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Japanese Invasion of China
1937 Japanese Invasion of China
The Japanese Guandong army invaded Manchuria, China. It unleashed military and political forces which led ultimately to the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The post-invasion 'Manchurian Crisis' ended with the dramatic walk-out of Japanese delegates from the League of Nations in 1933. (http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/sino-japanese-war ) -
Rape of Nanking
During the Sino-Japanese war Nanking fell to Japanese forces. The Rape of Nanking occurred because Japanese General Matsui Iwane wanted to break the spirit of Chinese resistance. General Matsui Iwane ordered that the city of Nanking be destroyed. Much of the city was burned and Japanese troops launched a campaign of abominations against the civilians. -
Rape of Nanking Part 2
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-rape-of-nanking
This became known as the Rape of Nanking. The Japanese slaughtered about 50,00 males and raped at least 20,00 females of all ages. A little after the war ended General Matsui was found guilty of war crimes by the INternational Military Tribunal and was executed. -
German Invasion of Poland 1939
The German Invasion of Poland was a joint invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Free City of Danzig, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent. This marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west, and after German forces advanced, -
German Invasion of Poland 1939 Part 2
www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070 (citation)
Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Polish–German border to more established lines of defence to the east. -
German Blitzkrieg 1940
Blitzkrieg is a German word for “lightning war.” This is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and firepower. The successful execution results in short military campaigns, which preserves human lives and limits the expenditure of artillery. German forces tried out the blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940. -
German Blitzkrieg 1940 Part 2
www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg
(citation)
The German Blitzkrieg was used because Germany wanted to avoid a long war. -
Operation Barbarossa 1941
On June 22, 1941 Hitler sent his armies eastward in a huge invasion of the Soviet Union. Three army groups smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. Barbarossa was the turning point in World War II. This is because it’s failure forced the Nazy Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing huge superior resources. Even though the Germans had been doing well in the war, Operation Barbarossa was a failure for them. -
Operation Barbarossa 1941Part 2
www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa (citation)
Despite all the losses the Soviets had they fought on and proved that time was on their side. -
Pearl Harbor 1941
On December 7, 1941 hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. The bombing lasted just two hours but the impacts were devastating. The Japanese destroyed about 20 American naval vessels, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 American soldiers and sailors died in this attack and many more were wounded. The attack was intended to neutralize the U.S Pacific Fleet. This was also to protect Japan’s advance in Malaya and the Dutch east indies. -
Wannsee Conference
On January, 1942 fifteen high ranking Nazi Party and German government officials came together at Villa in the Berlin Suburb of Wannsee. They gathered to discuss and coordinate the implementation of what they called the “final solution of the Jewish Question.” The conference occurred because they wanted to figure out a plan that would find a final solution for all the Jewish people on Europe. There were a few impacts after this conference occurred. -
Battle of Midway
In 1942 the Battle of Midway began. This was one of the most decisive U.S victories against Japan. This battle was a four day sea and air battle. The U.S Pacific fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of it's own. -
Battle of Midway Part 2
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-midway-begins
This battle took place because Japanese Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, who was the commander of the attack on Pearl Harbor, wanted to wound the U.S navy before it got too strong to outmatch his own. This battle was the turning point of the Pacific war. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Pt 2
www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising During this time the Germans destroyed buildings in which many residents had been hiding. During this process the Germans killed or captured thousands of Jews. By May 16, the Ghetto was under Nazi control and they blew up Warsaw’s Great Synagogue. This uprising inspired many other revolts in extermination camps and ghettos throughout German occupied Eastern Europe. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
From April 19 to May 16, 1943 the resident of the Jewish Ghetto in Nazy-occupied Warsaw, Poland, directed an armed revolt against deportations to extermination camps. On April 19, 1943 SS forces were sent with tanks and heavy battery to liquidate the Warsaw Ghetto. Hundreds of resistance fighters who were armed with a small cache of weapons managed to fight the Germans. Even though they were outnumbered by the Germans in terms of manpower and weapons they nearly fought for a month. -
