WWII forcing the Germans to fight in a two front war again. -
The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge occurred due to Hitler believing the alliance between France, America, and Britain wasn't too strong and with a strong battle they could defeat them. As the Germans arrived in the Ardennes the allied line saw the appearance of a large bulge to help push through the American defensive line. The Allies won making more casualties on the German side losing 120 000 people and military forces making it irreplaceable while the allied forces only lost 75 000 casualties. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima occurred due to the Japanese fighters taking off from Iwo Jima and were intercepting bombers and attacking the Mariana airfields causing naval and air bombardment. The US army decided to invade Iwo Jima to use the island, spending weeks finding and killing all the Japanese. The US needed a place for fighter planes and bombers to land. This was one of the bloodiest fighting in WWII killing all but 200 of the Japanese providing the US to win the battle. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day occurred when Britain and their Allies accepted Nazi Germanys immediate surrender after 6 years of fighting in the war. And on May 9th it was announced that War in Europe had come to an end. This was one of the best memories for those who were there, it meant that the war that caused millions to die, destroyed families and their homes was finally over. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
The Liberation of the Concentration Camps began early 1945 and the last one was liberated may 9th when the Soviets began to overrun the sites. Most of the Allied armies began to liberate these camps but unfortunately many continued to die after because they became too weak to survive. Shortly after the Liberation of these camps the Nazi horror was exposed to the world by the shortage of survivors who represented skeletons due to lack of food and tons of labor. Millions did not survive. -
The Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was part of a difficult plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands one of those being Okinawa. This was Americas final push towards Japan, they wanted to destroy what was left of Japans fleet. The allies won the battle by conducting a massive artillery barrage and swept over the island. This was one of the last major battles of WWII and about 110 000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives giving the US occupation over Okinawa. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The Dropping of the Atomic bomb occurred due to the Japanese refusing to give up their fight.The US had already invaded their island but Japan had an army of 2 million strong stationed in the home islands guarding against invasion and there was no sign of the Japanese wanting to surrender. The US dropped a bomb on the city of Hiroshima, 100 000 Japanese had died and 2 days later the Soviet Union bombed Nagasaki causing 80 000 Japanese to die making them finally surrender. -
VJ Day
Victory over Japan day was the day Japan finally decided to surrender to their allies due to the last bombing in Nagasaki causing them to lose almost all of their military and had nothing else to fight. This effectively ended WWII and following the Japanese Emperor's radio announcement of their surrender the US led the Allies in occupation of Japan until 1952. The Allies began demilitarizing Japan by putting an end to the country's armed forces. -
cites
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/blitzkrieg-lightning-war
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-happened-at-pearl-harbor
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/d-day
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima
https://www.historynet.com/v-e-day-1945-the-celebration-heard-round-the-world.
https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/what-v-j-day
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/liberation -
Cites
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jun4/battle-midway-begins
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-okinawa-ends
https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/07/what-prompted-japan-s-aggression-
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-France
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/wannsee-conference
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
