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Japanese invasion of China
Japan invades China because they were in need of natural resources, in which China was rich with. Japan needed those resources so that it could build up its military because they were planning to go to war. Japan chose this time to invade China because China had just finished fighting a revolution. http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/why-did-japan-invade-china-1937-an-what-was-marco-315915 -
Rape of Nanking
Chinese invade Japan. The Japanese raped and killed many women. They also killed many children and man. They destroyed villages and stole many of China's resources. http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm -
Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
The German-Soviet Pact, also known as the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact after the two foreign ministers who negotiated the agreement, had two parts. An economic agreement, signed on August 19, 1939, that stated Germany would exchange manufactured goods for Russian raw materials. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union also signed a ten-year nonaggression pact on August 23, 1939, in which each signatory promised not to attack the other. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005156 -
German invasion of Poland
Germany took Poland because it was tactically close to Russia. Germany was planning to attack Russia. Germany started attacking Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070 -
German Blitzkrieg
A German term for “lightning war,” blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. It was tested in Poland and used ing the German invasion of France. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris
On this day in 1940 Germany launches a surprise attack on France. The Germans invade Paris. Within a short period of time Paris falls to the Germans. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Operation Barbosa
On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. His army consisted of over 3 million soldiers. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea, a distance of two thousand miles. It ended in December 5th with the defeat of the German forces by the Soviet Union. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7th of 1941 the Japanese bombed a US military base/port in Hawaii. The result was many US soldiers left dead. This was the main reason the US entered the war. This event also caused panic amount the public and the imprisonment of many innocent Japanese Americans. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
On January, 20, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich convened the Wannsee Conference in Berlin with 15 top Nazi bureaucrats to coordinate the Final Solution in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe, an estimated 11 million persons. This started the building of many concentration camps and the gathering up of all Jewish people in Germany and surrounding countries. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-wannsee.htm -
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 approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65 mile march to prison camps. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/bataandeathmarch.htm -
Battle of Midway
Shortly after Pearl Harbor the US goes to Japan. Thanks to new code breaking skill the US is able to get some intel on Japan. The US launches many naval battles and the Battle of Midway is one of many. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/the-pacific-war-1941-to-1945/battle-of-midway/ -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Russians are slaughtered by the Germans in the city of Stalingrad. Many are left dead or severely wounded. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
A Jewish ghetto in Warsaw rises up against the German forces. The jews are easily defeated by German forces because they lack weapons and the skills that are needed to fight. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005188 -
Operation Gomorrah
On this day in 1943, 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 death of many innocent civilians and decided to get back at Germany by doing the same thing to them. Britain only lost 12 of their 791 planes in this bombing. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
Allied Invasion of Italy
The allied forces invade Italy. After weeks of fighting the allies are able to defeat Italy leaving the Axis forces with one less ally. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland -
D-Day "Invasion of Normandy"
More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade. https://www.army.mil/d-day/ -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Towards the end of the war the allies find many of the German concentration camps. The allies free the prisoners and bring the food and water and nurse them back to health. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131 -
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. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Operation Thunderclap
The plan was to bomb the eastern-most cities of Germany to disrupt the transport infrastructure behind what was becoming the Eastern front. http://ww2today.com/13-february-1945-operation-thunderclap-raf-start-firestorm-in-dresden -
Battle of Iwo Jima
American amphibious 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. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
The last and 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. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
VE Day
On this day in 1945, Germany surrenders and both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Potsdam Declaration
The declaration that states the terms of the Japanese surrender to the allied forces -
Dropping of the Atom Bombs
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, might have also started the Cold War. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
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 “Victoryover Japan Day,” and thats where VJ Day comes from. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Nuremburg Trials
Trials of German officers for the war crimes that they committed. Many were sentenced to death or put in prison for life.