Operation Gomorrah
In 1943 British bombers attacked Hamburg, Germany during the night. This was occurring under the Operation Gomorrah. During the day Americans were the ones bombing it. Operation Gomorrah took place because Britain had already suffered many deaths from the German bombings in July. Many Germans were killed during this bombing. -
Operation Gomorrah Part 2
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched (Citation)
The U.S Eighth Air Force bombed the Northern part of Germany during daylight house. This affected Hitler a great deal because all of the lives and building lost meant that this was the end of the war for him. This attack also led to a firestorm with temperatures. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day (citation)
The invasion of Normandy began on June 6, 1944 and lasted until August, 1944. On June 6, 1944 about 156,000 American, British, & Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. This invasion occurred because this would being the liberation of Western Europe from the Nazis. This liberation has been called the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. -
Battle Of Iwo Jima
en.wikipedi
On February 1945, of this battle 30,000 marines landed on the shores of Iwo Jima without being attacked. The Japanese had dug tunnels and made many places where they would hide. After 36 days of fighting the US finally secured the Island and took Control. This battle occurred because The Americans were looking for a base near the Japanese coast. In the end it seemed to the US army that it was useless to use Iwo Jima as a staging base and it was useless to the US navy as a fleet base. -
Battle of Okinawa
www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa
It was the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldier of the Japanese thirty second Army. There were air bases that were vital to the projected invasion of Japan. Japan lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies has 65,000 casualties and 14,000 dead. The japanese navy attacked by mass air strikes in a one-way Suicide mission. The commanding generals on both side lost their lives in the course of the battle. -
VE Day
www.history.com
In 1945 the United States and Great Britain celebrates victory in Europe Day. They both put out flags and banners rejoicing the defeat of the Nazi war machine. The 8th of may was the day that the German troops finally surrendered to their soviet antagonists. A million German soldiers tried to elude the grasp of the Soviet forces. The Russians took about 2 million prisoners before and after the Germans surrendered. V-E Day wasn’t celebrated until the ninth of Moscow. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation thunderclap was the code for a cancelled operation planned in August 1944. This operation never implemented. The plan visualized a massive attack on Berlin. It was believed that this attack would cause 220,000 casualties and 110,000 killed. The bad weather was the reason behind why the operation was cancelled. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-b
On August 6, 1945 the American bomber Enola Gay dropped a 5 ton bomb over Hiroshima. The blast was equivalent to the power of 15,000tons of TNT reduced 4 square miles of the city to complete destruction and the immediate death of 80,000 people. Many more died the following week due to radiation poisoning or wounds. 3 days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing about 40,000 people. A few days after the bomb was dropped Japan surrendered. -
V-j Day
On August 14,1945 it was announced that Japan had surrendered to the Allies which effectively ended World War II. The Potsdam Declaration which was issued by the Allied leaders promised a peaceful government according to the Japanese people. -
V-J Day Part 2
www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
At first the Japanese didn’t accept this but with bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki which killed thousands of people and damage much of the city’s the Japanese were forced to surrender. On August 14, 1945 the Japanese accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. -
Battle of the Bulge Part 2
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-bulge (citation)
The battle resulted in massive losses of American and civilian lives. Due to this the United States also suffered its second-largest surrender of troops of the war. -
Battle of the Bulge
This battle is called the Battle of the Bulge because the Germans created a “bulge” around the area of the Ardennes forest to push through the American defensive line. There were 14 German Infantry divisions which were guarded by five panzer divisions-against about 80,000 Americans. The German assault came in early in the morning at the weakest part of the Allied line. -
Wannsee Conference Part 2
www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005477 (citation)
A few months later “gas vans” were killing around 1,000 people a day in Chelmno, Poland and this proved to be the solution that they were looking for. -
Operation Thunderclap Part2
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderclap_plan (citation)
Another reason it was cancelled is because the plan was decided it was unlikely to work. Instead of this plan, smaller attacks were organized against certain cities. The most effective attacks took place in Berlin, Dresden, Chemnitz, and Leipzig. The small raids were very large ones but smaller than the original Thunderclap plan.
