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Rape of Nanking
To break the spirit of Chinese resistance, Japanese General Matsui Iwane ordered that the city of Nanking be destoryed, Much of the city was burned, and Japanese troops launched a campaign of atrocities against civilians. The Japanese butchered an estimated 150,000 male "war prisoners," massacred an additional 500,000 male civilians, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-rape-of-nanking -
German Blitzkrieg
A Polish town lies in ruins following the German invasion in Poland. Germany's strategy was to defeat its opponents in a series of short campaigns. Germany quickly overran much of Europe and was victorious for more than two years by relying on a new military tactic called the "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war). German could force surrender. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005437 -
Fall of Paris
54,000 British and French troops surrender to German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel at St. Valery-en-Caux, on the northern Channel border, as the Germans continue their gains in France. Over 3,000 Allied troops attempted to escape by sea but were stopped by German artillery fire. Surrender was the order of the day; among those taken prisoner were 12 Allied generals. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paris-on-the-verge-of-invasion -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. It completely destroyed the American battleship U.S.S. The attack sank or beached a total of twelve ships and damaged nine others. 160 aircraft were destroyed and 150 others damaged. The attack took the country by surprise, especially the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor base. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/wwii/jb_wwii_pearlhar_1.html -
Wannsee Conference
High-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss and coordinate the implementation. At the time of the Wannsee Conference, most participants were already aware that the National Socialist regime had engaged in mass murder of Jews. Police and military units were already slaughtering tens of thousands of Jews in the German-occupied Soviet Union. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005477 -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
After a month of fighting, the Germans blow up the Great Synagogue in Warsaw, signaling the end of the uprising and the destruction of the ghetto. he Germans under the command of SS General Juergen Stroop, began the final destruction of the ghetto and the deportation of the remaining Jews. 56,000 Jews captured, about 7,000 were shot, and the remainder were deported to camps. http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007745 -
Allied invasion of Italy
TheItalian government secretly agreed to the Allies’ terms for surrender, but no public announcement was made until September 8. By the spring of 1943, opposition groups in Italy were uniting to overthrow Mussolini and make peace with the Allies, but a strong German military presence in Italy threatened to resist any such action. On July 10, 1943, the Allies began their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-inv -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. The battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. the Allies carried out a massive deception operation intended to make the Germans think the main invasion target was between Britain and France. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Liberation of concentration camps
The Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the largest killing center and concentration camp. The Nazis had forced the majority of Auschwitz prisoners to march westward and Soviet soldiers found only several thousand emaciated prisoners alive when they entered the camp. Liberators confronted unspeakable conditions in the Nazi camps, where piles of corpses lay unburied. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131 -
Battle of Iwo Jima
It was the only large engagement of the war in which Allied forces suffered more casualties than their Japanese counterparts. The Allies were gaining ground in the Pacific theater. The loss of Iwo Jima would bring the Allies perilously close to the Home Islands, and to what many people on both sides expected to be an Allied invasion of Japan. When the battle was finally over, it was in the shattered remains of one such pillbox. http://www.recordonline.com/article/20070325/NEWS/703250339 -
VE Day
The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms. The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Potsdam Declaration
Offered the first ray of hope with its statement that Japan would not be “enslaved as a race, nor destroyed as a nation.” Representatives of the Chinese Nationalist government issued the Potsdam Declaration, an ultimatum that called on Japan to surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction.” On August 10 the Japanese government issued a statement agreeing to accept the surrender terms of the Potsdam Declaration. http://www.britannica.com/topic/Potsdam-Declaration -
Dropping of the atmoic bombs
By the time the United States conducted the first successful test, Germany had already been defeated. The war against Japan in the Pacific, however, continued to rage. In the years since the two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, a number of historians have suggested that the weapons had a two-pronged objective. relations between the Soviet Union and the United States had deteriorated badly. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
VJ Day
It was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Coming several months after the surrender of Nazi Germany, Japan’s capitulation in the Pacific brought six years of hostilities to a final and highly anticipated close. The Potsdam Declaration, issued by Allied leaders on July 26, 1945, called on Japan to surrender. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Battle of the Bulge
Attempted to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. The battle raged for three weeks, resulting in a massive loss of American and civilian life. The war would not end until better weather enabled American aircraft to bomb and strafe German positions. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-bulge
